A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Homeschooling

Review: Handbook for Writers

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DISCLAIMER: I received this product free through the Homeschool Review Crew

420 pages.  Just think for a moment.  How thorough do you think a Handbook for Writers could be?  Let me tell you, how through two main sections, why you need this resource in your schoolroom.  You will find Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers a very thorough treatise from Everyday Education.  Let’s learn more about it.

Handbook for writers

What I am Reviewing

Janice Campbell from Everyday Education has put together a very thorough Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers. Not only does your student learn how to write, but you as teacher are taught how to grade their work. Such a helpful book to own. 

It is available for $39.  I received my copy as a PDF which I downloaded to my computer and put on a thumbdrive for my son. This way it was easily accessible for both of us.  Normally I would send it out for printing, and I’m still considering doing that, but at 420 pages it’s a bit more than I currently want to do.  🙂   My son is not in a rush for me to do so as I tell him what page and section to look at, on the drive, when I’m having him correct his own work.  

Everyday Education is run by Janice Campbell.  She has a passion for helping high school students develop the skills they need to write university-ready essays. Her love for literature has led her to create a five-year program, self-directed program introducing the great books of literature.  The Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers is a necessary part of this course. 

What you Get in Handbook for Writers

The Handbook for Writers is based upon the work by Ian Johnston who put together literature to help students become better writers. Ms. Campbell took that material, combined it, and turned it into a singularly helpful edition. If you have ANY questions in learning the mechanics of how to write, you’ll find the answers here. 
 
This handbook comes with two sections. The First contains detailed instructions and samples of written work for putting together arguments and writing essays. The second 
 
Part One: Introduction to Essays and Arguments
 
In this section you’ll be introduced to Arguments divided into the following areas:
  • Some Simple First Principles,
  • Setting Up The Argument: Definition,
  • Defining Key Terms,
  • Deduction & Induction,
  • Organizing The Main Body Of An Argument,
  • Paragraph Structure,
  • Paragraph Functions,
  • Writing Arguments About Literary Works,
  • Sample Outlines For Essays And Research Papers,
  • Critical Approaches to Shakespeare,
  • Some Criteria for Making Literary Evaluations.
Part Two: Introduction to Usage and Style
 
This section covers all the mechanics of writing.   
  • Phrases, Clauses, Sentences
  • Words
  • Basic Punctuation
  • Pronouns
  • Parallelism Or Parallel Structure
  • Clarity, Logic, Structure
  • Modifiers, Gerunds, Infinitives
  • References And Bibliographies.   
  • Basic Format for Essays and Research Papers.
  • Keyhole Essay Graphic

I can see so many ways to use this large resource

As a reference manual.  With its very clear table of contents, it would be so easy to look up a particular area and refine your skills. 

As a textbook.  One could simply read it, learn the skills, and then test one’s ability to put them to use. 

As a method of self-correction. If a teacher marks a section as incorrect in your essay, you could use this manual to learn how to write better. 

How Did I Use Handbook for Writers?

My goal for this Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers was to use it to mark essays my son was doing for another course.  That was the goal.  Honestly, it didn’t turn out that way.  Best laid plans of mice and men… don’t always pan out.  

Instead, I asked my lad for some essays he has already written that I simply didn’t get around to marking yet.  This eased the pressure on both my lad and myself, in a time when Covid is starting to mess with our minds.   Seriously.  Too much lockdown, not enough getting out, it’s been a battle. AND these essays needed to be marked anyways!  🙂 

My goal with reviewing the Handbook for Writers was to have a helpful tool in grading my son’s written work.   I loved all the how-to’s for grammar, punctuation, word usage, etc.   It meant that I looked at my son’s work and a sentence would make me frown wondering why I knew it wasn’t written well, I could go to the specific section in the handbook and figure out why. 

