skimomma Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 I posted earlier this year about a free online economics textbook: https://www.core-econ.org/espp/index.html We are currently in the last unit and I thought I'd update with our experience. This is meant to be a "college level" text but I think it is suitable for most high schoolers. It covers what would normally be found in an Econ 101 class but each topic is tied to modern issues that one would hear on the news. Dd (11th grade) and I worked through the book together. There are a lot of exercises embedded in the text that are best done with at least one other person to discuss. If that is not possible, I suggest making the exercises into short essay written assignments. Each unit has a project at the end. We have used the projects as homework. They are quite involved and I would suggest previewing and paring down for younger students. In the early units, there are exercises that focus on spreadsheet use. The projects are also very heavily dependent on advanced spreadsheet tools. I say this because if you plan to use the projects, don't skip the in-unit spreadsheet exercises. The book is secular and should be suitable for all political flavors everyone aside from climate change deniers. The huge bonus to this book, if the projects are part of the plan, is that the student will walk away with excellent Excel (or Google Sheets or....) skills. As a former university instructor, I can tell you this might be even more useful to a student than the economics education. The economics content is presented very accessibly and in a very relatable fashion. I learned a great deal. And now with the economic fallout of the pandemic, both dd and I are able to understand everything we hear on the news. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants a free option and has the bandwidth to participate with your student on some level. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSprout Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 Does this require calculus? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimomma Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 2 hours ago, MamaSprout said: Does this require calculus? No. Anyone who has taken algebra should be fine. Understanding of slope, tangent lines, and reading multiple types of graphical representations are the most important concepts. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 (edited) @skimommaThanks for this review. Could you speak to the time commitment per chapter, say? DS is taking a DE econ class this fall but thought a head start would not hurt anyone too badly. And we are both nul at excel....DH may need to be recruited to that cause... Edited June 1, 2020 by madteaparty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimomma Posted June 3, 2020 Author Share Posted June 3, 2020 On 6/1/2020 at 6:38 PM, madteaparty said: @skimommaThanks for this review. Could you speak to the time commitment per chapter, say? DS is taking a DE econ class this fall but thought a head start would not hurt anyone too badly. And we are both nul at excel....DH may need to be recruited to that cause... I would say it could be as little as 3 hours per chapter/week if you just did the reading and discussion or as much as 10 hours per chapter/week if you did the entire projects at the end of each chapter. I wanted this to be college level for dd so she did the entire projects. Most projects have 2-3 parts and one can do only one part if time is a consideration. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 @skimomma Did your dd finish this? How did it turn out? Did you give .5 or 1.0 credits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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