Sneak Peek #3: New US2 High School Guide

[Carrie]

Ladies,

As we proceed with sharing our new sneak peeks, I have to admit that I am VERY excited about this next selection for our new US2 Guide. We are glad to share that we will be scheduling Dave Ramsey's Foundations in Personal Finance: Homeschool Edition Course within our upcoming guide. After pondering the design and nature of the course, and in looking at the best way to utilize such a course in our guide, we will schedule it as a 1/2 credit of "Finance" on our students' transcripts. We will also be scheduling a selection of projects from the course that work best in a homeschool setting, keeping the course manageable and in balance with the rest of our guide.

Since we also plan to schedule 1/2 credit of "Economics" within the upcoming US2 guide, doing Foundations in Personal Finance for "Finance" will allow the two courses to dovetail well. One course will actually lead to a fuller understanding of the other course allowing the courses to enrich one another.

Many states allow the option of pursuing credit in either Economics or Finance, so for families in those states a choice between Economics and Finance is possible. Also, for those families who already may have earned credit in economics earlier outside of HOD, Foundations in Personal Finance will be a wonderful extension of that learning. For families with time constraints who desire to pursue only one economics/finance course, and who are not in a state where earning credit in either area is acceptable, we would suggest doing the economics option first as this in the most common required course. We will be sharing our Economics sneak peek in coming weeks.

At our house, we are excited for our own sons to not only gain a broad understanding of Economics, but we also desire for our sons to learn about personal finance and how this will affect them in the day-to-day. This means we are looking forward to having our sons complete both the Economics and the Finance courses from our upcoming guide.

Here is the publisher's description of Foundations in Personal Finance:
Ensure your high school students graduate with the financial smarts they need to transition into saavy consumers! The Foundations in Personal Finance for Homeschool course is a complete, dynamic, high school curriculum that teaches students about saving, investing, credit, debt, money management, and more from a biblical perspective. Specifically licensed and designed for homeschool use only, the set includes:

*Teacher's Edition on CD-ROM: This brand new addition to the Foundations in Personal Finance for Homeschool curriculum is a 160-page digital teacher guide on CD-ROM with more than 35 activities, case studies, and assessments.
*Instructional Videos: This set of 5 DVDs offers more than 12 hours of engaging instruction taught by Dave Ramsey, Rachel Cruze and Chris Hogan.
*Student Text: The Foundations in Personal Finance for Homeschool Student Text is a comprehensive, 288-page student soft-cover consumable.
*foundationsU Blended Learning Site: The Foundations in Personal Finance for Homeschool curriculum comes with access to a blended learning site. FoundationsU.com is full of interactive tools, relevant articles, and real-world activities on a student-focused website designed for all devices.

Foundations in Personal Finance: High School Edition for Homeschool is designed in four distinct units. Each unit contains three chapters taught on video by Dave Ramsey and his team of experts. The instructors creatively weave together humor and real-life stories that educate and reinforce sound principles of managing money. While watching on video, students follow along using the student text. Units and Chapters within the program are as follows:

Unit 1: Saving and Budgeting
Chapter 1: Introduction to Personal Finance
Introduces the topic of personal finance, explores the evolution of the American credit industry, and highlights the importance of both knowledge and behavior when it comes to managing money.
Chapter 2: Saving
Emphasizes the importance of saving and explains the three reasons to save: emergencies, large purchases, and wealth building.
Chapter 3: Budgeting
Explores the purpose and process of writing a budget and the basics of banking, including balancing and reconciling a checking account.

Unit 2: Credit & Debt
Chapter 4: Debt
Identifies the devastating costs of using debt as a financial tool, debunks credit myths, explains the elements of a credit score, identifies organizations that maintain consumer credit records, and summarizes major consumer credit laws.
Chapter 5: Life After High School
Explores 21st Century post-secondary education and career options, highlights the importance of avoiding debt as a young adult, and explains how to cash flow a college education.
Chapter 6: Consumer Awareness
Identifies factors that influence consumer behavior and the effect of inflation on buying power.

Unit 3: Financial Planning & Insurance
Chapter 7: Bargain Shopping
Highlights the importance of bargain shopping as part of a healthy financial plan and identifies important negotiation strategies.
Chapter 8: Investing & Retirement
Establishes basic investing guidelines, describes and compares various types of investments, and identifies elements of employer benefits and retirement plans.
Chapter 9: Insurance
Identifies the purpose of financial risk management as well as the appropriate and most cost-effective risk management strategies.

Unit 4: Income, Taxes, & Giving
Chapter 10: Money & Relationships
Identifies the differences among people's values and attitudes as they relate to money and highlights communication strategies for discussing financial issues.
Chapter 11: Careers & Taxes
Examines the importance of pursuing a career in line with your strengths, the elements of effective goal setting, the best practices of successful people, and types of income and taxes.
Chapter 12: Giving
Highlights the importance of giving of your time, talents, and money in order to serve others and leave a lasting legacy.

See a Sample of Chapter 1 of the Student Text at the following link: https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/1611/26335/ ... ol_ch1.pdf

See a Sample Lesson Plan from the Teacher's Guide at the following link: https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/1611/26335/ ... onPlan.pdf

We used this course with our oldest son for his senior year of high school and were very impressed with the content and with the knowledge and practical application that he gained from completing this course. Now that our oldest son is 20, we see him reaping the benefits of the personal finance structure he developed during his time spent studying Foundations in Personal Finance with Dave Ramsey. This course is in a new updated edition now, and we are thrilled for our second son to be on the verge of experiencing it too. We pray you may be excited by this course selection as well!

Blessings,
Carrie

[rumkimom]

That wounds wonderful!! Too bad my kids will not be able to complete all the guides by the time they graduate High School. My youngest might but that is it. <sigh> My husband and I recently went though Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and sure wish we had come on it back when we first got married......

[Nealewill]

I am also very excited to see this. Rumkimom - my son probably won't do all of the guides either but in Ohio, we are required to complete personal finance and economics. One of my current alternatives is that my son would take Econ one summer and Personal Finance the other. Alternatively, I would be willing to drop the living library on his final guide if that first alternative was not an option for whatever reason.

On a side note - I read the sample student pages and I never realized that Dave Ramsey actually went through a tough financial time. It was so encouraging for me to read that. Many times experts offer good, solid advice but you sometimes wonder if they ever actual experienced the pit falls. I am so thankful that this Godly man was humbled, learned from his past, sought the Lord, and is now sharing God's wisdom on provision.

[LynnH]

I love this course offering also. I have always wanted him to do Dave Ramsey. It looks like I have some thinking to do though. Ohio does require economics and personal finance, but they don't state how many credits it has to be. Looking at our local school district they combine both things into one 1/2 credit course.

[momtofive]

So glad to see this course was chosen for personal finance in the last guide!! I had already decided to use this resource, so it's exciting that it'll already be scheduled into the guide!!

Can't wait to see more sneak peeks!

[mamanlait]

I am so excited about this pick! We are one of the many families who have been blessed by Dave Ramsey's ministry. I can't wait to see what advice on money management he has for teens! I shared the topics with dd today as I was reading about it and she said, "Wow! This is great! This is some really practical stuff!"