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Any recommendations for a Personal Finance Class?


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My ds used Dave Ramsey’s dvds last year and my dd will use them next year.  It was great for motivating my ds to start investing his savings from work. Making a budget caused him anguish, lol, when he saw how much of his income was going to car insurance.

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Here's what I did with some reviews and personal opinions/experiences.  your mileage will vary. My oldest did the mfw course listed above. We were big users of all of their stuff. likes about it: the Larry Burkett Workbook was a very practical workbook to use together to discuss personal finance (some of the numbers crunched were old, but still that's ok). dislike: the "bible reading plan" and the lesson plans itself. although I'm big fan of mfw, I thought the Bible reading plan was just a tag on to this course. It was nothing more than someone did a word search in a concordance on money and limited it to the gospels.  read the verses out of context.   check the box, you're done. Not at all up to their standard of lesson plans. (and I'm a huge fan of theirs).  I say that in case others who like their stuff don't get as shell shocked as I did.   Neutral position on the other book in the course written by  Randy Alcorn.  It was almost like it was too far in the future for a teen/high schooler.  We did a lot of discussion together in it. Hard to talk with teen about estate planning.  And even this week when oldest was doing forms with her job for 401k and the like, nothing from that book was helpful.  very theoretical in nature and I think geared more toward mid life or older in application.  good for discussion.  She even used it in a research paper in English comp 2 in college for a money topic.   (ps. she's college grad these days)

middle: did the larry burkett workbook again from mfw.  added in a free online resource called money skill from this group http://afsaef.org/MoneySKILL/About.  likes about that online course: self paced, listen to or read along, answer questions. think about stuff. very practical point of view in my opinion. 

youngest: special ed track.  Steck Vaughn Financial Math book 2. (only dislike was that some forms were outdated on taxes, but that's to be expected). added in kitchen math and grocery budget self taught materials.  Using units from Susan Traugh's Daily Living Bundle over at teachers pay teachers. rest was from hands on as needed (taking her to bank on chores, and paying groceries, etc). I'm not sure she's quite at the level of budget planning due to ability.  only mentioned this in case someone reading  the thread might need special ed resources.

 

good luck finding best fit of materials.

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On 3/30/2019 at 10:30 PM, cbollin said:

Here's what I did with some reviews and personal opinions/experiences.  your mileage will vary. My oldest did the mfw course listed above. We were big users of all of their stuff. likes about it: the Larry Burkett Workbook was a very practical workbook to use together to discuss personal finance (some of the numbers crunched were old, but still that's ok). dislike: the "bible reading plan" and the lesson plans itself. although I'm big fan of mfw, I thought the Bible reading plan was just a tag on to this course. It was nothing more than someone did a word search in a concordance on money and limited it to the gospels.  read the verses out of context.   check the box, you're done. Not at all up to their standard of lesson plans. (and I'm a huge fan of theirs).  I say that in case others who like their stuff don't get as shell shocked as I did.   Neutral position on the other book in the course written by  Randy Alcorn.  It was almost like it was too far in the future for a teen/high schooler.  We did a lot of discussion together in it. Hard to talk with teen about estate planning.  And even this week when oldest was doing forms with her job for 401k and the like, nothing from that book was helpful.  very theoretical in nature and I think geared more toward mid life or older in application.  good for discussion.  She even used it in a research paper in English comp 2 in college for a money topic.   (ps. she's college grad these days)

middle: did the larry burkett workbook again from mfw.  added in a free online resource called money skill from this group http://afsaef.org/MoneySKILL/About.  likes about that online course: self paced, listen to or read along, answer questions. think about stuff. very practical point of view in my opinion. 

youngest: special ed track.  Steck Vaughn Financial Math book 2. (only dislike was that some forms were outdated on taxes, but that's to be expected). added in kitchen math and grocery budget self taught materials.  Using units from Susan Traugh's Daily Living Bundle over at teachers pay teachers. rest was from hands on as needed (taking her to bank on chores, and paying groceries, etc). I'm not sure she's quite at the level of budget planning due to ability.  only mentioned this in case someone reading  the thread might need special ed resources.

