Exploring Economics


Quick Start Guide

"We and our kids should understand the idea of economics. This course is informative and painless." (Texas)

The First Thing

Thank you for choosing Exploring Economics for your family. We are honored to be part of your educational journey.

Read the "Introduction" and "How to Use the Curriculum" sections at the beginning of Exploring Economics (the book with the cargo ship on the cover). Start on page vi after the Table of Contents. That will help you see how all the books fit together and what you will need to do each day and each week.

If any questions come to mind after you review the rest of this page, or later as you are using the material, please contact us any time.

  Contact Us  

Video Walkthrough

Exploring Economics has 15 units with five lessons each. If you'd like a video walkthrough of how one unit is laid out, here is author Ray Notgrass to explain it.

The Literature

We chose four literature titles to go along with this curriculum. You can find a list of the books and when they are assigned on page x in the lesson book.

If you want your student to earn English credit, the literature is a vital part of the course. However, if you want to focus only on the economics credit, reading the literature is not essential to understanding the lessons.

We included instructions on when to read each book in the lesson assignments at the end of lessons. The first literature book we assign is Silas Marner by George Eliot. Your student starts it in Unit 1 (see the literature introduction on page 2 and the assignments on page 8).

The Student Review has literary analysis and review questions for each book.

Notes About the Literature

We deliberately chose quality literature that will enrich your student's study of economics. The books we recommend have some content that we want you to be aware of in advance. We provide specific notes about each book in the Guide for Parents and Answer Key. If you did not purchase the Student Review Pack, you can download the Guide for Parents at no charge.

Suggested Supplements

Notgrass History curriculum is self-contained. You don't need to add anything else unless you want to. However, if you are looking for videos, virtual field trips, interactive websites, and other resources to supplement your studies, check out the resources we have listed at Homeschool History.

Need an extra book or two?

If you ever need an extra consumable quiz book or a specific literature title, you can shop for any of the individual books on our website.

Looking for our bonus downloads?

All of the instructions and assignments for each lesson are included in the Exploring Economics lesson book. Some of our customers have requested that we provide a lesson assignment checklist to help keep track of what their students are doing. You can download this checklist from our website.

We also have a handful of corrections and supplemental links available.

Don't feel like you have to use all of these extra downloads to do a good job! They are tools that some parents find helpful. We don't want you or your child to feel overwhelmed by our curriculum. We trust you to teach each child the way you know works best for him or her.

Have other questions?

We've posted answers to frequently asked questions about using our high school curriculum. If you don't find the answer you need there, please email, call, or text us. You can also join one of our online communities to connect with other parents.

Keep up the good work!

We admire your dedication to giving your child a great education at home. May God give you strength, courage, and wisdom. Sincerely, Ray and Charlene Notgrass

Ray and Charlene Notgrass