Building towards success in high-skill, high-wage, or high-demand human services careers

Principles of Human Services takes students on a journey through the content, skills, and careers in the Human Services Career Cluster, including counseling and mental health, early childhood development, family and community, personal care, and consumer services. Clearly written to engage students, the text is organized into three topical areas: Skills for Success includes an introduction to human services, building professional self, personal and professional management, building character, and relationships. Consumer Awareness covers consumer services, personal finance, financial planning, and money management. Social Services examines counseling and mental health, early childhood development, growth and development, family services, community services, and personal care.

Engaging activities provide hands-on practice and assessment opportunities for 21st Century

Technology skills

  • Tech Connect introduces a technology concept relating to the topic.
  • Social Networking promotes community involvement and social responsibility and encourages students to practice good citizenship.
  • Case Studies presents a real-life scenario, followed by a series of open-ended questions designed to provide the student with the opportunity to use 21st Century skills.
  • Web Extra provides suggestions for using the Internet to locate additional information about the chapter topics.

Language arts and key subjects skills

  • Review Questions at the end of each chapter assess reading comprehension.
  • Write Now encourages students to answer questions, research and present information, or respond to critical thinking prompts.
  • Test It Yourself! provides an opportunity for students to form a hypothesis and then test it in a lab activity. It integrates science or social studies with teamwork, leadership, problem solving, and communications.

Math and financial literacy skills

  • Numbers Game provides instruction on how to apply a math concept in a real-world situation and then prompts the students to do the math themselves.
  • Money Madness invites students to use their problem solving, goal setting, and decision making skills along with math to solve a problem involving money.

Life and career skills

  • 21st Century Skills students use skills such as decision making, goal setting, and problem solving to write an ending to a situation or story.
  • Job Search includes foundational job search information and provides exploration activities to build knowledge, skills, and portfolio products.
  • Sounding Off! includes two prompts relating to the topic, designed to promote discussion as a class or in small groups.
  • Team Players is a group activity designed to encourage teamwork on projects ranging from research presentations to cooking competitions.
  • Hot Topics is a prompt designed to encourage students to think about the challenges they face in their own lives, and to respond anonymously.
  • Be Involved! promotes membership in FCCLA (Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America). Each activity relates directly to one of the FCCLA programs.

Teaching support exclusively designed for Texas

  • Streamline course set-up, class prep, and instruction with a Digital eText.  
    • 24/7 access to Digital eTexts of the Teacher and Student editions, as well as accompanying Test Bank and PowerPoint files.
    • One-click navigation to TEKS aligned content. Use the Digital eText, Student and Teacher Editions, to quickly jump from the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills standards (TEKS) directly to the content in the eText that fulfills that standard.
    • Compatible with Thin Common Cartridge to facilitate single sign-on integration and rostering.
  • Teacher's Wraparound Edition features customized instruction for more advanced, less advanced, special needs, at-risk, and ESOL students.