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[Robin in DFW]

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[Lori D.]

What is usually covered in a high school Government course?

 

What about Economics? The text I have has different schedule suggestions...Micro, Macro, Introductory, etc.  What do most high school economics courses focus on?

 

Typical topics covered in a 0.5 credit Government course:

 

1. Intro to Government (why did government develop; types of government)

2. Foundation of the U.S. Government, Federalism, the Constitution

3.  Bill of Rights, Amendments

4. Legislative Branch (Congress: Senate, House of Representatives; how a bill becomes law)

5. Executive Branch (President; public policy/bureaucracy; foreign policy)

6. Judicial Branch, Supreme Court (court structure; how a court case works; landmark cases and Civil Rights)

7. Political Parties, Elections

8. Public Opinion ("fourth estate" of the media, interest groups, lobbyists)

9. State and Local Government

 

 

Typical topics covered in a 0.5 credit high school Economics course:

 

1. Micro Economics

- money

- competion & market structures

- producers & consumers

- supply & demand

- scarcity

- profit

- opportunity cost

- elasticity of demand

- markets and prices

- price ceilings and floors

- division of labor & specialization

- property rights

 

2. Macro Economics

- aggregate demand / supply

- budget deficit & public debt

- employment/unemployment

- fiscal policy

- GDP

- inflation

- monetary policy & federal reserve

- balance of trade & balance of payments

- barriers to trade

- benefits of trade/comparative advantage

- foreign currency markets/exchange rates

 

3. Personal Finance Economics

- spending, saving, investing

- compound interest

- credit

- insurance

- money management/budgeting

- financial markets

- risk & return

 

 

I am desperately trying to find something for ds to cover Government and Economics and have found nothing I like. Simple and engaging is fine.

 

Idea for an engaging way of doing some of the Government credit:

- volunteer to work for a politician's election campaign

- work at a polling place on election day as a Teen Election Board Worker

- visit your State Capital and watch government at work for the day

- visit a courthouse and watch a trial for a day

- Youth and Government (YMCA mock legislative program)

- Junior State of America

- Teen PACT (Christian legislative program)

 - Teen Court (YMCA judicial program)

- Mock Trial

- American Model United Nations 

- United Nations Association of USA

 

The series of Standard Deviant: American Government  DVDs might be more engaging for Government -- see if your library has them.

 

 

Ideas for "just get 'er done" Economics:

 

DVD or CD video lectures

- Teaching Company: Economics (secular; 36 30-minute lectures on micro and macro economics) 

- Thinkwell: Economics (secular; 180 video lessons on micro and macro economics)

- Switched On Schoolhouse (Christian; comes as a bundle with Government; CD-Rom lessons)

 

Texts

- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Economics (Gorman)

- Economics for Dummies (Masaki)

- Economics in a Box (books and DVDs program)

 

Supplements

- Economics in One Lesson

- Economics for the Impatient

- Whatever Happened to Penny Candy (Maybury)

 

Past thread with more ideas: Government and Economics -- not rigorous

[Robin in DFW]

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[Lori D.]

So, I looked at the linked thread. If ds uses the "for dummies" or "idiots" or "everything guides to" books, what would be a good way to quiz his knowledge? Daily narrations?

 

I'm not good at creating my own stuff.  Planned out is a good thing for higher level courses...hence, my questions about Notgrass.

 

I did a quick search to see if there might be any quizzes or tests already out there for one of those books, but came up empty. Yes, summaries, or outlining from the text chapter could possibly work as output… Maybe also watch the free Stossel DVDs and pick one of the more Economics-based segments from each DVD and have DS write a short argumentative essay on whether DS agrees/disagrees, and why...

 

Economics in a Box would be simple as it is all scheduled with quizzes and assignments, and it has short videos to help it be more engaging -- but I just realized that the core texts are Christian, so that knocks that out of the running.

 

What about Time 4 Learning? Secular, uses teaching animations and videos, and is self-paced/self-grading (through online quizzes), and a solid 0.5 credit… The downside is that it is $30/month for high school, BUT, that  includes 4 courses, so you could also check out the Government syllabus and see if that, too, might work for your family. And, you could just decide to heavily schedule Economics and Government for 2-3 months (and put off 1-2 other credits until the following semester), complete your 1-2 subjects (Econ, Gov't) in 8-12 weeks -- and then "double up" in scheduling 1-2 other credits the following semester. :)

[Robin in DFW]

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[swimmermom3]

Robin, you might try looking at the McConnell Economics text. While it is a college text, it is very approachable and well-written. Sometimes the high school texts are so basic, there isn't enough information for a solid understanding. You can get an earlier edition for cheap and then access their website for quizzes and other problems. If you are interested, I am sure I can find you a simple Macroeconomics syllabus. I would read, work the problems, and maybe listen to the Tim Taylor TC lectures (you won't need to do all of them) and call it good.

 

If you do it with your son, you can tie it into current events and it will give both of you plenty to talk about.

 

 

[Mom22ns]

We are Christian but homeschool mostly secularly. I used Notgrass Government with ds. The positives were that it covered everything I wanted covered and it was super convenient. The negatives were that it is strongly Christian and had a strong conservative slant (we are politically conservative too). These things were strong enough I could never use it with my youngest who is repelled by Christianity infused into academic topics.