 

good luck finding best fit of materials.

I'm a bit disappointed to read your review of the MFW lesson plans, but glad I read it before purchasing. Thanks for the heads-up! 

So now I'm re-thinking my plans. When you used the Larry Burkett book the second time with the Money Skill curriculum, did you use any of the MFW plans at all? I'm wondering if I should just get the Larry Burkett book and have dd use it on its own if the MFW lesson plans were so poor. Did you feel like the Money Skill course was really necessary to add in? And did you give a half-credit or full credit for the two things used together? Thanks.

 

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1 hour ago, mazakaal said:

I'm a bit disappointed to read your review of the MFW lesson plans, but glad I read it before purchasing. Thanks for the heads-up! 

So now I'm re-thinking my plans. When you used the Larry Burkett book the second time with the Money Skill curriculum, did you use any of the MFW plans at all? I'm wondering if I should just get the Larry Burkett book and have dd use it on its own if the MFW lesson plans were so poor. Did you feel like the Money Skill course was really necessary to add in? And did you give a half-credit or full credit for the two things used together? Thanks.

 

 

Q1. with middle gal, there was no need to use the mfw plans.  It's possible that they have actually updated by now.  But when we did it, it was "check this box that you read this verse".  and check a line when you read a chapter in each of the other books.  It was not the mfw standard of "read this assignment today from these pages".   and when oldest did it, the mfw plans did not have any help for processing the info in the alcorn book.  yeah, I was disappointed too.    anyway. I think the plans were overpriced at $5 new.   You should ask their offices directly if you can see a sample, or if any significant updates were made in the last 5 years to them. I hope my information is outdated, but I doubt it is.

Q2: (if you do just the burkett book that's ok too.  some people like to add a philosophy type of book so consider the alcorn.  no I didn't do alcorn with middle gal.  it was too abstract and way too in the future for her. She's not the brightest bulb in the lamp.   Oldest was ok with it. and for some essay she wrote in college she found a quote to use as secondary resource)

Q3: do I think Money skill was really necessary?   some homeschoolers will do the burkett book and say "all is good, and let the rest come from real life".  in that sense, not it was not necessary.   Some will say "money skill was enough for full semester credit, why did you add anything"?   I added not because it was necessary to make a credit worthy course, but because my child needed a different way to hear the information again and money skill was adding a practical side with questions and answers to help with learning.  It was added because it was interactive and my child needed more than read about a topic.

Q3: semester credit because that's all we needed.   and as I said above, money skill is "enough" for semester credit on its own. More than likely, burkett on its own is enough for regular high school level semester course (but I still would have added in real life like helping with taxes and fafsa).  I imagine that some people would think burkett workbook was not enough for their standards of rigor for a course. But I wasn't looking for advanced materials.

hope that helps.

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4 hours ago, cbollin said:

 

Q1. with middle gal, there was no need to use the mfw plans.  It's possible that they have actually updated by now.  But when we did it, it was "check this box that you read this verse".  and check a line when you read a chapter in each of the other books.  It was not the mfw standard of "read this assignment today from these pages".   and when oldest did it, the mfw plans did not have any help for processing the info in the alcorn book.  yeah, I was disappointed too.    anyway. I think the plans were overpriced at $5 new.   You should ask their offices directly if you can see a sample, or if any significant updates were made in the last 5 years to them. I hope my information is outdated, but I doubt it is.

Q2: (if you do just the burkett book that's ok too.  some people like to add a philosophy type of book so consider the alcorn.  no I didn't do alcorn with middle gal.  it was too abstract and way too in the future for her. She's not the brightest bulb in the lamp.   Oldest was ok with it. and for some essay she wrote in college she found a quote to use as secondary resource)

Q3: do I think Money skill was really necessary?   some homeschoolers will do the burkett book and say "all is good, and let the rest come from real life".  in that sense, not it was not necessary.   Some will say "money skill was enough for full semester credit, why did you add anything"?   I added not because it was necessary to make a credit worthy course, but because my child needed a different way to hear the information again and money skill was adding a practical side with questions and answers to help with learning.  It was added because it was interactive and my child needed more than read about a topic.

