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You are here: Home / Homeschooling / Curriculum / Foundations in Personal Finance (Review of Dave Ramsey's Homeschool Curriculum)

Filed Under: Curriculum · Reviews · Personal Finance

Foundations in Personal Finance (Review of Dave Ramsey's Homeschool Curriculum)

Earlier this summer I received an email from Dave Ramsey's public relations coordinator telling me about Dave's personal finance curriculum Foundations in Personal Finance. Since Jaden is starting high school this year, I jumped at the chance to do a review of the curriculum.

I also asked at the same time if I could hold a giveaway so one of my readers could receive the curriculum for free as well.

*** GIVEAWAY CLOSED *** Foundations in Personal Finance Curriculum Giveaway

The winner of this giveaway will receive one copy of Foundations in Personal Finance High School Edition Homeschool Pack. The giveaway is open through Sunday, August 28 at midnight Central Time after which time I'll randomly select a winner. Sorry, but the giveaway is only open to U.S. residents.

To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post.

For extra entries, do the following:

  1. Leave a separate comment if you subscribe to Five J's by email and/or RSS.
  2. Leave a separate comment if you follow Five J's on Facebook.

Curriculum Review

Foundations in Personal Finance includes a set of 4 DVDs, a Teacher's Guide CD-ROM, and a student workbook.

The curriculum is divided into 12 lessons and includes over 14 hours of Dave teaching on video. Foundations in Personal Finance is intended to be taught as a one-semester course (1/2 credit for high school).

Each DVD covers one unit in the following subjects:

  1. Saving and Investing
  2. Credit and Debt
  3. Financial Responsibility and Money Management
  4. Insurance/Risk Management and Income/Careers

The Teacher's Guide CD-ROM includes syllabi for both 45-day and 90-day courses. (We're personally following the 45-day syllabus, doing the class 3 times a week for about an hour a day). The CD-ROM also includes tests, answer keys, and additional activities that coordinate with the lessons.

The 224-page student workbook includes fill-in-the-blanks that the student completes while watching the DVD lessons. It also includes lesson reviews, personal finance forms, and Ask Dave case studies.

You can see samples from the DVD, Teacher's Guide, and student workbook.

What the Curriculum is Like

If you've ever attended a Dave Ramsey LIVE! event or his Financial Peace University classes, you'll find that the lessons are taught in a similar manner, where Dave is teaching a crowd of students of all ages. However, throughout the lessons, the DVD cuts away to added content where Dave applies the concepts to teens.

Throughout the curriculum, students not only learn about debt, credit, investing, and other important financial concepts, but they also learn about the Baby Steps, which are the backbone of Dave's teaching. From the very first lesson, students learn the 7 Baby Steps. Case studies in the tests even offer situations which the students need to answer in light of the Baby Steps.

Pros

  • Dave presents the content so that it's fun and very understandable. Students don't get lost amid enigmatic financial terms.
  • Very little (if any) teacher prep is required.
  • Tests and assessments are provided for you. And often the tests don't just rehash exactly the same wording from the lessons; students must understand the concept to answer the questions correctly.
  • Students don't just learn about basic financial concepts. They learn how to take control of their present and future personal finances and avoid debt through understanding the Baby Steps. You might say that Dave also teaches a philosophy of personal finance.
  • Since the DVD part of the curriculum is non-consumable, you can used it with multiple children. (Additional workbooks are only $12.50.)

Cons

  • The curriculum activities were originally written for a classroom of students, so some of them can't be done easily in a homeschool setting.
  • The majority of the DVD content comes from Dave's Financial Peace University DVDs, so there is not a lot of difference if you already own the FPU curriculum. (The workbook, however, is written specifically for this high school curriculum.)
  • Some families may not like the hard-line approach Dave takes about avoiding debt.

Do I recommend the curriculum?

Absolutely! We've only just started Unit 2, but I'm so incredibly impressed with it. Dave makes the most intimidating financial concepts understandable, and my children are learning so much. And better yet, my kids are learning Dave's Baby Steps, which will help keep them on the right road financially now and in the future.

Disclosure: I received this curriculum for free in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are entirely my own.

