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Hello, today I wanted to share how I am introducing my kids to Business 101.

One of the benefits of homeschooling is that I am able to incorporate real-life experiences into our daily lessons. Recently I joined Avon as an Independent Sales Representative and this has been such a great experience. When you are an Avon Representative you are given the resources and the training you need to build a successful business. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to share this information as well as my personal knowledge of sales, marketing and accounting with my kids. Now I am not trying to direct my children into the field of sales. Instead, I am providing them with information and skills that they can add to their virtual backpacks. Skills that one day may serve to be useful.

So you may be wondering how I am incorporating my business into our homeschool and I will explain. Basically, I am openly sharing and discussing my business with them and getting their help with certain tasks. For instance, when my first order arrived I had the kids locate the invoice and together we checked our order to make sure it was complete and accurate. I then had them help me match the products to the order forms so that we could distribute them to the correct clients. They have also helped me design flyers and brainstorm marketing ideas. It has been a fun experience and while some of their ideas have been a bit wacky (i.e dropping brochures from a helicopter), the fact that they are excited and interested is great. My hope is that they will not only learn a little about business, sales, and marketing but they will also see how hard work can be used to achieve goals.

Avon has been a great vehicle to teach my kids about business but you don’t have to start a business to pass this knowledge onto your kids. Another way to teach Business 101 to your homeschoolers is to have your kids set up a mock business and build a portfolio with a business plan (goals and action plan for business). You could have them create their own business cards, flyers, and products (i.e. lego or clay model, drawing, computerized image). Help them research how to start a business, what it takes to make a business profitable and what regulations would affect their business. Depending on your child’s age you could customize this to suit their unique skill set and learning style.

The most important thing to remember is to make the process fun because learning should be fun!

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I recently had a young woman in her early twenties confess that she didn’t know what time it was because she couldn’t read a “dialogue” clock. At first I was stumped by this statement then I realized that she meant an analog clock. I was honestly a little shocked that someone in their early twenties was still unable to tell time but apparently the school she went to didn’t spend a lot of time on this and most of the clocks she encounters are digital. As a homeschooling mom I was overcome with an intense urge to teach this young woman how to correctly tell time using an analog clock.

Unfortunately, she was not interested; explaining that she had made it this far without any issues and as long as she had her cell phone she could usually keep track of the time. She then tells me that she is too old now to learn new things and it is easier to just accept that there are things that she doesn’t understand. This interaction left me feeling helpless and upset and I tried to explain to her that you are never too old to learn new things. In fact not only are you never to old to learn but every day you should set forth to learn something new.

This encounter has made me wonder how many people graduate from high school missing basic skills that should have been learned during their elementary days. What is most troubling is that many of these individuals are completely capable of learning these skills but limit their own potential due to lack of self esteem. Why is there this idea that once we hit a certain age we are no longer required to learn or that we are unable to learn?

The best gift you can give any child is to teach them how to be life long learners. Teach your children that they are never too old to master new skills and that they are capable of so many things. When it comes to those who have given up on learning perhaps we can inspire them to look at life and learning in a different way. I hope maybe this young woman heard the words I spoke and took them to heart. I hope that one day she realizes that she is a smart and capable individual and that she will never be too old to learn.