Economics Education for the Homeschool Parent
My son Alex always LOVED economics when we were homeschooling. He actually studied it for fun throughout high school. I think he's read every economics book out there!
Not me. I'm not a fan of economics. It was one of two classes in college that I had to retake. In God's cosmic sense of humor, somehow I ended up with a son getting a degree in economics.
Alex is a senior majoring in Political Economy, and he recently gave me the "thumbs up" on Economics in a Box. It's a literature-based class, with a LOT of reading. It may not be a good fit if your child doesn't like reading - or if they have already decided to hate economics.
Economics is a surprisingly political subject, with worldviews closely tied to the subject. Economics in a Box is taught from a distinctly free market approach, which tends to be the conservative viewpoint. I haven't used it, but I get the economics question a lot, so I thought I should say something about it. I wrote a blog post on economics for beginners here.
The curriculum doesn't include a Biblical component, though. Conservatives may want to include a book that brings faith into the subject. Many homeschoolers have seen Jay Richard's video, "The Privileged Planet".
Those homeschoolers might want to look at Jay Richard's book, "Money, Greed, and God" - and NOT just because he mentions Alex in the forward!
Most high school economics classes are 1/2 credit. Since American Government is usually 1/2 credit as well, they are sometimes done in the same year. You can do economics in a whole credit year if you want to. Homeschoolers have a lot of flexibility.
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