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Comments

  1. JerryandAmberMiller says

    August 27, 2011 at 8:26 am

    I subscribe through email. 🙂

  2. JerryandAmberMiller says

    August 27, 2011 at 8:27 am

    I follow you on Facebook. 🙂

  3. JerryandAmberMiller says

    August 27, 2011 at 8:32 am

    Such a important topic to teach our children and I could use a little help doing so. The curriculum looks like a very helpful tool for that task plus I hear good things about Dave Ramsey.

  4. Angela Zundel says

    August 27, 2011 at 8:59 am

    Sounds fabulous!!

  5. Rachel says

    August 27, 2011 at 11:36 am

    We love Dave Ramsey and we love this site.

  6. Rachel says

    August 27, 2011 at 11:38 am

    We suscribe via email and would love to win this!

  7. harmon says

    August 27, 2011 at 1:43 pm

    I enjoy this blog tremendously! Thanks for all of your helpful information and giveaways!

  8. harmon says

    August 27, 2011 at 1:47 pm

    I subscribe via email.

  9. Marianne H. says

    August 27, 2011 at 4:07 pm

    I follow you on facebook.

  10. Marianne H. says

    August 27, 2011 at 4:09 pm

    I subscribe via email!

  11. Tee says

    August 27, 2011 at 6:50 pm

    Thanks for the opportunity to win the Dave Ramsey Package!

  12. Tee says

    August 27, 2011 at 6:53 pm

    I receive all the awesome information through email.

  13. Stacey says

    August 27, 2011 at 7:02 pm

    We did Dave's FPU. His advice should be given to every high school student before they graduate!

  14. Stacey says

    August 27, 2011 at 7:03 pm

    LIked on FB

  15. Stacey says

    August 27, 2011 at 7:04 pm

    Follow by RSS

  16. Megan says

    August 28, 2011 at 12:01 am

    Love Dave Ramsey! Would love to give my kids a solid foundation in finance. I just started following 5Js via email and am loving what I am seeing thus far!

  17. Carla says

    August 28, 2011 at 2:30 am

    I subscribe via email. I would LOVE to win this Dave Ramsey curriculum!

  18. Karen Salstrom says

    August 28, 2011 at 8:15 am

    Good Morning, Joy! I've been enjoying your website for only the last few days. Don't know how I missed it before! Thanks for all the wonderful and useful information you share with all of us. I have a 14 year old grandson (we're his legal guardians) with slight special needs, whom I've homeschooled for all his school years (minus 1st grade, when I misguidedly believed he could survive in a small Christian school….learned that one the hard way!)

    I would love to win the Dave Ramsey course for Nick. We've done some preliminary training, dividing his allowance money into several 'pots'—short term spending, long term spending, gift money, church, and TAXES! Yes, we tax him (of course it goes into his bank account for when he's 18…but at least he gets to understand that the Government will be taking some of his hard-earned cash.

    Thanks again, Joy.

  19. Karen Salstrom says

    August 28, 2011 at 8:25 am

    Posted on FB—actually, on mine and my hubbies 😉

  20. Karen Salstrom says

    August 28, 2011 at 8:25 am

    Subscribed to email updates.TTFN

  21. Julie R. says

    August 28, 2011 at 9:28 am

    Our church is offering this program. It has been highly recommended. We can't attend because our son has to go through chemo this year. So we would love to win this.

  22. Jess Arce says

    August 28, 2011 at 11:54 am

    My husband and I went through the Dave Ramsey program, and I would LOVE to have it for my four boys: 18, 15, 11 and 10.

  23. Tonya says

    August 28, 2011 at 2:56 pm

    This would be very helpful for our high school daughter.

  24. Grace says

    August 28, 2011 at 6:34 pm

    Oh, what a wonderful giveaway!

  25. Grace says

    August 28, 2011 at 6:34 pm

    I follow Five J's on facebook.

  26. Julie says

    August 28, 2011 at 6:34 pm

    This sounds like it's something we could definitely use!

  27. Carol says

    August 28, 2011 at 6:34 pm

    follow on facebook

  28. Julie says

    August 28, 2011 at 6:35 pm

    I follow you on Facebook!

  29. Debra G says

    August 28, 2011 at 6:40 pm

    I would love to have this curriculum. I love Dave Ramsey's stuff.

  30. Judy Hernandez says

    August 28, 2011 at 6:40 pm

    Hoping to facilitate a Dave Ramsey course at our church for adults, even better to have a course for my kids!

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