High School Economics Homeschool Curriculum
Most high school economics produces students who passed a test. Ours develops genuine economic intuition that helps them understand markets, policy, and incentives for life.
About high school learners
High school economics should produce economically literate citizens who understand how markets work, how policy affects outcomes, and how to make sound personal financial decisions. From micro to macro, personal to global, students develop comprehensive economic understanding.
- Can build complete economic understanding
- Growing financial independence
- Engaged with economic issues in news
- Making decisions economics informs
Learning objectives
- Achieve comprehensive economic literacy
- Master micro and macro analysis
- Succeed on AP Economics exams
- Make informed personal financial decisions
- Evaluate economic policies critically
Before and after high school economics
Before starting:
- Math through algebra
- Interest in understanding the world
- Willingness to examine assumptions
- Engagement with decisions and tradeoffs
Previous grade in this subject: 11th grade economics
Sample high school economics assignment
Student interest: investing and finance
Build and manage a simulated investment portfolio using real market data. Analyze your decisions using economic principles. Compare your performance to benchmarks and learn from results.
What good work shows: Student understands financial markets through practice. Develops investment thinking grounded in economic principles. Prepares for personal financial management.
Sample projects and deliverables
Investment Portfolio
Good fit for: investing
Build and manage a real or simulated investment portfolio. Apply economic understanding to investment decisions. Track and analyze performance.
Skills used: Financial markets, Risk management, Portfolio theory, Economic indicators
Deliverable: Investment thesis + portfolio + performance analysis + lessons learned
Economic Research
Good fit for: economic research
Conduct original economic research on a question that interests you. Use data, apply theory, contribute to understanding.
Skills used: Research methods, Data analysis, Economic theory application, Academic writing
Deliverable: Research paper + data analysis + presentation
Economic Literacy Teaching
Good fit for: teaching and explaining ideas
Create educational content teaching economics to others. Teaching deepens understanding and demonstrates mastery.
Skills used: All fundamental concepts, Communication, Simplification, Engagement
Deliverable: Educational content + learner feedback + impact assessment
Same skills, different topics
Complete economic understanding.
- Behavioral Economics: Economic psychology → decision biases → nudge design → designing behavioral interventions for real problems
- Development Economics: Global development → poverty reduction → aid effectiveness → evaluating randomized controlled trials of interventions
- Economic History: Historical economics → financial crises → the Great Depression → comparing 1930s policy responses to 2008 crisis
- Economic Philosophy: Schools of thought → Keynesian vs. Austrian → policy implications → steel-manning opposing economic philosophies
Where high school students get stuck
- Building cumulative understanding
- Separating analysis from ideology
- Applying theory to messy real world
- Accepting economics doesn't give easy answers
Teaching Approach for High School
Progressive development from personal finance through micro and macro. Heavy use of real data and current events. Rigorous analysis without ideological bias. Prepare for both AP exams and real economic decision-making.