Best time to take the "Economics and Personal Finance" course?

[Anonymous]

As this is a mandatory class required for graduation, I wonder when is the best time for my son to take it. He's in 10th grade now.
Will Summer Session one "May 1 - June 21, 2018" add burden to his final exam and AP exam preparation? (He will also take Pre-Calc class during summer)
Will Summer Session two "July 2 - August 1, 2018" be better for his situation?

Or, can he complete this by taking AP Macro-Micro Economics for Jr. year or Sr. year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As this is a mandatory class required for graduation, I wonder when is the best time for my son to take it. He's in 10th grade now.
Will Summer Session one "May 1 - June 21, 2018" add burden to his final exam and AP exam preparation? (He will also take Pre-Calc class during summer)
Will Summer Session two "July 2 - August 1, 2018" be better for his situation?

Or, can he complete this by taking AP Macro-Micro Economics for Jr. year or Sr. year?

My ds will be taking AP Macro-Micro Economics his senior year and that will fulfill that EPF requirement.

[Anonymous]

Do anything you can to avoid the requirement. Take an AP or a more formal Econ course if it is acceptable as a substitute. The state EconPF course includes massive, bad errors in the curriculum, and in tests and materials. Basic stuff about insurance and bank accounts is just incorrect. And the course has been turned into a means of using computer and remote-lesson delivery. That part doesn't work, because the on-line test questions are dumbed down to the point that the multiple-guess items are wrong as well.

[Anonymous]

My dd did the second summer session, as she has zero interest in taking AP Econ. It was ridiculously easy and she put in zero effort.

[Anonymous]

My kids took it as a regular class and it was easy and gave them more time to concentrate on their other classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids took it as a regular class and it was easy and gave them more time to concentrate on their other classes.

I will add that they still quote their teacher. “The best car is a free car.” “ ‘Beg, borrow and steal’ things for your first apartment, don’t go out and buy new. “. My 20 year old DC just started a coop internship and he is eligible for a 401k, he is very excited about that. He has also established a ROTH IRA.

I think the class was helpful in re-enforcing what we teach at home.

[Anonymous]

My DD found it to be more work than expected (150+ sections). Glad she didn't do it while taking APs.

[Anonymous]

Not sure about this class (although I've heard it's easy) but I for sure would not take Pre-Calc over the summer. Why is your son doing that? Does he already have a good grounding in Pre-Calc or would this be brand new material for him?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure about this class (although I've heard it's easy) but I for sure would not take Pre-Calc over the summer. Why is your son doing that? Does he already have a good grounding in Pre-Calc or would this be brand new material for him?

+1 Pre-calc is really hard, and summer session is short. I know my kid wouldn't have been able to handle AP calc after a second-rate precalc class.

and +1 to the class being a good one to take during the year.

My kid is enjoying it and it definitely frees up time to focus on BC calc and Phys C

[Anonymous]

The online class is ridiculous. My DS took it during a July session. He just took one test per week without doing any of the reading, but I think he could have done it in one day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The online class is ridiculous. My DS took it during a July session. He just took one test per week without doing any of the reading, but I think he could have done it in one day.

Is it any different than the regular course?

[Anonymous]

At curriculum night, the teacher of this class told me that he would save it for junior or senior year in case you have the space to take it as a regular class that is not difficult. If you can't fit it in, then you can take it pass/fail online at any point.

[Anonymous]

Is it any different than the regular course?

I'm pretty sure the basic content is exactly the same. If you take it during the year, then you would be forced to interact with the course material, and I would imagine the teacher would make some attempt to dig a little deeper into some topics or add classroom activities that make it more fun.

I'm pretty sure that students graduating in 2019 and after are required to take at least one online course. EPF seems like the obvious choice to fulfill the requirement.

[Anonymous]

My son (now sophomore) took it last summer. He was doing a full Broadway production camp at the same time and found it hard to do all the work after all day rehearsal. After the fact, he learned that most of his friends skipped doing the "modules" and just took the tests. DS did not realize that was possible. Even with doing most of the modules, he finished with a 90 or so, so though he could have passed without the modules, it is not like he blew it out of the water. The beauty of summer Econ is you only get PASS/FAIL though, so he was able to pass and be done with it.

[Anonymous]

My thought is that since it’s required for all of VA it has to be easy enough for even the kids who are not college material or with learning challenges. That gives me pause to have my DC “waste” time during the school day. I’d much rather he have a study hall or fun class, if he needs a break in his AP curriculum.

If he takes it over the summer, he can take the modules at his own pace or try his chances just doing the tests (as PP suggested) to just get by with a “pass”, which I’m thinking can’t be that hard. I first saw it as a gpa boost and easy A, but now that we’re in it, it just seems like he could be more productive during the 90 min every other day for a year.