One semester consumer math program

[mooooom]

We will be starting chalkdust precalc in the fall (11th) which looks like it is supposed to be a 1.5yr course. I thought a consumer math course would fit for the last highschool semester - and wouldn't be a killer course, but I'm having a hard time locating one that sounds good and is reasonably secular. Any recommendations?

[StephanieZ]

Consumer math? For a kid who can do precalc? Ummm, why?

 

How about 1/2 year of stats? It'd be a cake walk and useful at the same time.

 

Or 1st semester calc at CC?

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

I can't speak for the OP but my children will all do consumer math because it covers things that aren't covered in "regular" math courses. Things I consider extremely important to daily living like taxes, checking, interest, budgeting, automobiles, real estate, renting, etc, etc, etc. I can't tell you how many brilliant people I've met who are clueless when it comes to personal finance because they were never taught.

[mooooom]

cc rates, loans, budgeting, etc. would be very timely for kids heading off to college, and they don't teach any of those in precalc. So please give me some suggestions, the only thing I could locate was a Walch publication and I'm hoping their may be something a bit more in depth somewhere.

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

I'm going to use MUS's Stewardship course. The comb bound edition has fewer worksheets (2 per lesson vs 4 per lesson) and can be done without the devotions part. The new version has 4 worksheets/lesson and the comparison sheet (I have both versions of the workbooks) said that the first 2 worksheets are the same in both versions and can be done without doing the devotional but that the second 2 worksheets contain some questions that are from the devotional. I think it could be done secularly if you skipped the second 2 worksheets or just skipped the questions that refer to the devotional. If you want to do it in a semester instead of a year I think skipping the last two would help achieve that goal.

[creekland]

We've used Dave Ramsey's High School designed course and I highly recommend it. My oldest changed his thoughts about money and how/when to spend it based on that course without my having to say a thing. DR is a motivational speaker and easily kept his interest.

 

Since my oldest took it he's updated the course and changed the name. I'm sure with some googling you can find it. I plan to have my other two do the newer version - possibly next year.

 

I also agree that this kind of math is 100% different than Alg -> Calc and is 100% worth it to learn about for all levels of academic ability. DR talked about insurance, investments, and many other things besides the "don't get into debt" spiel.

[mathmom]

I was going to suggest Dave Ramsey, too.

[Mouse]

How about instead of consumer math you call it Finance or Consumer Finance? You can talior it to learn about credit cards and pitfalls as well as investing and budgeting. Dave Ramsey is great, but there is a wealth of information on the internet as well. You can take your own budget and have the kids break it down and apply what might be happening in their lives with college as well. Get the paper and have them budget for a month using the section of the paper with local rent prices and food prices. Make sure they understand the cost of using a credit card - hidden and upfront. Find out how much that dress will cost after three months of payments. Just some ideas. This kind of information is all over the place and I don't think you will need any sort of guide. I have faith in you!

Edited July 7, 2010 by Mouse

[creekland]

I had time to look up the course this morning. We've chosen the high school level. This edition is named, "Foundations in Personal Finance" and is found here:

 

http://www.daveramsey.com/school/home/

[Julie in MN]

cc rates, loans, budgeting, etc. would be very timely for kids heading off to college, and they don't teach any of those in precalc. So please give me some suggestions, the only thing I could locate was a Walch publication and I'm hoping their may be something a bit more in depth somewhere.

 

I think what Stephanie was alluding to is "consumer math" textbook courses that are really just math courses.

 

I think what you're looking for is more consumer skills? Here is something I've posted before:

 

 

 

What we did was create our own from several materials.

 

 

 

We tried some of the textbook versions & I felt they were too "math" oriented and not enough "consumer" oriented -- if that makes sense? In other words, they were designed to teach/use specific math skills and the consumer part seemed stuck in there for "fun examples." Whereas I was looking for something that was designed to teach consumer skills first, and the math skills were added where appropriate. We had or looked at a few textbooks such as Abeka and/or BJU, but I can't remember.

 

 

 

We used an AGS book on budgeting. It is my impression that AGS is used by schools for non-college-bound math & such. Therefore, it is more practical & focused on real-life skills. The assignments are fairly easy, as you are given a "pretend" person to work with, and exact income & expenses are given in the book.

 

 

 

We also used Larry Burkett's Money Matters for Teens, although the assignments weren't as easy to work with because the student was supposed to actually do everything in their own life, rather than having a practice model to work with, but maybe that's better? There were some good lessons on giving that weren't in the AGS book. (You don't need the "book," only the "workbook.") My Father's World now has "Personal Finance" lesson plans for this book.

 

 

 

We also added a few other things like opening a bank account & whatnot. You could do more, as well, depending on how much credit you wanted to earn. For instance, cut out ads for apartments, call with specific questions on costs, keep records, calculate comparisons, etc. Then do the same for the other topics. We didn't do this, but it's just a thought.

 

 

 

Alpha Omega has separate booklets for topics, so you could literally just do the sections you want.

 

 

 

I have also heard that Math-U-See has a new level for money management, but haven't seen it yet.

 

 

 

Note that in all cases, the topics are designed for late high school, when students are starting to think about cars, apartments, checking accounts, and such.

 

 

HTH, Julie