Specific Examples

It was wonderfully helpful to say, third paragraph, you had some trouble.  Go to section —— and see if you can figure out where you went wrong.  Correct it for me, please. It gave him the specific assistance that he needed.  THIS is the beauty of having a PDF copy.  Occasionally I spared him the effort of looking up the section and simply sent a screenshot for him.   Honestly… he MUCH preferred it when I did this.  🙂 

When I mark a students’ work I make a point of not pointing out EVERYTHING they have done wrong.  I don’t want to be a point of discouragement, but want to overtime, have their skills improve.   So I’ll point out different concerns in different paragraphs. 

Sometimes my lad will ask “why did you do it here, but not here?” My response is “well in this paragraph it was glaringly obvious, this paragraph, this other issue leapt out at me.   Well done in spotting it yourself.”   Overtime, he’s improving, which honestly… is my goal. 🙂 

In the paragraph above I referred my lad to the section on phrases, use of commas etc. 

From that, he was able to spot his incorrect use of a comma and changed a couple of his sentences so they read better. 

I love having a resource that helps my son learn how to correct his own work. To be able to say, go to this resource, this section, so you can figure out what you can do better.  95% of the time that was all the help he needed.  The rest of the time, we’d have a discussion about it and he’d understand.  An excellent resource for us.

handbook for writers

What I wanted to dig into

One of the sections I most looked forward to reading through was Some Criteria for Making Literary Evaluations.  I found this article well-written, articulate, and made me ask questions.   I don’t know if I agree with all the sentiments expressed, but I appreciated the fundamental need to judge a work according to the type of work it is.  So to not judge a dramatic work as if it were a comedy. 

Would I add anything?

As a Canadian, the only thing I can see to make the Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers better would be add a “Canadian particularities” section.  This section would focus on our Canadian spelling and grammar as it differs from American usage.  This would make it a truly North American resource. 

Should you Get Handbook for Writers?

You will find this a very thorough work with 420 pages.  It is available as a paperback or as PDF ebook for $39.

You can use it with any literature or writing program, but has been designed to go well with the other offerings from Everyday Education.   This well-written work will serve your students well as they move into higher education.   

Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers is everything you need to round out your high school literature courses!  With specific examples, attention to niggly details, well-developed table of contents, and an easy-to-read format it’s a winner to go on your resource shelf. 

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Everyday Education handbook for writers

Learn More about Everyday Education

28 members of the review crew have been privileged to look at the Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers.  I urge you to read what others had to say about Everyday Education. 

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What to pack for a field trip

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I think every homeschool mom plans to include field trips into her children’s learning times.   With every plan to travel comes a need of figuring what to pack for a field trip.   Things to pack include lunches, supplies, and extra resources. 

what to pack for a field trip

Food

Of course, depending on how long your field trip is for you might not need to pack a thing.   If it’s just an afternoon or a morning, really, you don’t need food.   You might want to pack along some water.  Our current favourite water bottles are the Contigo fit bottles.  We’ve tried a number of water bottles over the years and these ones don’t develop mold issues AND they don’t leak! 

But a day-long trip… you need some food.   Some places don’t have a food court, others do and generally are a bit pricey.   My lad and I are simple eaters when it comes to going out.  This makes it super easy for us to pack a sandwich, a bag of chips or some fruit, maybe a granola bar, and our drink.  Often we’ll pack a muffin along for the road home. 

For years we used these tupperware containers for our sandwiches, and they are nice.  I like them.  BUT sometimes you need to kinda squish your sandwich in… and well.. that’s not so great.   Our current favourites my hubby found someplace and they are a lot like these ones, except they are slightly more rectangular than square.  Fits our bread better.

Supplies

There are some things you need on almost every field trip.

A way to take notes.  I love my tablet for this, my son likes to pop a notepad into his pocket. 

A way to commemorate your visit.  I either use my phone or grab up my point and shoot camera.   My son was gifted a nice camera much like this one from his uncle that he uses.   He’s taken some stellar images with it. 

Tortoise

Extra Resources

Most field trips won’t require any special resources beyond the willingness of your student to participate.   Some won’t even require a notepad!   Others though, will encourage exploration, either as part of a group or on your own.

