Economics 101 - for teens!

Over at Kent Place School in Summit NJ, the students who took AP Economics will continue their work over the summer. Why, you ask? Because it’s fun! Economics, fun? It is when your teacher is Elaine Schwartz, AP Economics professor and author, and you help her run a website called ECONLIFE.com!

I guess I should disclose that I was an economics major in college, but that aside, this website is a fantastic way to get your teens interested in economics. A daily Blog relates a current news story to an economic lesson.  The Pulse gives readers a chance to rate what’s hot or not.  Each day, the students must find a news story and summarize in the Notes section.

ECONLIFE is a way for teens to see that economics is a dynamic social science. Students work with their amazing teacher to connect economics to everyday life, current news and history. Check out the Tools page where there are many links for your teens to further their new found interest in economics.

Let me relate this website about economics to my mission to teach kids and teens to become financially responsible adults.

If you look up the definition of economics in the MerriamWebster on-line dictionary, it says:

Economics: a social science concerned chiefly with description and analysis of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

This means that your kids and teens are practicing economics when they are making decisions on what to buy with their allowance or hard-earned summer job money. As a parent, you can help teach them about trade-offs and learning to live within their means.

Now that’s an economic lesson for all of us!