PersonFinanceLab.com - Crew Review

 

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

PersonalFinanceLab.com promotes and encourages financial literacy with its PersonalFinanceLab Budgeting Game, Stock Market Game, and integrated curriculum. In the game, students take on the role of a young adult with their first job and manage a budget. Each day takes two dice rolls, one for AM and one for PM. The game uses real life scenarios, even unexpected emergencies, to teach students how to manage money.

The game has integrated curriculum that meets National Standards. When these math lessons pop up, the student cannot move on until the answer is correct. Students simply read through the lesson and enter their answer.

As students earn an income, the game prompts them to deposit their check.

The game also teaches responsibility. Recurring monthly bills need to be paid and the game includes a late fee if you don’t pay on time. I really like how the students cash flow is shown in green and the cash outflow is shown in red. For a visual learner, this really helps them see how well they are managing their money.

Throughout the game, students will have some extra time and they are asked how they will use this time. Based on their answer, they could receive an extra income or they could pay an expense.

What I love the most about this budget game is that it really teaches students how to make financial decisions. Throughout the game, they are managing cash and credit cards. They are paying bills and unexpected life events. They are learning about bank statements, credit card statements, pay stubs and more. And then there is the stock game where students can trade stock. This only adds to their learning of personal finance, economics, business, or entrepreneurship.

Visit the Crew Blog to read more reviews from the Homeschool Review Crew.

Using Literature to Teach American History in High School

 

Many of us use a curriculum to teach history; but using literature to teach history can be a great teaching tool. I am continuing this history literature series with some of the best books to teach American history. Using literature to teach history illuminates the time period, helps integrate the history curriculum, and enriches social studies. With my love for literature and history, it only makes sense to combine the two, so I have gathered some of my favorite books that teach American history in high school.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is a moving portrayal of slave experience. Stowe shows us in scenes of great dramatic power the human effects of an economic system in which slaves were property: the break up of families, the struggles for freedom, the horrors of plantation labor. She brings into fiction the different voices of the emerging American nation, the Southern slave-owning classes, Northern abolitionists, children, the sorrow songs and dialect of the slaves, as well as the language of political debate and religious zeal. A classic that should not be missed in a study of the Civil War.

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane was published thirty years after the Civil War. This classic tells a war story in a thoroughly modern way. Through the eyes of ordinary soldier Henry Fleming, we follow his psychological turmoil, from the excitement of patriotism to the bloody realities of battle and his flight from it. In the end, he overcomes his fear and disillusionment, and fights with courage.

Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith is a story of a lesser-known part of the Civil War, the Western campaign, a part different in its issues and its problems, and fought with a different savagery. The story of Jeff Bussey, a Union recruit who is given the opportunity to see the war from both sides, and must make some difficult choices in the process.

No Promises in the Wind by Irene Hunt is the story of a young man’s struggle to find a life for himself in the turbulent 1930s. In 1932, America was in the depths of a deep depression. A job, food to fill you, a place to sleep, and shoes without holes – for millions of people, these simple needs were nothing more than a dream. At 15 years of age, Josh had to make his own way through a country of angry, frightened people.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is an unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it. The place of this story is Maycomb, Alabama. The time is the Depression, but Scout and her brother Jem are seldom depressed. They have appalling gifts for entertaining themselves, appalling to almost everyone except their wise lawyer father, Atticus. Atticus is a man of unfaltering good will and humor, and partly because of this, the children become involved in some disturbing adult mysteries: fascinating Boo Radley, who never leaves his house; the terrible temper of Mrs. Dubose down the street; the fine distinctions that make the Finch family ‘quality’; the forces that cause the people of Maycomb to show compassion in one crisis and unreasoning cruelty in another. Also because Atticus is what he is, and because he lives where he does, he and his children are plunged into conflict that indelibly marks their lives – and gives Scout some basis for thinking she knows just about as much about the world as she needs to.

These are only a few of my favorite books that teach American history, there are so many more out there! Feel free to share in the comments what you consider the best book to teach American history.

Happy Homeschooling!

Help! How Do I Evaluate My Student's Progress?

 

Help! How do I evaluate my student’s progress? Many homeschool families use a testing service for a variety of reasons: to determine an appropriate grade level curriculum, to evaluate their student’s progress, or to fulfill a state requirement. Unfortunately, many services require an official to supervise the test-taking progress. In response, Christian Liberty offers its own testing service that will provide you with the results you need, but without the hassle of finding a proctor “authorized” to administer the test.

The California Achievement Test (CAT) is a nationally recognized achievement test for students entering grades 2-12 and can be taken online or in the traditional paper format. The online version is taken on your computer and can be purchased directly from www.christianliberty.com. The results are available immediately upon completion. The paper version is mailed to you and can be purchased directly from the website or by phone. Once completed, the test must be returned to Christian Liberty for scoring. The results are then mailed to you.

There are five different levels of the CAT, each of which is designed for a specific range of grade levels. Level 1 is for students entering grade 2. Level 2 is for students entering grade 3. Level 3 is for students entering grades 4-6. Level 4 is for students entering grades 7-9. Level 5 is for students entering grades 10-12. Each test level provides scores for the following seven subject areas: reading vocabulary, reading comprehension, mathematic computation, mathematic concepts and problems, language mechanics, language usage and structure, and language spelling.

Test results are reported in grade equivalent, stanine, and percentile formats. Grade equivalent scores represent the grade level of each student’s ability when compared to the median average score of other students at the same academic level. Scores outside the student’s actual grade level do not necessarily mean the student should be moved to another grade level. For example, if a 5^th grader scored a 7.5, this does not mean he is ready for the 7^th grade. Rather, it means that the student understands some of the concepts that the average 7^th grader knows, and is advanced compared to his peers. Stanine scores are used mostly by test evaluators for calculation and statistic purposes. Derived from the term “standard of nine” the results are based on mean averages and standard deviations. In general terms, scores of 1-3 indicate below average achievement, scores of 4-6 are average, and scores of 7-9 are above average. The percentile scores represent a ranking of the student within a norm group. For example, a score of 73 means that the student did better than 73% of all students in the group. It does not refer to the number of questions answered correctly.

The CAT provides a basis of measurement for how well the homeschool student has progressed. It is recommended that students take an achievement test annually to evaluate the success of your home education, as well as being a valuable indicator that school is actually taking place in a bona fide and successful manner.

Happy Homeschooling!