For instance, having a pocket microscope would be excellent when on a forest study, trail walk, or any botany, biology or zoology trip.  If you carry a smartphone you might want to bump up your pocket microscope into this small microscope. 

You might need a map, a geometry set, specific crafting materials, critical thinking tools, or even nice clothes to take in professional arts events.  Consider the event that you want to attend and take along what you need to help your students make the most of their opportunities. 

How about you?  What is important for you when you pack for a field trip? 

march2021

You are my Hiding Place

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I used to sing this song all the time.  I rarely hear it anymore as newer songs have taken it’s place.  You are my hiding place is a great song that reminds of our safety in God. 

You are my hiding place

Lyrics

You are my hiding place
You always fill my heart
With songs of deliverance
Whenever I am afraid
I will trust in You
 
I will trust in You
Let the weak say
I am strong
In the strength of the Lord
 
You are my hiding place
You always fill my heart
With songs of deliverance
Whenever I am afraid
I will trust in You
 
I will trust in You
Let the weak say I am strong
In the strength of the Lord
I will trust in You
 
You are my hiding place
You always fill my heart
With songs of deliverance
Whenever I am afraid
I will trust in You
 
I will trust in You
Let the weak say
I am strong
In the strength of the Lord
I will trust in You
 
You are my hiding place (I will trust in You)
You always fill my heart (Let the weak say)
With songs of deliverance (I am strong)
Whenever I am afraid (In the strength of the Lord)
I will trust in You

Author and History

Michael James Ledner wrote “You Are my Hiding Place”.  I looked for information about him but failed to do so other than this one post. 

Mr. Ledner found himself in a time of despair.  In that moment he took the time to take the words of David and turn them into a song.  A song he wasn’t sure he wanted to live out, but needed to try. 

Thinking Deeper

 Psalm 32:7

You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

What songs of deliverance do you have?

I read the words of this oh-so-familiar tune and that was the first thought, what are MY songs of deliverance?  What were David’s songs of deliverance?

Mine include things like — meals delivered when there was nothing on the table, meeting my man, minor car accidents that forced me to stop, friends who really listened when it was needful, and many more things.  God has been so amazing in my life.

How has he been amazing in yours?   How has he shown you that he is YOUR hiding place?   What songs of deliverance do you have? 

Entrepreneurial Skills

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Over the years I have been working on developing the entrepreneurial skills in my now 15-year-old lad. Not everyone is cut out to have a boss… and I’m one of them. And honestly, I don’t know if my son would do well having a boss or being responsible for his own future.  Making sure he knows how to run a small business is, therefore, kinda important to me.

In today’s post, I’ll talk about some of the things we’ve done, some courses to take, and skills learned throughout.  

entrepreneurial skills

What Have We Done?

When my son was little he grew and sold vegetable plants.  He made some 50$.  He thought it was great and anything leftover went into the garden.  Some of those were mini tomatoes and he sold whatever we didn’t eat.  For an 7 year old at the time that worked out pretty good for him.  🙂   

Tomato

Enter in the rabbits.  I’ve raised rabbits for years now.  At one point my lad said “mom, can I have a rabbit?”  I said “sure, but she’s going to be part of the herd and any babies she has and we sell you get most of the money.  Not all”.  “WHY?” he queried.  

I went on to explain about how I paid for the feed, the housing, did most of the work, dad paid for the hydro and water.  Everything costs money so he had to do his bit too.  It all made sense to him.

Now his role in the rabbitry is … if he sells a bunny for me, he gets a 10% commission.  He much prefers this to owning a rabbit and having to make decisions about them. 

Fancy mice are a big part of his life now.  I happen to adore a good mouse and have successfully passed this along to my lad.  He asked three years ago if he could take over the mice.  He feeds, waters, cleans out, plans who to keep, what colours he likes and so forth.  Assistance is given with selling (as I post online) and do driving for him.  I get a commission in my sales and some extra to help with feed costs.  It works for him.

