Required class for son’s HS- could take in middle school or test out. Son took the test at one point- borrowed the book used. Saved him from a boring semester but I suspect he may have missed some pearls while getting an A instead of some unkown passing grade. All moot now as he does just fine in the real world, managing mundane matters.
I’m in NC and think it’s a great idea. My kids do too. I can see how it would be bad if it’s a crappy curriculum, though.
I think it should count as a Math. I know that’s not popular with the math-y kids, but it is math. Maybe kids on an accelerated math track could test out of it like wis75’s son?
My kid’s school currently requires 4 history/social studies so I am not sure how that is going to work for my high school sophomore who now is in American History I Honors and wants to take APUSH and has to take Civics. It’s kinda weird that she had to take American History I in 10th grade and then take APUSH in 11th, but that’s the way they do it at her school. Maybe she will be able to take the Personal Finance over the summer, but she sure won’t like that idea!
Does anyone think AP Economics may check off the box for the new personal finance portion of the NC curriculum (similar to how APUSH covers the history portion)?
As mentioned above, in NJ AP Econ meets the personal finance requirement.
AP economics would not really cover personal finance topics, unless they were specifically added to the typical introductory economics syllabus.
A personal finance course would not really be math, but it would be desirable if students know enough math like exponential functions (easier to understand compound interest).
It would be desirable if there were a test-out option, since some students could self-learn much or all of it on their own.
But then much of personal finance success or struggles has to do with factors other than knowing the mechanics of how loans and investments work, etc… One’s spending habits and tendencies and certain types of luck (e.g. big medical bills) are major factors.
My D’s econ class had a personal finance segment built into the curriculum.
My kids got personal finance in gym/guidance. I agree that depending on the curriculum and how it’s taught, it could easily be a huge waste of time. My kids learned it in scouts, 2nd grade, 5th grade and then 9th grade. They never had nor needed an entire year devoted to it.
It’s interesting the article in the 1st post quoted 47 other states—let me guess they don’t bother with the last two added to the Union, HI and Alaska? Maybe that would be covered in the 2nd year of US history.