Name: Spreading the Feast Gathering
Start: 2025-07-11T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-07-12T23:59:59-05:00
Location: LaGrange, KY

Tagged: economics, free market, Jonathan Gullible, personal finance, Russell Robert, Russell Roberts, uncle eric

This topic has 14 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 10 months ago by missingtheshire.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)

Author
Posts
August 2, 2011 at 2:19 pm
pjssully
Participant
ThanksSO much for the responses-wondering if either of you used the study guides.
thanks
pam
August 2, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Rachel White
Participant
I’m not Bookworm or Shire-Linda, but I’m planning on using Whatever Happened to Penny Candy with it’s Economics study guide with my 11 yr. old next year, along with the Free Market reader that goes along with it. I’m sure it’s not necessary, since we do narrations, but it’s more for me in this, an area of weakness.
May I also suggest a free market living book? It’s called
The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey
It’s also available at Amazon.
For my 11 yr. old ds, he will read …Gullible first, then …Penny Candy + study guide and then The Free Market Reader.
HTH,
Rachel
August 2, 2011 at 3:38 pm
Bookworm
Participant
Pam, I personally thought the study guides were twaddley and workbook-y and did not use them. I use LOTS of other resources for economics, though, since it is one of the things I studied and worked in “Before Children”. Penny Candy is really just a very, very basic beginning into economics, and we do lots of other things too. I have a list of several living books, nonfiction books, videos, and even a link to “Economics in a Box” put together by a free-market organization. I can share if anyone is interested but what I use is VERY libertarian-Austrian leaning.
August 2, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Rachel White
Participant
Bookworm,
I would appreciate that list of resources as we are Conservatives with strong Libertarian leanings. Jonathan Gullible was written by a Libertarian, too.
Thanks,
Rachel
August 2, 2011 at 4:08 pm
Bookworm
Participant
Sure!
Here are our books and videos:
Economics, 3rd Edition. The Teaching Company, 36 half-hour DVD lectures. Professor Timothy Taylor of Macalester.
Economics: A Free Market Reader. Ed. Jane A. Williams and Kathryn Daniels. Bluestocking Press, 2004.
Economics in One Lesson. Harry Hazlitt. Crown Publishers, 1979.
The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance. Russell Roberts, MIT Press, 2002.
The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity. Russell Roberts. Princeton University Press, 2009.
The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protection. Russell Roberts. Prentice Hall 2006.
Regular readings from The Freeman, a monthly publication of the Foundation for Economic Education.
In addition, we just this year found the FANTASTIC text, Lessons for the Young Economist, by Robert P. Murphy, from the Mises Foundation (not sure if it’s available elsewhere yet) This alone would make a fantastic stand-alone course. It’s one of the best things I’ve seen. Really, really solid, yet easy to read.
We’ve also done many more lecture series from The Teaching Company but they are sort of niche products for the highly interested. There are many, many very good books at the Mises Foundation, and the Foundation for Economic Education’s excellent publication The Freeman is available for free on the internet. I read articles and send them to the boys for reading and discussion. Plus we get to watch in LIVING COLOR how real-life choices affect the economy; we’ve been seeing exactly how Keynesianism works in real-time as we watch what Washington does and how it affects the economy. Couldn’t be a better case study anywhere!
August 2, 2011 at 4:16 pm
Bookworm
Participant
Oh, I forgot the Economics in a Box link! Here it is. We already have many of these resources and they are all excellent.
http://www.economicsinabox.com/learn_inthebox.php

August 2, 2011 at 4:42 pm
Rachel White
Participant
Plus we get to watch in LIVING COLOR how real-life choices affect the economy; we’ve been seeing exactly how Keynesianism works in real-time as we watch what Washington does and how it affects the economy. Couldn’t be a better case study anywhere!
No kidding! Though it’s a valuable lesson for those with sense, it’s one that I hope we will come out of before it’s too late.
Thank you for all the resources; I will save these. Though my son will be only 11 next year when we begin Penny Candy, he wants further knowledge; our home is filled with daily discussion and we are politically involved. My son (10.5 now) asked me last night “So, mom, did they raise the debt ceiling?”
Rachel
August 2, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Misty
Participant
So what would your suggesions be for a family who is not “up” on economics. I mean I know how I have to run a house and what happens if I over spend. But that’s all I think of when I hear economics, which is not the tip of what it is.
So where would you start? What age? And to teach a basic approach?
August 2, 2011 at 7:08 pm
Bookworm
Participant
Misty, where I started was just starting the Uncle Eric books, reading and narrating and discussing, in 7th-8th-9th grades. This is really easy and can cover personal development topics, some economics, some basic political theory. We just started at the first one and read 20-30 minutes weekly on them until we’d read through them all. Then in high school, I would plan at least a semester course for junior or senior year using perhaps a basic text like Lessons for Young Economists plus a couple of the additional living books as interested. That should do for a basic course. If someone gets more interested and wants to do more, then you could add in a video portion (the Teaching Company ones are good, and John Stossel from TV has an excellent series as well). and maybe a couple extra books or readings if you wanted. But I’d keep it simple unless there was interest. Of course it’s an interesting topic and both my kids went kind of nuts after reading the Uncle Eric books and wanted more. So we’ve done a lot more.
August 2, 2011 at 8:31 pm
Rachel White
Participant
Speaking of Stossel; he has a lot of free educational materials at his website:http://stosselintheclassroom.org/
On the personal finances front, managing money, etc…I’m looking at Larry Burkett’s book for my young ones as a simple intro. to personal management besides what we already teach of tzedakah (charity), tithing, saving and spending.
http://www.christianbook.com/money-matters-for-kids-new-edition/larry-burkett/9780802446350/pd/46353?event=WL&item_code=WW
Rachel
August 3, 2011 at 11:53 am
Misty
Participant
thanks ladies! Can I have a retreat with Bookworm and Rachel??? PLEASE the two of you are always answering my unending questions.
So what’s the 1st Uncle Eric book?
August 3, 2011 at 1:17 pm
Bookworm
Participant
Uncle Eric Talks About Personal, Career, and Financial Security
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy
Whatever Happened to Justice and
Are You Liberal? Conservative? or Confused? are the first 4.
August 3, 2011 at 3:26 pm
Misty
Participant
Great and you say you do these books at night as a family? Like once a week? Just start around 7th grade and keep moving on. Sounds good. Is there a good place to get them cheap? I will look at a few spots but if I can’t find them any suggestions. Thanks
August 3, 2011 at 3:42 pm
Bookworm
Participant
I got about half of them on paperbackswap. I picked up a few used on Amazon. I had to buy a couple of them new, I did this at a discount paperback place that comes to my state’s convention.
August 3, 2011 at 4:07 pm
missingtheshire
Member
We went through all the Uncle Eric books and loved Jonathan Gullible as well. We also read a book Called Honest Money by Christian Liberty Press which we enjoyed and Hazlitt’s economics book. We read a lot of the things recommended over at HEO as well. Economics is fascinating and the girls have enjoyed the study. We enjoy Stossel as well and have followed the debt debate as well. Unfortunately the government does not set a good example to our young people when it comes to debt and overspending. They are more an example of how not to handle your finances! We found Math U See Stewardship a very useful course as well, along with Dave Ramsey’s Foundations in Personal Finance. We started in 9th grade and have done some each year. Linda