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I used to be fortunate to have been exposed to the importance of the entrepreneurial spirit from an early age. Although I had no idea what an entrepreneur was or what he did, I used to be influenced by my parents, teachers who involved my brother and me in our family’s side business: home renovation.
My parents got here from a humble background. My mother was homeless for a part of my childhood, and my father was an immigrant from few sources. When they got married, home meant much greater than just a place to live. It was safety and security.
Almost every summer growing up, we moved to a latest house that met the threshold for worst house on a nice street, with the intention of renovating and freshening it up before the school 12 months began.
For my brother and I, moving to a latest house every summer and helping our parents scrape paint, sand floors, and hang wallpaper gave the look of a great adventure. What we didn’t realize at the time was that our parents were helping our family live more comfortably by teaching us the importance of labor and direction in our entrepreneurship.
Today, as a parent of three boys, I also strive to encourage my kid’s early understanding of monetary literacy, business concepts and entrepreneurship. Not only because I need my children to be financially secure as adults, but also because I know that having an entrepreneurial drive is a great foundation for what they may do when they grow up.
My oldest is a beginner chicken farmer at the age of seven. My family lives in the countryside and he desired to try raising chickens and selling their eggs to our neighbors.
As easy because it sounds, it became a fun way for him to learn chores like feeding the chickens and cleansing their coops, while also learning the concepts of shopping for and selling products. It brings him joy, but it also helps consolidate his financial literacy, just as reading to him as a baby contributed to his traditional literacy skills.
Although some efforts have been made in recent years to include financial literacy into primary and secondary school curricula, there is still a significant gap in educating children and young people about personal finance, business principles and entrepreneurship.
According to the 2024 report report by the National Financial Educators Council, no American state meets even basic standards for educating students in financial literacy, stating: “Although K-12 education standards have been reformed, no state holds the same standards for discipline, instructional time, or teacher preparation to financial literacy requirements. No country treats financial education as a core subject area.
The report too notes that failure to handle a critical aspect of basic education has consequences: “Only 57% of Americans are financially literate, ranking the country 14th in the world in this measure, and four in five American adults say they have never been given the opportunity learn about personal finance.”
These numbers can result in extremely bad financial decisions, comparable to foreclosure too much debtcoming in high interest loans that can never be repaid, and in the most extreme cases, bankruptcy that rose in June 2024 by 16% in comparison with 2023.
Just because schools are failing at teaching financial literacy, parents can take steps to assist educate future entrepreneurs.
1. Conduct your individual financial literacy lessons at home
From an old-fashioned piggy bank to a basic savings account and creating a budget to purchase a treasured toy with your weekly allowance, there are many ways to get kids considering about how money works.
Parents are often afraid to consult with their children about funds, which can cause them harm. You don’t have to debate your 401k, but even just getting them to search out cheaper peanut butter at the food market or showing them how a automobile payment works can go a great distance in laying the foundation for understanding funds.
2. Encourage entrepreneurial reading
There are dozens of great books you can give or read to your child to assist them learn basic financial skills. One of my sons’ favorites is Lawn boy series by Gary Paulsen, about a 12-year-old who uses his grandfather’s riding mower one summer to create a local lawn care empire. Other great options include Investing for children: from piggy banks to wallets, Rabbit money by Rosemary Wells or Dollars and the common sense of Berenstain bears.
3. Help your child start a small business
Most of us remember attempting to sell lemonade from a table on the front lawn as children or having enterprising friends who tried it. Although people are less more likely to buy food and drink from strangers as of late, kids can offer to mow their neighbors’ lawns, rake leaves, shovel snow – or even build a chicken coop.
Creating signs and flyers to advertise your online business is a great solution to teach kids about marketing, pricing based on demand, interacting with “customers” and exchanging services for money.
Although some parents imagine that finance and business are not a topic for children, I imagine that offering children basic, age-appropriate lessons can have a huge impact as they grow up.
Just as exposing a child to a second language from an early age can create language pathways that can facilitate language learning later in life, the same philosophy applies to teaching children the basics of economics and business.