The State Education Department of New York has prepared a series of modules--Expanded Programs in Consumer Education. "Travel and the Consumer" is the most recently produced module. It can be used as a discrete unit or with others in the series. The module stresses the importance of making travel creative, getting the most for one's…

This newsletter, published monthly from September through May, keeps teachers informed about new learning resources in consumer education, as well as the latest projects and developments in the field. This issue contains a lead article on development of valuing skills in consumer economics. The major portion of the newsletter consists of three…

Outlined is the content of a consumer education course for low income and educable developmentally disabled adults. The program is divided into four concept areas (lesson topics are in parentheses): decision making (values and goals, and needs and wants); money management (values of money, the budget or spending plan, and the savings plan); wise…

The theme article of this issue, "Spending Money Wisely," by Donald R. Wentworth, begins with an explanation of basic strategies which aid wise spending. The article goes on to provide an introduction to economic reasoning related to consumer purchases and focusing on the role of incentives, scarcity, and alternatives. Four teaching units follow…

The theme article of this issue provides a conceptual introduction for teachers to the local community as a market. The introduction discusses the scarcity role in forcing decisions, individuals as producers, specialization of human resources, payment of human resources, and how wages reflect market conditions. Four grade-level specific units…

Beginning with a theme article supplying teacher background material on the role of business in the community, this issue focuses on the profit motive, competition, and the use of resources. Four instructional units on this topic are included for young children. The pre-kindergarten unit, "Pancake Producers," has children observe workers cooking…

This issue focuses on an economic understanding of the 1984 Olympiad, held in Los Angeles, California. The theme article provides a conceptual introduction focused on the role of scarcity in the giving of awards, allocation mechanisms, competition, consumption versus investment, and private and external benefits of the Olympics. Four instructional…

Designed for intermediate and junior high level students, the handbook gives 11 lessons using newspaper activities for teaching consumer education. The activities help students (1) define consumer education terms and distinguish between wants and needs; (2) define the term "caveat emptor" and understand the concept of consumer…

This publication suggests consumer education learning activities for grades five through eight. It is intended as a guideline for developing local curriculum and for designing instructional strategies. Students are taught to learn to manage, to buy wisely, to save and invest, to protect themselves from unscrupulous practice, and to understand the…

The Insurance Department and the Department of Education of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania collaborated on the insurance guide intending to present basic information about the insurance industry and its regulations in Pennsylvania. Presented in a format appropriate to existing curriculum needs and students' skills at the secondary level, the…

The individualized learning package for eleventh and twelfth grade consumer education deals with the use of the management process in the achievement of personal and family financial goals. The teacher's section of the package contains a statement of purpose and instructional objectives. Equipment and materials (specific books, magazines, and…

Consumer education and the differentiation between wants and needs is the focus of the third unit of the second grade Focus on Inner City Social Studies (FICSS) series (see SO 008 271). Activities center around five topics -- sources of income, how we know what to buy, how we develop wants, how we decide what to buy, and how we get more for less.…

Stating that the classroom teacher has primary responsibility for curriculum development in consumer education at the course or unit level, the author presents a framework for teachers in consumer education beliefs, learner needs and activities, unit objectives and content, and learner evaluation. (MF)

Offers a unit for sixth graders on consumer education. The unit includes a collection of activity ideas for teaching about money, goods and services, smart shopping practices, and advertising. Includes a brief list of printed and organizational resources. (JDH)

The author, a Boston television consumer news reporter, describes her work and shares with home economics teachers two video scripts she has used on news broadcasts. Students may produce these two presentations and then be encouraged to conduct their own investigations and report them through closed-circuit television. (AJ)