No form of schooling, whether it’s self-education, college or supplementary guarantees that your homeschooled teen will be successful in professional life. And a high score in college doesn’t necessarily equate with a high-paying job.
Maybe that is what entrepreneurs figure out while they are in high school; college should be a training for real life and not about earning the highest grade point average. But this isn’t a post about the pros and cons of college, but it is about preparing your teens to be successful entrepreneurs.
While teaching my sons the skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, I cheated. I had help.
Habits of Successful Entrepreneurs
You know I told you that my husband is a true entrepreneur.
What do I mean by true entrepreneur? True and wannabe entrepreneurs were applying for one of five positions within a large company who specifically listed true entrepreneurs as a qualification.
My husband, along with hundreds of applicants went through a series of tests, which had multiple steps.
In other words, they didn’t want to hear that you called yourself an entrepreneur because you had a start up business or that you are an out of the box thinker. They wanted proof of your mindset.
And yes, my husband was one of the 5 called for the position after a few weeks of testing. At first, I chuckled silently because I thought there is no way you can test those type of personality traits let alone prepare for a test like that.
Then I realized that the many years of running our successful business prepared my husband for the tests.
Before I continue, I need to share a shameless plug. I’m so proud of my husband because he wrote a book.
Entrepreneur: Born or Made by Fire is his life story of how a boy felt unfit for public school and felt like he was in prison built a successful million dollar company through his creative thinking and hard work.
Being molded by my husband’s thinking, I want to share three homeschool resources in subjects my husband wished he would have taken more seriously.
And no, they are not dazzling business courses or secret marketing or money making strategies though it certainly won’t hurt your teen to learn those business tips.
They are basic subjects that help a teen to build a way of problem solving and help him to connect with the real world.
Look at these 3 best homeschool resources to prepare a teen to be a successful entrepreneur and how they help your teen. Also, you’ll love this fun “business in a box” so your kid can get his feet wet in business.
ONE/Key to Series.
This supplementary math series is solid and time tested. At the time of using it with my sons, I had no idea how this seemingly basic and not so fancy looking math series helps build solid math skills.
Through the years, I used these series of books to shore up math weaknesses.
If a budding entrepreneur doesn’t like math, is struggling with one or two concepts or is rebelling at the thought of a math course where he feels his time is wasted, this straight to the point series helps him move quickly through concepts he doesn’t understand.
The workbook series goes from about a fourth grade to high school level and covers individual areas of math like key to decimals, key to percents and key to measurements to name a few.
Solid math is the backbone of any successful business. And being able to quickly work out a math picture in his mind of a profit margin, percentages or commissions are necessary. Start off at the basic level within the pack and then work up until mastery and mental recall are immediate.
A money making entrepreneur has to be quick on feet when it comes to mentally deciphering numbers because math means money. And if you can’t figure money correctly and quickly, it could mean less of it.
That is a big deal to an entrepreneur. Make math count by shoring up his weaknesses with the Key to Series.
Every Day Entrepreneurs Make Mundane to Monumental Decisions
TWO/James Madison Critical Thinking Course.
Nourishing a entrepreneur’s skill set means teaching him how to make meaningful decisions. The business world is full of gray and not so gray areas.
Teaching him to identify correct information and more important making a decision in keeping with his values is vital.
Besides making a novice feel like he has to make a choice between morals or money (he does not), the business world is full of shortcuts and ways for a new entrepreneur to utilize his curiosity.
The way for him to do this is to learn to effectively and critically manage the huge amount of information that can be amassed in an industry.
I was delighted when Mr. Awesome 2015 used James Madison Critical Thinking Course.
Written in a fun form, each scenario in this thinking course is about solving crimes.
Your teen takes an investigative hat. This appeals to an entrepreneur’s problem solving skill set.
The book is 534 pages but more importantly through a fun and not babyish or cartoon way it goes teaches critical thinking – a vital skill set in the business world.
Did you know that it’s used by adults to prepare for tests? Like real life business where you sometimes are not sure if you made the right decision, the problems are not about getting a correct answer.
It’s about teaching your teen an approach to problem solving.
Then next, I never dreamed my husband would be endorsing a history curriculum, but I understand why now.
First, I need to explain what happened to us one year in business.
We had business acquaintances coming from Asian countries that were coming to meet us after we had partnered up the year before.
My husband kept quizzing me about Asian culture and what to expect as far as how to entertain them respectfully and interact with them they arrived.
The visitors we learned would be traveling with an interpreter. My husband took the liberty, though he felt uncomfortable about reaching out to the interpreter to ask about certain business traditions and culture in their home country.
In the end, we were prepared when we met our business acquaintances in person and exchanged gifts.
Why does this matter? My husband felt like if he had a better grip on understanding some of the basic history and values of other countries, he would’ve felt more prepared for that encounter and future ones too.
The impatient entrepreneur can benefit from going through a history program that covers the broad strokes of history.
In 14 lessons, he can have a framework on which to build his understanding of other countries and their values. We can respect and honor accomplishments and achievements of other countries.
Relationships in business are everything and nothing promotes relationships more than being able to talk meaningfully about the achievements of another culture. It enriches business relationships.
Also, look here at my post How to Teach History in 14 Lessons (From Daunting to Doable) where I give you more details about it.
Raising successful homeschooled teens is a challenge worth pursuing.
As part of my high school course for my sons they also read my husband’s book, Entrepreneur: Born or Made by Fire because we wanted them to understand the value of hard work.
There are no easy ways to prepare business-minded teens to learn how to take charge, make decisions in the face of obscure answers or how to interact with a world that is more global then ever before, but self-education is a passion worth pursuing.
Also, look at my post Digital Homeschool Curriculum – Big Ol’ List and Teach Your Homeschooled Teen the Art of Studying (without nagging).
Hugs and love ya,
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