Entrepreneurial education begins with "the 7 years at home"
Providing financial education to the child is as important as taking care of his health! And nurturing, encouraging and developing the entrepreneurial skills of the child has become mandatory these days. They prepare the child for whatever future experience he chooses in adult life!
The entrepreneurial mindset (spirit) is the "key" to success in an unpredictable labor market, it is an intrinsic strengthening of our children, a beautiful baggage that will help them succeed in life no matter what the economic environment will look like.
When I talk about an entrepreneurial mindset, I mean: initiative, courage, the ability to work in a team, assuming responsibility, the ability to plan and organize, lateral thinking and orientation towards finding solutions, being autonomous in learning, self-confidence, learning from failure, creativity. Training the financial-entrepreneurial muscle is done through play, play and lots of practice. The applied, real-life experience component is essential, otherwise the information cannot be memorized.
Entrepreneurial education does not mean that all children will become entrepreneursand
Children's financial education is not only about money, but rather has to do with the formation of beliefs and values for life. Romania ranks last in financial literacy in Europe, with only 22% of Romanians having a minimum of financial knowledge, and this is reflected in lives burdened by installments and debts and full of uninspired financial choices. Financial education means developing a financial intelligence quotient, that is, to help the child develop the autonomy to manage his finances wisely, regardless of whether they are small or large amounts.
Entrepreneurship education does not mean that all children will become entrepreneurs, but entrepreneurial skills will help them in whatever they do. The entrepreneurial spirit can also be manifested through entrepreneurial projects and through freelancing projects or intrapreneurship projects: you are inside an organization, but you need those skills, of finding solutions, of project management. It is an education model that prepares our children to find solutions no matter what the economic context will look like. I believe that these children are true pioneers of creativity and development. The education system does not prepare them for such a thing. It gives them the elements, the information, but does not connect them. It's like having some neurons in your head, but no synapses.
For example, at the workshops organized within the Ken Academy, when we determine the team roles for the sales fairs, there are many children who refuse the sales role from the start on the grounds that "they don't like it, they are not good, they are ashamed". But we challenge them to see the sales space as a playground where they can explore and try anything, that they are safe, that we, the instructors (trainers), are by their side as a safety net (if they fall, we catch them). The surprise is that often in the post-event review, the kids are very excited – they discover they are good at talking to a customer! And they really like it!
The main mission of entrepreneurial education courses is for every child to understand that he can do what he likes
The long-term benefits of such situations are immense: the child discovers himself, gains confidence in his abilities, is proud of what he has achieved. He learns that inside him there are a multitude of possibilities that deserve to be discovered and developed. And such experiences, at this age category, become fixed in the foundation of his being and will guide him in life. The main mission of entrepreneurial education courses is for every child to understand that he can do what he likes, that he can give life to an idea, a dream, that he knows how to act to achieve this and that he is capable of being financially independent.
We, the parents, are the first "specialists" for our children, in any field, including the financial, entrepreneurial one. Mom and dad familiarize them with the notion of money and its importance, developing them with a quotient of financial intelligence. This resource helps children to develop their autonomy, to learn to manage their piggy bank wisely, whether they have accumulated small or large amounts in it.
The age of 7-12 years is the optimal age, when these children can learn the language of natural "entrepreneurship". Everything that enters their lives at this age turns into values that will be the foundation for the rest of their lives. But there are studies that show that by the age of seven, children have already formed the way in which they relate to money, and therefore the financial education of the little ones must start very early, even from the age of three. From then on, the children should have a piggy bank and attend the discussions about money and planning the family budget. Conversations must be frequent, "every day", to fix the information. It is therefore very important to guide this educational process, choosing balanced words, behaviors and attitudes towards financial or entrepreneurial topics.
There are some essential things worth nurturing in our children to develop their entrepreneurial spirit:
- Let's let them make decisions (and respect their decision).
- Let them take responsibility for their decisions (consequences of actions).
- Let's support them in learning from mistakes. We as parents can provide a safe space where children can explore the scheme: "try, fail, learn, try again". To do this, criticism and failure must be transformed into a "learning opportunity", in which we involve the child. We don't tell him what went well and what didn't go well, but challenge him to brainstorm what he can do differently next time. We set the framework, emotionally secure the child and then challenge him, through questions, to generate the solutions. Finally, we draw conclusions.
- Let's teach them to work in a team - to understand the real value of the team, that of complementarity.
- Let's teach them how to save healthily and how setting a goal can always help.
- To develop entrepreneurial projects from an early age that they can execute from planning, organization to implementation. Thus, they directly experience and assimilate the direct relationship between work and money (the first step in children's financial education!).
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