Fulfill your High School Consumer Math requirement at home with training from Penn Foster High School. We’ll guide you through the course with class notes, textbooks and unlimited instructor support. Each lesson has been specifically designed for independent study – you’ll learn Consumer Math in no time.
Course Description
This course should be taught in every high school—but isn’t. It explains how to use mathematics in everyday situations involving money: salaries, purchases, credit, loans, household and personal expenses, car buying, insurance, savings, investments, retirement, etc. Whether it’s balancing a checkbook, figuring sales commissions, or calculating how much extra it really costs to buy on credit, the concepts covered in this course can help anyone make the calculations quickly, easily and accurately.
It contains three study units—Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3—along with three exams.
Also included: Answer Key Supplement, with solutions to the Practice Exercise problems in the study units.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
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Solve any basic math problem using six (or fewer) specific steps
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Understand what a valuable tool basic math can be in everyday situations
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Add long columns of numbers quickly and easily—without a calculator
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Estimate results quickly, using the rounding off technique
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Easily change fractions to percents, and vice versa
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Figure the amount of money involved when discounts are stated in percents
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Conduct a more effective job search, by considering the financial aspects
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More easily figure the net salary (take-home pay) of any job offer
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Know how and where (and where not to) borrow money
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Use a simple formula to calculate yearly interest rates
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Understand the importance of a budget, and how to prepare and use one
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Determine the true costs (including the hidden ones) of maintaining a home
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List the major factors to consider when buying a car, whether new or used
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Consider the options, costs, and benefits regarding personal insurance
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Determine how much initial money is needed for various types of investing
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Explain the difference between common stock and preferred stock
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Realize why it’s so important to plan for retirement—even for young adults
Course Outline
Consumer Math—Part 1
- Learning About Math Again: 6 Steps in Problem Solving, and How to Use Them; Math—A Practical Tool; Accuracy and Speed
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Addition: Terms to Know; Horizontal and Vertical Addition; How to Check Addition
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Subtraction: Terms to Know; How to Check Subtraction
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Multiplication: Terms to Know; How to Check Multiplication
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Division: Terms to Know; Short Division; Long Division; Remainders; How to Check Division
- Decimals and Fractions: A Look at Decimals; A Look at Fractions
- Rounding Off Results: Mental Math at the Checkout
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Solving Percent Problems: Terms and Symbols to Know; How to Express Percent; Changing Percents to Decimals, and Vice Versa; Changing Percents to Fractions, and Vice Versa; Finding Percentages of Any Number; Terms Used in Percent Problems
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Discounts: Terms to Know; Trade Discounts; Discount Series; Reducing a Series to a Single Discount; Checking the Selling Price; Cash Discounts; Shipping Charges.
Consumer Math—Part 2
Consumer Math—Part 3
- Your Car: Buying a New Car; Buying a Used Car
- Your Personal Insurance: What is Insurance?; Life Insurance; Types of Life Insurance; Insuring Personal Possessions; Health Insurance
- Your Savings: Acquiring the Savings Habit; Where Shall I Put My Savings?; Investments; The Stock Market; Bonds; Mutual Funds; Reevaluating Your Investments; Retirement Planning
- Using a Calculator and Computer for Consumer Math: Your Calculator; How to Use a Calculator; Computers Are Everywhere; Your Personal Computer
- Your Master Plan: Beginning Your Plan; A Little Dreaming; Goals; Adjusting for Goals; Help with Your Master Plan.
How it Works
After registering for the Consumer Math course, all of your learning materials will be shipped directly to you. If you like, you can also go to our website and download some of your study materials to get a head start. Your learning materials will guide you through the course content, explaining concepts and operations through a series of lessons. After each lesson, you’ll take an exam which you can submit by phone or our website. As you pass each lesson, you’ll proceed to the next topic until you complete the course.
There are three exams that need to be passed to complete your course in Consumer Math and you’ll have up to 15 weeks to complete the course.
Support
If you should ever need help with your studies, you can e-mail or call our instructors who will gladly help you with any questions that you might have.
Study Time
Since there is no set class schedule, you study when and where it’s convenient for you. You can complete your course as quickly as you’d like.
Completion
When you have successfully completed your course, you will receive a letter of completion along with an official transcript listing your completed course(s) and grades. You can apply your course towards our Diploma Program or a diploma from your local High School (be sure to check with your school authorities regarding mandatory attendance policies and whether they agree that the Penn Foster High School Program is acceptable toward the completion of your high school education).
Accreditation
Penn Foster High School is accredited by The Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools; has met the high standards of integrity and performance set by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), Washington D.C., and is licensed by the Pennsylvania State Board of Private Licensed Schools.
Whether you’re looking for accelerated studies or credit recovery, regionally and nationally accredited Penn Foster High School provides the courses you need to complete your High School Diploma.