Q3: semester credit because that's all we needed.   and as I said above, money skill is "enough" for semester credit on its own. More than likely, burkett on its own is enough for regular high school level semester course (but I still would have added in real life like helping with taxes and fafsa).  I imagine that some people would think burkett workbook was not enough for their standards of rigor for a course. But I wasn't looking for advanced materials.

hope that helps.

This is hugely helpful. Thanks so much for your response!

 

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I am using Financial Literacy from 7sisters. It is an ebook course revised in 2018 with student text, teacher notes, lots of weblinks, tests, and AK for the tests. It is a great up to date fit for my senior. Much cheaper than Dave Ramsey though it does link to his and many others' websites. Easy to use and very comprehensive. I was going to use BJ press Consumer Math, but it was on an 8th or 9th grade level and would have frustrated my student. Also it was written about 15 years ago.

I also wanted something up to date that has more math the addition and subtraction of the budget.

 

https://7sistershomeschool.com/products-page/language-arts-3/financial-literacy-from-a-christian-perspective-duplicate/

 

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  • 1 year later...
On 3/29/2019 at 8:23 AM, HomeAgain said:

My oldest did both MUS's Stewardship and Dave Ramsey's teen class.  He got something out of both and really enjoyed them. 

Sorry, don't know how to quote from my phone. This is my plan...Home Again, how did you award credit for doing the two together? Thanks!

 

Edited by BrittiBop16
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More resource ideas:
Money Matters for Teens (Burkett) -- for a fee book -- also get the workbook for ages 11-14, or ages 15-18
Money Skills -- free complete program
Next Gen Personal Finance -- free lesson units
Practical Money Skills -- free downloadable lessons -- grades 7-8, or grades 9-12
Hands-On Banking for Teens -- free program, middle school + educator resources
Washington State Dept. of Financial Institutions: Financial Education -- list of K-12 resources on financial literacy lessons with links

Edited by Lori D.
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My kids have used Dave Ramsey's material (not a love or hate thing for us, just a "filler" of sorts). I also have them complete a Consumer Math course which they found way more applicable and useful. They also read Money, Greed and God which they all loved. And one book that was essential for them was Scratch Beginnings: $25, the the Search for the American Dream.
 

We spent the bulk of our time reading novels and watching videos than on DR material, honestly.

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On 5/17/2020 at 2:51 PM, BakersDozen said:

My kids have used Dave Ramsey's material (not a love or hate thing for us, just a "filler" of sorts). I also have them complete a Consumer Math course which they found way more applicable and useful. They also read Money, Greed and God which they all loved. And one book that was essential for them was Scratch Beginnings: $25, the the Search for the American Dream.
 

We spent the bulk of our time reading novels and watching videos than on DR material, honestly.

Did you include the consumer math as a separate course, or was that part of the personal finance course?  There's a Ron Larson math book - Math & You: The Power & Use of Mathematics - that has sections that would be great to supplement a personal finance course.  

If anyone is interested in the DR material, I saw that Virtual Homeschool Group (VHSG) is currently offering the high school class for next fall at $18.50 for 100 students.  

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DS and DD are going to take FundaFunda Academy's Personal Finance course.

https://www.fundafundaacademy.com/product/high-school-personal-finance/

DS has taken 3 classes with them - Geography, Government, and Economics.  At first, I had my reservations because there are no tests, and the format is not your "typical" class.  There are lots of videos to watch, online games to reinforce learning, etc.  However, I have to say that after DS took the Geography course, I was sold.  Yes, it has the videos and games, but the information is engaging and made DS interested in so many things that he looked at additional resources outside of class.  On his own.  If you knew DS, you would know this would NEVER happen.  : )  There is lots of work that goes with the activities and is turned in weekly (i.e., short answers, finding news articles, group projects, etc.).  I won't get into specifics since it doesn't apply to the Personal Finance course, but the same thing happened with his Government and Economics classes.

For Personal Finance, the course will use the Investment Guide for Teens by David & Tom Gardner.  The class includes a simulation of real life (having a job, paying bills, choosing a bank account, etc.), budgeting, and a stock market simulation.

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