Other than I thought it was really cute, I chose a monkey for our logo because it really symbolizes the “Monkey See, Monkey Do” situation homeschool parents are faced with 24/7. I have always loved monkeys, (chimps, actually) and when I was in college, I really, really wanted one for a pet. Then I got married, and ended up having kids (4 to be exact) and, well, our budget just never developed a ‘monkey’ allotment.
Children proved to be challenging enough.
If you’ve ever watched or read much about monkeys (ie chimps), then you know how smart they are, and how quickly they imitate everything they see. As a parent, I’m sure you’ve figured out that kids are the same way. So, starting a home business, regardless of how small, can be an excellent way to teach your children a multitude of skills – if only to bring them by your side as you work.
The actual business skills they might learn, of course, could be gleaned from any good business book, but the skills you can teach them on a day to day basis won’t show up in any of the business books I’ve come across. Skills like integrity, time management, prioritizing, when to bend the rules (grey area ones…) and when NOT to. They will see how you approach deciding the best business for y
our family, how you handle stress, and how you treat others, customers and ‘helpers’ alike. Most of all, teaching them integrity based on your beliefs rather than the commonly held beliefs of the world.
Having a home business brings up such a variety of real world situations that you and your children can solve together, it really is the greatest ‘curriculum’ there is. I have a good entrepreneurial-minded friend whose son was able to step into a management position with another small business shortly after (homeschool) high school graduation. It was just a small (at the time) business run by another homeschool family, but they knew this young man had business experience with his family and decided to give him a try. Long story short, he is now the general manager of up to 20 employees, and making an exceptional income for a young man his age and no ‘formal’ training.
If you don’t think you have it in you to do all it takes to start and run a home business, then maybe you know of another homeschool family that would consider some sort of apprenticeship for your son or daughter. While this is a viable option, one of our missions here at Homeschool Entrepreneur is to help all families make Entrepreneurship a part of their home school. Anyone can do it, and any vocation, interest or hobby can be utilized. While you may not get rich, your child will learn skills that will serve them the rest of the their lives. In our economy,it’s impossible to predict what’s next, but having the basics of how to work for yourself can be the most valuable subject you can teach.
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