Skills learned in these jobs?

You need some skills to be successful.  These are just some of the ones my son has needed to learn.

  • attention to detail
  • photography
  • animal husbandry
  • communication skills
  • selling and what all is involved beyond the pitch
  • inventory management
  • people skills
  • Decision making
  • independent thinking 
  • and more I can’t even think of right now
entrepreneurial skills

Skills Needed to be an Entrepreneur

To be a good entrepreneur you need to have some talents you can share with the world and skills in which to market those talents.

If you can turn something that you are interested in, into a passion and saleable product, you can be an entrepreneur.

To do that you need to learn how to

  • manage your time –  how to use your time wisely in management, creation, publicizing, etc.
  • develop your curiosity so you can problem-solve, create solutions, discovering opportunities, etc.
  • be resilient so you can handle rejection, bad days, slow progress etc.
  • communicate.  If you can’t communicate, how will you convince people they need YOUR particular product?  How will you understand any issues that come up with it?
  • Think critically and strategically – problem solve, sorting our difficulties, planning steps to take
  • Network – finding others who be partners, help you find new opportunities, provide spin off markets etc.
  • handle money – from who to hire, saving for a rainy day, planning expenses, 
  • Learning how to make sales – from public speaking to organizing the information to be shared, to figuring out a sales pitch. 

Entrepreneurial Classes to Take

Classes like

  • Financial management
  • Entrepreneurial classes 
  • Public speaking
  • Classes to increase your skill level in whatever your passion is.   So for instance if you sell essential oils… really learning what each oil can do, food safety, sales, etc. 
  • Business classes
  • really, take whatever class helps you to learn specific skills that you need to succeed well. 

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is one such place to take a class in entrepreneurship for your teens. 

You can take a class at your local community college like this one at Fanshawe. 

Teaching Entrepreneurship is a website devoted to teaching these skills. 

How about you?   What have you done to encourage your children’s entrepreneurial skills?  Have I missed any classes or courses they should take?  Any important skills?

February Social Media Challenge

If You But Trust in God to Guide You

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If you but trust in God to guide you, a song I’ve sung with thee’s and thou’s, and also with the more current you’s.   This song calls for us to trust in God faithfully. Sometimes we need to be patient within that trust, waiting for God to act.  We are called to follow God unsweringly, regardless of the situations he leads us into. 

If you but trust in God to guide you

Lyrics

If thou but trust in God to guide thee,
And hope in Him through all thy ways,
He’ll give thee strength, whate’er betide thee.
And bear thee through the evil days.
Who trusts in God’s unchanging love
Builds on the rock that nought can move. 

What can these anxious cares avail thee,
These never-ceasing moans and sighs?
What can it help, if thou bewail thee,
O’er each dark moment as it flies?
Our cross and trials do but press
The heavier for our bitterness. 

Only be still and wait His leisure
In cheerful hope, with heart content
To take whate’er thy Father’s pleasure
And all-deserving love hath sent,
Nor doubt our inmost wants are known
To Him Who chose us for His own. 

He knows the time for joy, and truly
Will send it when He sees it meet.
When He hath tried and purged thee throughly
And finds thee free from all deceit;
He comes to thee all unaware
And makes thee own His loving care. 

Nor think amid the heat of trial
That God hath cast thee off unheard,
That He whose hopes meet no denial
Must surely be of God preferred;
Time passes and much change doth bring,
And sets a bound to everything. 

All are alike before the Highest.
‘Tis easy to our God, we know.
To raise thee up, though low thou liest,
To make the rich man poor and low;
True wonders still by Him are wrought
Who setteth up and brings to nought. 

Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving.
So do thine own part faithfully.
And trust His word ; though undeserving,
Thou yet shalt find it true for thee —
God never yet forsook at need
The soul that trusted Him indeed.

