Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Now that we have given you good reasons to incorporate an entrepreneurial experiment into your homeschool curriculum, Mike Smith gives you some ideas for implementing such a study for your student on today's Home School Heartbeat.

Mike Smith:
Childhood entrepreneurialism is often associated with providing a lawn mowing service for neighbors, but there are many other ways to achieve the advantages of teaching your student how to go into business for himself.


For example, a child's first venture need not have any real life monetary consequences in order for him to reap the benefits. With the prevalence of computers and simulation technology, virtual entrepreneurship is more popular then ever. Imagine your child's surprise and excitement when you assign him a computer game for his lesson. As long as you structure the experiment properly and discuss the lessons he is learning, it will be truly an educational experience.


Have you ever watched a child play a game like Zoo Tycoon? This computer game lets your student become the owner of a zoo, and it gives him the opportunity to build a zoo from scratch and watch to see how consumers react to his choices. Your student makes all the decisions from zoo layout, types of walkways, variety of animals, even where to put concession stands. Each decision has an impact upon the zoo's bottom line, giving your child a safe environment to make mistakes. In addition, a student can learn that the monetary bottom line is not the only important goal, but having happy customers is a worthy objective as well. And until next time, I'm Mike Smith.