Consumer Math...

[LunaLee]

Does anyone have a program or book that you especially love for this?

 

We are thinking about switching from Algebra II to Consumer Math this year and I was hoping to find something fun and interesting.

[momtotkbb]

We are using BJU Consumer Math w/ dd this year. She asked to take a year off her math schedule - she had completed Alg I and Geometry in middle school - so before we hit Alg II we are doing Consumer Math. We haven't used it long enough to say that we love it --but I can tell you so far we're enjoying and having some great "life" discussions. She is really enjoying the course and it's been eye opening for her so far. For her it's not a hard course - but it has made her think about things and I was surprised to see some Alg and Geometry topics within at least the first couple chapters so far. At the pace she's going she should have all the lessons completed by March.

[Lori D.]

Esp. since neither of our DSs are going into math/science fields, I really wanted them to have a year of "real life" math with a consumer math program. I looked at both Abeka's and BJU's Consumer Math programs; they are pretty much the same thing, so I went with the Abeka since I found it used really cheap. ;) You can see the table of contents and some sample pages for the BJU Consumer Math at http://www.christianbook.com. I don't think Abeka has their table of contents available, but here is a sample page.

 

Because I wanted DSs to take Algebra 2 in the junior year to be of most help to them on the PSAT and then the SAT in the summer after junior year, they each had a slightly different math progression (both are working fine):

 

older DS:

8th = Algebra 1

9th = Geometry

10th = Consumer Math

11th = Algebra 2

12th (this year) = ----

 

younger DS

9th = Algebra 1

10th = Algebra 1/Geometry

11th (this year) = Algebra 2

12th = Consumer Math

 

 

Another resource I highly recommend to use along with either a Consumer Math program OR as PART of an Economics credit is Dave Ramsey's Foundations of Personal Finance DVD/workbook set -- EXCELLENT, practical real-life stuff on how to get out of/avoid credit and debt; how to save/invest for college, retirement, etc.; what to do if you're the victim of identity theft, etc. -- all real life stuff our DSs will have to understand and deal with, presented in a very accessible and humorous way.

 

 

BEST of luck, whatever you decide! Warmly, Lori D.

[Hunter]

There are several junior college basic math texts. The one I am most familiar with is by Aufmann and I'm quite impressed with it. Older editions are dirt cheap. Sometimes you can find all sorts of supplements like software and videos. The strength of the aufmann series is the excellent word problems and. The software that generates unlimited problems, even for the word problems.

[Julie in MN]

Here is something I've posted in the past somewhere or other:

 

 

• 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.")
   
  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
  

 

 

And probably with my youngest, I'll use the MFW lesson plans for Larry Burkett plus Money, Possessions, & Eternity -- especially because of the schedule being all laid out for me, and also because I can't find the AGS book for sale any more.

[Hunter]

Rod and Staff has a really interesting looking new accounting textbook, in which the first half focuses on just family finances.

 

Julie that is a good idea to build a consumer math course from several different books. Maybe videos and other non textbook resources too?

[Musicmom]

You might look into Abeka. I've never used it, but I remember hearing the author of Videotext (during a session at a HS conference) highly recommend it.

[mooooom]

and got the recommendation for David Ramsey's Teen course. I just got it but haven't had much time to look it over yet.

[LunaLee]

Thanks for the suggestions. We are going to try to stick out Algebra 2 with Life of Fred, at least for the semester. Then if we need to change to Consumer Math I will probably use:

 

Dave Ramsey

Alpha Omega Life Pac Consumer Math

NetFlix- I found some really great documentaries including one called MaxedOut about credit card debt

[mschickie]

We used SOS for Consumer Math last year with sd. That was a really great program. It covered everything I could think of that sd would need to know from taxes to banking to retirement and everything in between. I would be the lifepacs are pretty much the same just not on the computer.

[Kates]

We're using a combination of Glencoe Consumer Education and Dave Ramsey for Teens. I'll then be working through some "real life" scenarios with ds - everything from meal planning and food buying for a couple of weeks to shopping for and planning a reno on a house. (Obviously we won't be buying and reno-ing a house, but he'll do all the planning and window-shopping for it. This is something he's interested in doing in the future...and I'd rather he understand what goes into it now than when he loses his shirt later on ;) )

 

For the specialized things (car and house shopping, reno planning, etc.) I'll be hooking him up with people that we know that work in these industries. For the others (paying utilities, food shopping), we'll be including him in the monthly budget planning and handing some of it over to him (on paper, we'll still be in charge of the actual bill paying).

 

I've looked through some of the currics for Consumer Math...they're ok, but haven't really been what we're looking for. JMHO :)