I want my ds16 to do a project requiring him to budget living on his own--starting salary, housing costs, car expenses, groceries, as well as managing those emergencies that pop up. I can create one on my one, but does anyone know of anything already out there?
Dave Ramsey uses a detailed budget in his courses. Maybe you can find those worksheets online somewhere.
Dave Ramsey does have a homeschool curriculum:http://www.christianbook.com/founda...code=WW&netp_id=959693&event=HPT&view=details There is also this book Everyday Survival Skills: Money, Matters, Meeting Daily Needs, and Careers: http://www.christianbook.com/everyd...code=WW&netp_id=427535&event=HPT&view=details
I'm going to check into those, but I'm really thinking more than just a written assignment. I want him to have to search want ads for a job, write a resume, find out the starting salary, find an affordable place to live, budget for regular expenses, but then throughout the study, throw life catastrophes at him (sickness, car repairs, etc) so he can really get a better feel for what really happens in life.
I did this in PS when I was in 7th grade. It is one of my fondest memories of middle school. This is what I remember. It was a full semester. It was a great learning tool.. and this was back before computers. We did everything with newspapers and at the school library. We had to decide what we wanted to do "when we grew up". We had to make a resume then search the newspaper for a job. After we found a job, we had to find an apartment (again, by searching the newspaper). After we had a job and a place to live (no living with our parents) we had to find a car. Then we had to set up our monthly bills. We had to figure out how much our electric bill would be, gas, gas for the car (or bus tokens for the kids that dreamed big and decided to move to Chicago) etc. Back in those days, cable tv was brand new, there was no internet and we never ever thought we would be able to talk on the phone outside of the kitchen or bedroom... no cell phones). We had to budget groceries, toiletries, etc. Every week for the semester, our teacher would throw some kind of catastrophe at us. A couple people would get "sick" and miss two days of work and since we were new to our "jobs" we didn't get paid. Or, he would pick another student to have a broken down car and it would cost $50 to fix. For extra credit, a few students, me included, started out this lesson with "college loans". I hope this helps. My oldest daughter is in PS but I was thinking of having her do this for fun. Just to see what she comes up with and how she does.
That's exactly what I'm talking about! I did a similar project in 8th grade, and like you, I still remember it! Some of us did have partners who we were "married" to, but my goal for him is to see what it takes to live on your own.
Sounds like lots of fun. Do you remember when the Cosby's had Theo live in the house using Monopoly money?
maybe take a look at the "store" maths from simplycharlottemason for some ideas. Gosh I haven't heard of that math in years, wonder if they even sell it any more.
This sounds like a board game wanting to be created. Message me if you do not find what you re looking for maybe I will write one for my kids and let you test drive it?
There is a fun board game called Cash Flow by Rich Dad Poor Dad. The goal is to get out of the rat race (40 hr per week job), and I think it's a great tool for teaching these lessons!
economics I had to do this exact assignment in high school economics. We had to do everything you mentioned. We had like 9 weeks to do this assignment. It was so much fun and a real eye opener. We had to look at newspapers and find jobs and careers that we were "qualified" for with the type of career that our teacher gave us. We had to either buy a car or use public transport and had to budget all of our money for like two months. It is one of the assignments that I remember the most and one that I learned so much from. We had to turn in a paper every one or two weeks on what we were doing, and if we thought we were within budget and everything. We even had pretend checks and had to balance our checkbooks.
Another fun tie in would be a project I did in high school -- we had to plan a trip somewhere. I cannot remember all the details, but I remember having a budget and having to draw out the trip on a map. I guess it had to be in the US and had to be a road trip, unless there were different budgets handed out. Choosing places to stay along the way and budgeting for that as well as budgeting for food and gas. So, we actually choose the actual restaurants and locations we would eat, etc. Additionally, we had to factor in how many hours were reasonable for a day's travel, including stopping for activities and/or staying in one spot to sightsee for a couple days. Which of course naturally progressed to how many miles to a gallon of gas for the vehicle and thus how much money was spent on gas and how often / when to stop for fillups. This was before the internet, so I'm not totally sure how we did all this! :lol: It would be a really easy, yet educational project now with the internet at the child's disposal! I remember really having fun with this project.
I love that idea, Mkel!! I actually might do that as a group project with my younger three. I'm putting together a list of ideas. I'll post it and get feedback.
