Minimum Class Size: 10

Maximum Class Size: 18

Midterm Enrollment: Yes

Class Time: 4th hour (12:20-1:15)

Prerequisite: None

Estimated homework hours: 1

Required Materials or Books:

• Supply fee covers the cost of the 200 page student workbook, Foundations in Personal Finance, by Dave Ramsey.

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Class Description: 

Dave Ramsey's Foundations in Personal Finance is the "premier" curriculum for teaching high school students how to handle their money. Their goal is "to equip students with the skills and knowledge needed to make sound financial decisions for life". Dave Ramsey is a personal money management expert, an extremely popular national radio personality and best-selling author of The Total Money Makeover.

Consider these facts:

•    In 2006 the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy reported that high school seniors scored an average of 52.4% on a basic financial literacy survey.
•    19% of all bankruptcies are filed by people under age 25.

The 2007 Charles Schwab Teens and Money Survey found that:

•    66% of teenagers do not know how to balance a checkbook.
•    88% of teens do not like the way it feels to owe someone money.
•    29% of teens are already in debt with an average debt load close to $300.

Debt is an epidemic in America. Students are entering college without the practical, but essential, skills of balancing their checkbook, living within their means, and saving for their future. The mistakes students make with their finances during early adulthood are usually burdens that follow them for many years and may hinder their plans for their careers or family.

We will use Dave Ramsey’s videos, class discussion, projects, practical application, group assignments, and some homework to teach these foundational principles to healthy personal finances. Students will learn saving, investing, college/retirement planning, dealing with debt, avoiding debt, insurance, and much more. They will practice practical life skills such as balancing a checkbook and making a budget. The 200 page workbook will be a solid reference for their entire lives. The goal of this class is to help cultivate the convictions and skills that will help students to avoid debt and to be good lifetime managers of the money they earn..

You can check out Foundations in Personal Finance at http://www.daveramsey.com/school/foundations/

Teacher Information: Corina Kaul is the mother of four children and has been home schooling for 10 years.  She loves learning and has a 7 year history of teaching various co-op classes.  She has a B.S. from University of Oregon with a triple major in Management, Marketing, and Psychology.  She has been budgeting and living within the means that God has given their family for over 18 years.  Corina has enjoyed being a pastor's wife for the past 16 years.