History and Author

Georg Neumark was a German poet and a composer of hymns.  This is his most famous song and was originally entitled Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten.  His studies in law got interrupted when he needed to flee due to war. He was able to finish, and even as he studied for the law he wrote more poetry and hymns.   

Twice he lost nearly all his possessions, once through robbery, the second time through fire.  In fact, after he lost all his possessions the first time and found himself in dire straits, he finally landed a job as a tutor.  This was when he wrote “If you but trust in God to Guide You”. 

Overtime his fortunes picked up and he was introduced to people who could help his career.   He died at age 60, in 1681. 

Thinking Deeper

Did you notice?   Both youtube videos contained different verses.  It was actually a bit of a challenge to choose lyrics because the hymn that I grew up with, was not in the preponderance of versions I found.   The second video actually contained a couple of the verses that I know. 

It’s one of the beauties of music right?  Take a tune, find words that fit the tune and sing praise to God. It’s also part of the frustration of singing songs out of different songbooks. Different editors keep different verses. And hymns get updated to current language sometimes changing word order and/or usage as well.

I know how much this frustrated me and I’m only in my mid-50’s. I wonder what it does to our faithful seniors when we change the words to the hymns they have sung for years?  Do we even consider them when we so blithely change songs to fit modern sensibilities?  I find it regretful. 

Marie’s Ocean

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raincoast FTC

You know what I love?  Well okay, one of the things I love?   Picture books that have meat to them.  These are books that not only entertain a child, but also teach.  Marie’s Ocean introduces us to the life and work of Marie Tharp.  Don’t know who she is?  A remarkable woman you lived in a time when what women could do work-wise was limited, and yet, she forever left her mark in history.   This is my review for Raincoast books.  

Affiliate links will be used. 

marie's ocean

Who is Marie Tharp

In Marie’s Ocean we get to know about Marie Tharp, a girl who was fascinated by the world from the time she was quite young.  She was determined that one day she would sail on a ship.  One obstacle – she lived in a time when women were not welcome aboard a working ship.  They were considered bad luck… it took years before she was able to work on a ship, but in the meantime, she studied and worked.  Eventually, she proved there was a rift, and through that, the theory of continental drift. 

What do you get?

I received an ARC version of Marie’s Ocean for this review.  You’ll find it comes as a hardcover picturebook of 68 pages.   Published by Henry Holt and Company Books for Young Readers, and written by Josie James.    After reading this woman’s biography I find myself wondering if Ms. James will tackle any other women of history. 

Written with children 5-9 years old, I can easily see older students using this well-illustrated picture book was a primer for a study of Marie Tharp. 

The finer details for Marie’s Ocean

Josie James is both author and illustrator.    I enjoyed learning how sounding works and seeing the paths the ships took.  It was excellent to learn her work progressed as she worked through her studies. 

This mixed-format picture book is detailed in both illustration and word.  We are privy to her thoughts and explorations, an excellent primer into the life she lived so well. 

I found the variety in which the material was presented an integral part of the story.  Seeing her bravery in standing up for her findings, her dismay that she couldn’t present her own work, observing her discoveries, and the pictures of what it all means. 

Marie's Ocean, sample page

At the close of the book we’re given the rest of Marie’s story and how for so long she and her work forgotten. She is now known as one of the four greatest woman cartographers. 

Should you Get Marie’s Ocean?

If you have any interest in oceanography, geography, science, noted women of history, numerology, or more….you can find much of interest in Marie’s Ocean.  This meaty picturebook is a great introduction to all those fields.  Teaching children what you can do as a woman if you are good with numbers, or are determined to follow your dream, or just want to follow where your research takes you.   

Marie was so patient and yet observant, willing to speak her observations and prove them.  There is so much you can do with it, the biggest of course is… just enjoying the story!  So go out, get a new book for your shelves.  🙂 

Review: Personal Finance Lab

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DISCLAIMER: I received this product free through the Homeschool Review Crew

For the last few weeks, my son and I have been enjoyed playing a financial game put out by PersonalFinanceLab.com.  They have come out with an online game to help teach the basics of personal finance and trading in the stockmarket.  Imagine a game that my son enjoys playing that has nothing to do with blowing things up!  Pretty good eh? Personal Finance Lab is a great way to having fun and learning too!

