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Economics
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What are my options for a 1/2 credit high school economics course? I was going to use Notgrass but decided not to do that since there are so many resources online.
Did you search earlier threads here yet? There was an excellent thread on here maybe a year or so ago about this topic. I’ll see if I can find it if I can grab a chance. Busy weeks right now with travel and a grad coming up!
Julie
http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/12th-grade-living-books-for-economics-and-government
I think this is what I was thinking of. Hope it works
My personal plan though is pretty simple. Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover – learn the principles and apply them to our family’s finances over the course of the semester. We’ve had a lot of real life experience with farm/business/marketing…so all together that’s going to be our economics course. I’m sure some will disagree with my approach…but I’m much more concerned about the effect the day to day economics of the home will affect my kids than the world at large. If they learn to manage that well, they’ll weather whatever comes all right and not be contributing to larger economic issues in a negative way – right?! There was also a free online course mentioned by Bookworm a while back – and she’s much more an expert on this topic. Maybe you can find that too. Good luck.
Julie
http://stosselintheclassroom.org/selectdvd.php Here it is. This is easier than I thought!!! I learned something new!
Thanks. I will take a look. I did find the link about the free e-books.
Dd took Dave Ramsey’s high school finance course a couple years ago and it is definitely is a necessary life skill. Economics to me is different than personal finance so we will tackle that during her senior year.
OH, oh, oh, this is my FAVORITE subject to teach! I have tons and tons of stuff, I’ll try not to deluge you. If you want to keep it to a half-credit, I think my favorite option would be the terrific Lessons for the Young Economist by Robert Murphy. There is both a text for students and a teacher guide; you can purchase them OR download them to a device for free (www.mises.org) Some video, like the Stossel videos, would be a great addition. (I love the Stossel videos, but they do not in themselves cover a complete course in economics. They are more like topic-driven. For basic theory you need more.) Have you yet had your student read the Uncle Eric books? Those are fun; there are ones covering economics and ones that are more personal finance, plus more. We LOVE the Free Market Reader as well–there are some very thought-provoking essays in there, some designed just for kids. We have a number of economics courses from The Teaching Company as well; we particularly like the ones by Timothy Taylor, although he is much more mainstream and we are fervent Austrians. Watch out there for the Peter Rodriguqez ones–he’s a Keynesian (sigh).
I also have and definitely recommend Bettina Bien Greaves’ wonderful Free Market Economics: A Reader and Free Market Economics: A Syllabus. Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson is terrific, a modern classic, and Russell Roberts has a trio of “living books” that teach economic principles that are a TERRIFIC go-along and fun to boot. They are The Invisible Heart, The Choice, and The Price of Everything. I HIGHLY recommend these. I think Sonlight uses this.
I also subscribe to content from the Mises Foundation, the Foundation for Economic Education, and the Cato Instutite and send my kids 3-4 articles and essays a week showing various economic principles. The stuff at FEE is especially suited to younger kids, the articles are often very easy to read and entertaining too; Cato is more tied to current policy and current events, and Mises is very theoretical and deep.
Thomas Sowell has two really good economics books out there. Thinkwell has good courses, but very mainstream in approach. And there is an excellent product called Economics in a Box. I know some of the people who worked on this and it is top-notch, and one semester. Here is the link: http://www.economicsinabox.com/ CurrClick Live offers an economics class but I do not know what it is like.
Last and least, I am considering doing some type of course next year online, I’d be “testing out” and doing it for free the first time, if I can find a platform I could use that wouldn’t cost me much. It would definitely be free-market and Austrian in orientation, if that matters.
Good luck, this is a HUGELY important topic.
Julie, I am SOO glad you are teaching your children personal finance and business skills like marketing. Kudos! Great job. However, there ARE reasons to know real economic theory, too. The economic forces out there can wipe out your investments. Inflation can eat away at your returns. Market turmoil in Greece or China can sink your retirement fund. Fluctuations in the dollar can have an effect on land prices. I DO think it critical to know real-world economic theory, so we KNOW WHO TO VOTE FOR!!!!! Believe me, everyone running for office does NOT understand economics, and look what it has brought us. IF we want to be an influence for good in our country, it is CRITICAL (caps x10!) that we understand basics. We need to know about supply and demand. Everyone should understand the Laffer Curve. We all need to know when to buy gold and when not to. We need to know when we are being sold a bill of goods. We need to understand the big picture to influence the leaders in our country and to hedge our risks now. I can give you a couple really good, basic book selections that would give some critically needed info if you like, and I can tell you ones that are particularly easy to read (maybe put a few books on a free-reading list?)
I just taught an Economics class at our co-op using What Ever Happened to Penny Candy? by Richard Maybury. It’s an Uncle Eric book. Great book!
It, by itself, is not really a high school level economics course, though, although it is extremely valuable! We typically read this one in junior high.
Still hoping you get this program running Michelle as it would fit my kids at a great time and I now have high speed internet and could particiapte.
Misty
Thanks, Bookworm, for all the information.
I am considering using the following material. Notebooking, summarizing, and essay writing would be included.
ECONOMICS
The Crash Course (DVD) 20 lessons 3:23
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?
Understanding the Times Chapter 9
The Standard of Value (ebook)
Kahn Academy Macroeconomics 10:40
Kahn Academy Microeconomics 12:00
Kahn Academy Current Economics 3:20
I don’t know the perspective of the Crash Course. Penny Candy is good, but not quite high school level. It is OK for a part. Understanding the Times is a good book all-around. The Khan Academy is a good resource–I have not watched all of them and don’t know the perspective all the way through, though. Instead of Sir Barbour on money, I’d suggest a resource or two from Mises.org–much more up to date, with what we know now from Murray Rothbard added in–poor Sir Barbour lived before Rothbard. LOL I can suggest a couple if you like, and all the books on Mises are free for download. I’d still consider adding in Lessons for Young Economists–also free from the internet, to balance out and make sure your child gets solid grounding in all the major topics, or possibly Economics in One Lesson if you preferred, and I’d do a few essays, like I, Pencil and a few others added in that are now classics. The analogies and explanation used in Lessons and in Economics in One Lesson make them uniquely valuable.
I wondered about the out-of-datedness of Barbour’s book. Thanks.
On the essays,do you mean essays by other people or essays to write? I was already planning on the latter.
And I agree that Penny Candy is not even close to a full course.
My personal plan though is pretty simple. Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover – learn the principles and apply them to our family’s finances over the course of the semester. We’ve had a lot of real life experience with farm/business/marketing…so all together that’s going to be our economics course. I’m sure some will disagree with my approach…but I’m much more concerned about the effect the day to day economics of the home will affect my kids than the world at large. If they learn to manage that well, they’ll weather whatever comes all right and not be contributing to larger economic issues in a negative way – right?! 
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