Sara Hayes

Sara’s Top Picks for Homeschool Financial Literacy Courses

Here are Sara’s top picks for homeschool Financial Literacy courses. (I asked Sara to share about the books she uses when she teaches our homeschool financial literacy group class.-Vicki)

Sara’s Top Picks for Homeschool Financial Literacy Courses

Hands-down winner for filling that Consumer Math credit while learning valuable Financial Literacy LIFE skills:

Financial Literacy from a Christian Perspective by, well…me. I wouldn’t have written it if I didn’t feel passionately that it was material that would deeply enrich learning for teens before they launch into independent adult life!

Do you want your child to be self-sufficient when he or she reaches adulthood? Do you want your student to avoid some of the financial mistakes common to our society?

Financial Literacy: an important part of high school life preparation and career exploration

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7Sisters’ Financial Literacy high school curriculum is just what you need!

Financial Literacy from a Christian Perspective is designed to introduce teens to the world of personal finance through textbook instruction, online articles and videos, interactive exercises, and more! Students are encouraged to immediately apply some of the concepts they learn and are introduced to other financial topics which will become a part of their lives in just a few short years.

Included in each chapter is a focus on God-honoring attitudes and practices. Additionally, parents are given the opportunity to share their knowledge, experience, and tips on financial matters via numerous assignments throughout the book.

Why settle for Consumer Math when a Financial Literacy high school curriculum prepares your teen for LIFE?

This practical guide to understanding personal finance is easy to use, fun, and written at a college-prep level. Instructions are included to tailor the course to any of these levels: average high school, college prep, advanced, or honors.

Financial Literacy from a Christian Perspective may be completed independently by a homeschooling high school teen or with parental involvement. It has also been successfully used in a classroom/group setting.

This financial literacy high school curriculum can be completed to fulfill the consumer math/financial literacy (math credit) required by some states.

Financial Literacy from a Christian Perspective, a one-credit high school e-text, is downloaded via four .pdf files. (In order to access all features of these documents, open them in Adobe Reader.)

* Two Student .pdf files:

1) Textbook (including Study Sheets at the end of the chapters) and Appendix:

A) Suggestions for Further Reading

B) Tax Forms Appendix: Links for some tax documents and instructions for accessing attached tax documents

2) Worksheets

* Two Parent .pdf files:

1) Answer Keys for Chapter Questions, Worksheets, and Tests

2) Chapter Tests

The topics in the nine chapters of this Financial Literacy high school curriculum include:

Money – The Basics
Setting Financial Goals

How Values Affect Goals

S.M.A.R.T Goals

Financial Strategy for Achieving Goals

Budgeting

Limited Resources

The Budget – Freedom within Safe Bounds

Income and Expenses

Keeping Your Spending on Track with Your Budget

Saving and Investing

The Time Value of Money

Simple and Compound Interest

Investments: Risks and Rewards

Credit

Revolving and Installment Loans

Benefits and Risks of Credit

Amortizing Loans

Your Credit Report and Credit Score

Debt

Financial Institutions and the Services They Provide

Banks and Credit Unions

Checks

Debit Cards

Bank Statements & Balancing Your Checkbook

Identity Theft

Insurance

Automobile Insurance

Health Insurance

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

Renter’s/Homeowner’s Insurance

Your Career

Help for Choosing Your Career

Education and Career Opportunities

Payroll Deductions and Employee Benefits

Christian Work Ethic

Taxes

Record Keeping

Three Federal Income Tax Forms

Tax Returns: Experience with Each Form

Click here to view the Table of Contents and How to Use This Book.

Click here to view an excerpt from the text.

Click here to view a sample Worksheet and Worksheet Answer Key.

Click here to view a sample Study Sheet and Test.

It’s a completely safe purchase because as always we offer a 10-Day No-Questions-Asked Money-Back Guarantee on all 7 Sisters EBook curriculum.

Sara’s Top Picks for Homeschool Financial Literacy Courses: Other books

As far as supplemental books, I also like these two and find that my students learn a lot from reading them:

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What does God’s Word say about money and our attitude toward it? This is how we start our school year, and Larry Burkett has a book on this topic: The Word on Finances.

Crown Financial Ministries has an excellent website containing books and other resources from the basics of budgeting to

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more advanced financial guidance, all from a Christian perspective: http://www.crown.org/

One of the books my students enjoy reading is Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki . He also has a teen edition, but my students think it is written at too low a level and prefer the regular edition.

What are some books that have inspired your homeschool family to be good stewards of financial resources?

BTW- This is not a sponsored post- just shared ideas.

Click here to read what Sara’s son, Luke, has to say about Financial Literacy and how it has helped him.

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Download some free resources for building your vibrant homeschool community!

There are whitepapers on starting co-ops, support groups, and drama clubs. Also check out Carry Each Other’s Burdens- how to genuinely help someone who is experiencing difficult times.

Sara’s Top Picks for Homeschool Financial Literacy Courses

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Yes to the Dress? Why Should Homeschoolers Study Financial Literacy?

Sara, the author of 7Sisters’ Financial Literacy course shares: Yes to the Dress? Why Should Homeschoolers Study Financial Literacy?

Yes to the Dress? Why Should Homeschoolers Study Financial Literacy?

Sara’s son and lovely bride

Have you ever watched “Say ‘Yes’ to the Dress”? In this ‘reality’ television show, brides visit Manhattan’s famous Kleinfeld Bridal boutique to find their perfect wedding dress. Frequently, a bride’s dream dress is priced sky-high above her budget, and she will choose to blow her budget completely rather than settle for something less than that one dress that has captured her heart. Sadly, this lack of firm resolve and long-term financial planning doesn’t bode well for the days ahead.