Personal finance Lab

What I Am Reviewing

PersonalFinanceLab.com has come out with PersonalFinanceLab Budgeting Game, Stock Market Game and integrated curriculum.  I have received access for a school year which is nine months. 

What you’ll get is an online, unique experience for each of your students in learning Financial Literacy, Business and Economics subjects.   Integrated learning and assessments are built into a personal budgeting game and a stockmarket challenge. The goal is to provide learners with real-world skills that last a lifetime. 

Parents/Teachers can register an account for each student, and each account will have access to our personal budgeting game, stock game, 50 Personal Finance lessons, and 20 Introduction to the Stock Market lessons. 

Our resources start by using our budgeting and stock games as long-term foundational activities – teachers usually dedicate at least 30 minutes per week for each game they choose to include. Students typically manage their long-term budget and/or stock game portfolio over a 6 to 12 week period.

How We Used it

I set up the program, though honestly, I got frustrated in the set up.  I had it all set to go and then something odd happened and I really don’t what it was but I had to start from scratch and it seemed like too much work.  So I ended up just doing all the defaults no tweaking.  There are lots of ways to tweak in regards to how many lessons to complete.  I set up an account for me and for my 15 year old. 

I have predominately played the budget game, and have forayed briefly into the stock market where I seem to be having success.  My son spent all this time in the budgeting game.  He wants to complete it before moving on to the stock market.  Currently, for the budgetting game I am in my 7th month, my son is in his fourth month.  Each month takes about 20-30 minutes to complete. 

The Set Up of Personal Finance Lab

As the parent I have my own dashboard so I can see progress made.  I used this to set up how the game runs. My son and I each have our own dashboard.   I appreciate that not only is there an overarching dashboard which shows your progress in both financial areas, but also that each separate area has it’s own dashboard. 

personal finance lab

You can see the difference in each dashboard below. 

Budget game dashboard
Stock market Dashboard

The Budget Game

The budget game from PersonalFinanceLab.com places each student into the scenario of being a college student with a part-time job. They can customize their living arrangements, grocery bill, and entertainments.   The job helps them learn to balance their expenses against their income while reaching for saving goals.    

Game play lasts 18 months, you start each month needing to figure out your income, potential expenses, and hopeful savings markers.  On average I found that a month took about 20 minutes to complete, occasionally a bit longer.   

Game play proceeds through rolling a dice.  The dice will move when it it time to roll it.  Sometimes you progress through one day at a time and occasionally one dice roll will go through a few days. These dice rolls generate expenses and occasionally benefits!   

These expenses range in value from cheap purchases for cutlery or snacks, all the way up to expensive repairs on cars.  These expenses were not predictable and didn’t always make sense from a living life perspective.  I know my son struggled with multiple speeding tickets in one month.  

personal Finance Lab

On Fridays you get your paystub with all expenses delineated.

On the weekend you are given four options to engage in.  Working extra hours, socializing, doing chores around house or studying.  Sometimes these activities earned extra money, sometimes they would cost you dollars. 

Lessons pop up with consequences

Lessons would occasionally pop up teaching things like managing credit card debt, how banks operate, as well as other financial matters.  You would need to read through the lesson and answer a question correctly.  Answering incorrectly would incur a debit, answering correctly earned a reward.  Sometimes lessons would need to be read carefully to get the correct answer, and I found didn’t always match real-life (for instance on what day to get your credit card bill). 

Each month a variety of bills will pop up, some scheduled like electric, phone and rent.  Each pops up with a query on how much to pay and how. 

personal finance lab can't pay rent

At the close of the month you could see all your expenses at a glance (debits in red, incoming funds in green).  You’d also receive a pop up so you could see if you met your savings challenge, any bonuses received, and see how your budget balanced. 