 

What about Thinkwell?

[Robin in DFW]

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[klmama]

You might like older editions of the Glencoe/McGraw Hill texts.  Cheap on Amazon.  Put in your state here http://glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/index.html and that you are a student, and it will pop up a list of courses.  Click on older editions for the subject for which you want to see book titles.  Click that and go to the student center for that book - there are various supports for each chapter, including online review page, flashcards, and multiple choice quizzes your dc can email you.  The books are good - lots of images for kids who like that, good bolding of headings, summary questions at the end of the chapter.  You can often find teacher editions for not much, too, with answers to the text questions.  If you think you'd want one, it's probably better to buy that first and then find the text if you want it, since TE are harder to come by.

[Lori D.]

Just thought of these, since having things laid out and ready-made output are needed:

 

AGS: U.S. Government

Well, it's at a middle school level (8th grade) in content, but it is secular, and can be done completely solo by the student, is workbook based and has tests. It is fill-in-the-blank workbook, which is simple but probably not the most engaging way to do Government. But you could use it as your spine and then beef it up with supplements such as actual participation activities, or with some videos of high interest. You would definitely need to beef up the "how U.S. Government came to be" portion. Includes student text, workbook, and teacher guide for $122. See table of contents and more sample pages

 

AGS: Economics

Looks to be similar to the AGS: U.S. Government option. You could do this as the "just check the box" Economics, and add a personal finance unit using materials of your choice to flesh it out a bit. Almost $200 if buying new, but used editions are available. See samples of the different elements here.

student text, used

teach text, used

workbook, new

workbook -- free online pdf format

 

Walch Power Basics: American Government

Even more bare-bones and simplistic (for grades 6+), BUT secular, workbook-based, and comes with lots that is usable as output -- the pack comes with 4 items -- student workbook and answer key, test packet and answer key -- is $45 at Rainbow Resource; see table of contents and more sample pages. No equivalent Economics pack (just Consumer Math).

[Bootsie]

If you are looking for the simplest, easiest economics curriculum, I would go with the Teaching Company videos.  They give a good overview of how economists think and some of the standard issues that economists consider.  In addition to a basic introduction to economic theory, the videos also provide some applications for economics and policy implications.  I would not worry that a student knows too much of the detail of the theory in high school.  A college level economics course will start at the beginning.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I used the Ethel Wood American Government book in a coop a couple years ago.  I really, really liked the book, which was very straightforward.  The only drawback is that it hasn't been updated since 2000. http://www.amazon.com/Steck-Vaughn-American-Government-Hardcover-Student/dp/0669467952/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1433355456&sr=8-3&keywords=ethel+wood+american+government

 

I also bought the Teacher Guidebook, which included activity ideas and chapter tests.  http://www.amazon.com/Steck-Vaughn-American-Government-Teachers-Guide/dp/0669467987/ref=pd_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1TP8CN7M152R0HEYGPQD

 

You would need to add a bit to cover more recent court cases and the events since September 11th (specifically establishing the Department of Homeland Defense and folding several previously independent agencies into it as well as moving the Coast Guard over.)

 

My kids enjoyed the simulations on iCivics.  They can be a little simplistic, but there were parts I really liked.  For example, in the election simulation, there is a point where the player has to decide if they will use positive campaign ads or negative ads.  My kids still imitate the sound of the negative ads when they see one on TV.  https://www.icivics.org/

 

The best part of the coop was our ability to do mock trial and to have a small mock congress.  If there are mock trial opportunities in your area, especially if they deal with Supreme Court cases, it might be worth looking into.  If not, I highly recommend the Oyez website for info on cases (including oral arguments, which can be incredible to listen to) http://www.oyez.org/

 

The Pursuit of Justice, published by Annenberg Classroom covers a couple dozen landmark court cases.  It gives the background of the case, as well as the legal argument.  The whole book is available as a free download.  http://www.annenbergclassroom.org/page/the-pursuit-of-justice

 

I also had my kids do one of the online courses on the Constitution that were created by the Center for the Constitution at Montpelier (James Madison's home).  http://www.montpelier.org/center/online  If I remember correctly, there was a quiz or two as part of the course and a printable certificate at the end.  (Only one course was available at the time we did government.)

 

Hillsdale has some free online government courses.  I don't have personal experience with any of them.  http://online.hillsdale.edu/dashboard/courses

 

I'm also not familiar with this program, but a teacher at a big local private school mentioned that he uses the competition with his government students.  http://www.civiced.org/wtp-the-program/curriculum

 

[Live2Ride]

following..gotta stop by tonight and read through this as I have one needing it this fall.

 

[Blossom'sGirl]

I have been thinking about economics also.  Coursera has two free economics classes I have considered.

[samba]

Thanks, Margaret in CO!  Our Gov't/Econ plans were recently thrown to the wind and I've been scrambling to make alternate plans.  We receive Imprimis but I didn't know anything about these courses.  Is there a particular text you'd recommend to go with this course?  I've been looking at Economics in One Lesson by Hazlitt for an overview.

 

Thanks!

 

[mom2boyzez]

We are using Declaration of Statesmanship.