With the Advanced Placement Economics class, economics is taught more in high schools today than it was in the past. This means that many parents who are homeschooling may not actually have ever had a class in this area. Because many approach this subject feeling that they need extra background, this article will help you get started. One thing you should definitely do is find out about any curriculum guidance your state may supply for this course. You can find your state’s department of education site listed here at the United States Department of Education site: nces.ed.gov
The National Standards and Homeschool Economics
The national standards for homeschool economics couches the standards briefly as topics or subjects, and then extends the explanation. Here are the twenty topics:
Standard 1: Scarcity
Standard 2: Marginal Cost/Benefit
Standard 3: Allocation of Goods and Services
Standard 4: Role of Incentives
Standard 5: Gain from Trade
Standard 6: Specialization and Trade
Standard 7: Markets – Price and Quantity Determination
Standard 8: Role of Price in Market System
Standard 9: Role of Competition
Standard 10: Role of Economic Institutions
Standard 11: Role of Money
Standard 12: Role of Interest Rates
Standard 13: Role of Resources in Determining Income
Standard 14: Profit and the Entrepreneur
Standard 15: Growth
Standard 16: Role of Government
Standard 17: Using Cost/Benefit Analysis to Evaluate Government Programs
Standard 18: Macroeconomy-Income/Employment, Prices
Standard 19: Unemployment and Inflation
Standard 20: Monetary and Fiscal Policy
The more you already know about economics, the more this will mean to you. But if there are a number of these topics that you don’t feel you comfortably understand, you may wish to educate yourself before teaching your child. Another approach you can entertain is having your child take this particular course either through a local school, as on online course, or find a tutor.
References for Homeschool Economics
Since economics is generally offered as an Advanced Placement course, the College Board website is a good resource: collegeboard.com Here you can find the course descriptions for Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, a topic outline of the field, and information about the exam. In addition, the College Board store offers an AP Economics Teacher’s Guide, as well as a printed copy of the course description. You can also find reference material at the Council for Economics Education website: councilforeconed.org
Other references might include classics of economics, such as Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom, Thorstein B. Veblen’sThe Theory of the Leisure Class, Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto, works by John Maynard Keynes, etc.
Supplies for Homeschool Economics
Supplies for homeschool economics might include a calculator and subscriptions or access to business papers and journals, such as the Wall Street Journal, national and local business magazines, etc.
Web Resources for Homeschool Economics
With it’s minute-by-minute reporting, the Internet is an interesting place to watch markets and economic news. You may find these sites useful:
The Wall Street Journal: online.wsj.com
Bloomberg.com
Crain’s New York Business: crainsnewyork.com
Business Week: businessweek.com
Federal Reserve Board: federalreserve.gov
In addition, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Open Courseware project offers a number of resources in the area of economics, including undergraduate course material that might be adapted to your homeschool: ocw.mit.edu
Projects for Homeschool Economics
Children’s understanding of economics usually begins with an understanding of money, which is often fostered by an allowance for which they plan. This is more a fact of life for many people, than a “project.” Projects include:
- coming to understand the household budget
- learning how income tax forms are completed
- doing the family grocery shopping, given parameters and a limit
- planning a family vacation within a certain cost
- helping shop for important family purchases
- investing or pretending to invest a small sum of money in stocks and following their progress
Field Trips for Homeschool Economics
Homeschool field trip possibilities may be a bit more limited in economics than in art, but here are a few ideas:
- visit the Federal Reserve Board (for real and/or virtual tours, go to – federalreserve.gov for more information)
- arrange for a tour of several local banks to compare and contrast their offerings and operations
- shadow an accountant
- arrange to visit H&R Block or another tax preparation company