The Stock Market Trading

I have to admit, I am a wee bit intimidated by the idea of trading in the stock market.  I look at it as so much potential to lose thousands of dollars.  It’s so nice to have a game where I can learn and not actually risk real money.  A game that runs in real-time with real stocks. AND there are videos and tutorials to help you through it all!   You will find these tutorials in the blue bar on the top of your screen. 

Every trade you make whether buying or selling won’t show up until the next day.  To be honest… I’ve made some bad trades simply because I didn’t pay enough attention to if stocks were on a downward trend or upwards. 

I did note that using chrome I couldn’t click through on names in a list even though the video said I could.  It was easiest to simply select from the list that appears on the right of the screen when trading. 

Students start off with 10 Introduction to the Stock Market lessons and a virtual $100,000 in a brokerage account.  Can you imagine having 100,000 dollars to play around with? 

I personally loved the little touches like the word of the day and quote of the day.  They added completeness to this package for me. 

Overtime your students will be able to build a portfolio of stocks, bonds, ETFs, and mutual funds at real-time prices.

You can completely look into the different stocks/companies available for trade as they have income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, historical prices, analyst ratings, and more.  Additional lessons occur as students get more experience. 

Technical Glitches Happen

Technical glitches happen, and Personal Finance Lab is no exception.  I don’t think I’ve ever used an online system that didn’t have something needing tweaking.  None of these glitches affect how the budget game progresses.  You get bills, payments, rewards, unexpected expenses, unexpected treats etc. Everything continues to function as it should BUT occasional head-scratchers have occurred. 

  • the minimum amount for credit card continues to be paid or at least appears in your calendar as being paid even if the credit card has been paid off. 
  • occasionally when you go to pay the rent on the day the rent is due the program skips me ahead a day or two meaning the rent then is overdue.  Now MY PROFILE won’t let me pay the rent early.  I was talking with my lad, and his profile will let him.   So I LOVE that the simulation isn’t the same for every person…but .. I want to pay my rent early!  🙂 
  • Sometimes if you want to perform an action, another action will overlay it (life event, pay stub etc), which occasionally results in odd things happening to the action you’d intended to take (saving money, paying credit card, etc).  I have an overdue notice on my account that I can’t figure out how to pay off for instance. 
Personal finance Lab

What I love about Personal Finance Lab

It has been a pleasure to work with Personal Finance Lab.   I think it’s a great program and wish every teen out there could use it.  Seriously.

I love that every player has a unique experience.  From how they customize their lifestyle to what rewards and unexpected expenses they get. No two games are exactly alike. 

I love that the information pop-ups are clearly written, though I have to admit to needing to reread a few in order to get the right answer. 🙂  Consequences/rewards given for reading through each carefully. 

Everything is worded in a clear, easy-to-understand manner.  Proper terminology is used but within a context that doesn’t put finance up over anyone’s head.

I adore that such an easy way to learn personal finance has been created.  What a wonderful way to introduce students to how to watch their money and learn how to budget.

completed month

What My 15-year old has to say

Overall I like the budget game, however, there are some things which I think could be done to improve it.

Starting with the positives some of the things I liked were. The clear display of necessary information at the top of the screen, things such as credit score, checking balance, net worth etc. The calendar which shows when bills will be issued and are due, as well how much money is spent and gained each day of the month. The way that bills are displayed and paid, which makes it easy to pay them, understand when they are due, and how much needs to be paid. I also like the way that lessons are done. They are opened as a pop-up which makes it easy to switch between them and the budget game, and stops them from getting in the way.

Some changes which would be nice would be if the game could go full-screen so you could see the entire thing at once, as because of how it is now either a small portion of the top, or bottom of the game will be off-screen. It would also be nice if purchases which would be optional in real life (such as buying snacks) were also optional in the game, as well as a way to avoid speeding tickets.

Personal Finance Lab

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25 members of the Homeschool Review Crew checked out Personal Finance Lab. Click the image below to see what we had to say. 

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