Now that kids have an idea of what it takes to be an entrepreneur, we’re pulling the curtain back even more to showcase the power-packed Entrepreneurship strand of the FUTURES: Financially Literate Kids for a Financially Literate Society™ program.
Entrepreneurship isn’t just for kids. Big or small, financial literacy knowledge is key and can be found in this stand-alone section of the program. The program’s detailed Entrepreneurship strand covers a wealth of topics:
Business Operations
Business Startup and Financing
Flow of Money
Entrepreneurship
Public and Private Corporations
Target Markets
Social Responsibility
Through engaging lessons involving real-world scenarios, everyone who explores this strand will discover how to:
learn how to make financing decisions and become good candidates for credit
trace the movement of money from the customer to a business
learn how a company makes decisions about money it takes in
explore the mindset and skill set of an entrepreneur
learn the difference between a public and private corporation
gain a basic understanding of marketing
consider how companies can act as socially responsible organizations
As with the other strands, each section is organized around an engaging Focus Question and divided into five parts, providing a spiraled, progressive presentation of the topic. Five levels of instruction move from a basic to advanced understanding of topics concerning entrepreneurship, helping teachers “meet their students where they are.” Adult learners will be able to learn from the ground up with this progressive instructional model. Just check out a few of the sections to get a first-hand look at the wealth of information. The supplemental activities help all of us apply our skills and talents from other experiences. Students can make cross-curricular connections with other subject areas, too—including math, art, writing, science, and social studies.
For example, kids can compare the ways customers experience a small business versus a corporate franchise in an activity called “Awesome Family Cuts vs. Major Tom’s Hair Salon.” This is a profound comparison for all of us. In another activity, there’s a step-by-step support plan to write an executive summary and cover letter in order to obtain a hypothetical business loan—for some of us, that might not be hypothetical at all! In this strand, you’ll also discover a list of powerful new business ideas—from home day care to elder assistant and everything in between to inspire the entrepreneur in you and your kids! You’ll be able to evaluate the pros and cons and begin to do your own deeper research with this smart jump start.
Through these and dozens of other entertaining and educational exercises, you and your kids will learn what it takes to run and operate a business from start to finish, including on “those days.” It’s a lot easier to run a business on those days when it all goes well; the real test of smart entrepreneurs is being able to run a business wisely on those days where it seems that nothing is going well. True entrepreneurs actually learn more on these days!
Visit Us Every Day in April
Check in again tomorrow as we continue Financial Literacy Month with a fun and creative entrepreneurial project involving designing your own cereal box. While designed for students, any emerging marketer and designer will savor every morsel of this small group, family-sized, or individual serving of creativity. Check it out and use your creativity and business sense to compete for shelf space and win market share with your favorite breakfast food! Hungry for more? Stay tuned.
For more information about FUTURES: Financially Literate Kids for a Financially Literate Society™ for students in kindergarten through eighth grade or to download any of the 29 sections of the program, please click below.