As much as we’d all like our every dream to come true, real life tells us we simply cannot always afford the top-of-the-line, newest, latest electronics/cars/fashions. In fact, the opposite may be true; at times we may have only enough money to supply our basic needs – forget the ‘wants’ entirely!

As your children graduate high school and move on to college and ‘real life’, you (and they) will be thankful if they have learned the difference between needs and wants, and how to master their money, rather than being mastered by it.

This is the purpose of a financial literacy course. Our homeschool group classes provide such a course to our high school juniors and seniors, those whose college/ employment years lie just around the corner. These students are introduced to the basic concepts of budgeting and are taught to carefully plan the use of their money based on their values and long-range plans. The normal day-to-day financial realities they’ll be faced with as adults are presented (insurance, taxes, saving and investing options), with special emphasis on the wise use of credit opportunities (credit cards, loans, mortgages) while avoiding credit pitfalls (overspending, burdensome debt).

The Sisters at the wedding of Sabrina’s daughter and Marilyn’s son.

7Sisters Financial Literacy course begins with searching out God’s standard regarding our attitudes toward money, and we apply Biblical principles throughout each unit. For example, what is our responsibility to God as stewards of His money? What does the Bible teach in the areas of tithing and giving to the poor? What spiritual pitfalls should we carefully avoid as we seek to wisely invest our money?

Financial Literacy from a Christian Perspective

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Parents play an important role in our Financial Literacy course as they discuss numerous financial topics with their students in homework assignments throughout the school year: their convictions on tithing, their choice of financial institutions and insurance companies, their budgeting tips, the employee benefits they receive, and many other topics related to financial decisions and situations their children will eventually face. These topics may not come up in normal conversation at home, yet parents who have years of experience handling financial responsibilities can give wise guidance to their children.

Vicki’s oldest and precious bride

Watching a young bride on television grossly overspend on her wedding dress is bad enough; how much greater our dismay would be to watch our own children handle money without wisdom and self-discipline. As parents, we can model responsibility and discipline in our own financial decisions, talk with our children about money matters as they come up in daily life, and provide a financial literacy course to equip our children to be responsible adults who manage their money wisely.

Download Financial Literacy from a Christian Perspective for your homeschool high schoolers and help them be well prepared for future weddings (and all those other financial needs).

Yes to the Dress? Why Should Homeschoolers Study Financial Literacy?

What I Look for in a Great Homeschool Algebra Curriculum

As an algebra teacher looking forward to the coming school year at our homeschool co-op, I’ve been searching for my “dream curriculum” for Algebra I, one that would be particularly suitable for use in a class which meets two days each week, three hours in all.

What I Look for in a Great Homeschool Algebra Curriculum

What makes up my algebra dream course? Well, to begin with:

Full coverage of all customary Algebra I fare, of course, using
Standard symbols such as appear on the SAT. This may rule out older texts.
Then, Clear instruction using
Correct terminology and
Plenty of sample problems worked out step-by-step. Since our class meets only two days each week, seeing the samples being worked out and hearing the successive steps explained is an absolute must! Therefore, my dream curriculum includes
VIDEO INSTRUCTION.

Next, because I want to avoid whole sections of homework being done incorrectly due to a misunderstanding of the process,

INTERACTIVE PROBLEMS are essential, to confirm that, yes, this is the right way to do these problems. Of course, we do plenty of work in class together, but it’s amazing how much a student can forget from one day to the next. A refresher is needed before beginning the homework.

An indispensable part of learning algebra is the homework. My dream curriculum would include:

Numerous homework problems on the current topic, starting out on the easy end and becoming increasingly more challenging.
Answers to some problems (perhaps odd or even) would be available to the student to inspire confidence (or to direct the student back to the text or video) but would be located separately from the homework assignments (in a separate book or on a different CD) to discourage the lazy student from referring to the answers too quickly or frequently. Additionally, each set of homework problems would include a smattering of
Review questions to keep previous topics fresh in the students’ minds.
Thorough tests should also be provided and would include at least
Two versions of each test, to allow for a re-test, if necessary. Full step-by-step solutions should be provided for both homework and tests.

Finally, my dream course would be priced very moderately. These are homeschooling families, after all, many of whom are on shoestring curriculum budgets and also have to pay for my class!

This Friday, I will review one of the Algebra I curricula I have been considering.

Financial Literacy from a Christian Perspective from 7SistersHomeschool.com. Interactive, inspirational.

$34.99 Click image for full product description.

What Algebra curricula have you used with your homeschoolers? Were you pleased with it?

Check out Sara’s comprehensive Financial Literacy from a Christian Perspective.

BTW- If you would like some coaching on courses and curriculum, contact our coaches.

Click here to read about how to homeschool high school math.

Click here to check out Khan Academy – a great resource for help with math.

What I Look for in a Great Homeschool Algebra Curriculum

Sara Hayes: If Sara says something, we stop and listen! (She’s always right!)

God has a place in the world for quiet people, too…you know, those who prefer a backstage, supportive role to the public spotlight of leadership. Sara is one of those quiet people, and God has used her mightily backstage in a variety of roles over the years.

She and her husband Carl have homeschooled their five sons from the starting gun to the finish line – son #5 graduated from high school in 2011.

In her father’s Christian bookstore, Sara gained many years of experience with bookkeeping and customer service, and her excellence with numbers keeps the less-precise Sisters from accidentally ruining the business! Her history in the business world impelled her to create 7Sisters’ ever-popular Financial Literacy from a Christian Perspective.

She has taught science, history, and literature in co-ops, Algebra and Consumer Math at MSA, and managed the Tri-State Homeschool Network’s Senior Chorale and its 60+ high school singers.

Her gentle voice may not bellow over the crowd, but words of encouragement are always on her lips.