Crack the Egg

25 Micro Business Ideas For Your Kids

2011-08-19T06:00:00-05:00

We've been brainstorming ideas for the kids and I to each have our own micro businesses that we can work from our home, have fun doing, and really learn something about doing business. Probably the experts would tell us to stick to one business for the family, but we all had different ideas and our own excitement about them, so there you are.

During brainstorming, one must be careful to allow for every answer, no matter how ludicrous. Evaluating the ideas comes afterwards. With that in mind, here is the list of possibles and what we (think) we've decided upon.

Baking muffins and selling. (Daughter makes great muffins, but I don't want to worry about food safety.)
Fixing lawnmowers.
Piano teaching. (Possible, but I don't enjoy this.)
Small group music classes.
Writing classes for kids.
Writing e-books.
Inventing a game. (Son1 already has one that we play.)
Writing for contests and publications.
Dog-sitting. (We've "sat" anoles and guinea pigs, why not dogs?)
Jewelry making. (Chainmaille is preferred.)
Designing crochet patterns.
Book making and selling. (I love mini books.)
Hand-painted greeting cards. (Daughter really enjoys this, but each is unique and therefore, take a bit of time per card.)
Themed birthday parties for kids. (Take a craft, games around a theme.)
Themed babysitting in our home for group of kids at once. (Every Friday night from 6-9, pay is prorated.)
Growing miniature plants for sale.
Cleaning - specifically decks, cars, garage floors.
Wrapping gifts at your home with our supplies. (Seasonal)
Reading mentor or math/science tutor.
Plant gardens or flowers. Plant flower pots, deliver, and maintain through season.
Lawn mowing with trimming or edging.
Clean dog poo on regular basis. Could combine with dog walking.
Decluttering garages or single rooms.
Running a garage sale. (Customers provide items, kid does pricing, set up, sale, and clean up.)
Putting scrapbooks or memory books together from client's memorabilia.

Son One found out that creating a card game for kids costs thousands in testing for child safety. He decided to go with writing for publications and contests.

My daughter is still investigating three options. First, what it will take to create jewelry (earrings and bracelets) and sell on etsy.com as well as by word of mouth. Second, the feasibility of hand-painting cards and selling in terms of time. Third, creating images to scan on items for sale on cafepress.com.

Son Two and I are working together to create a booklet annotating a list of adventure books for boys.

And myself? I have one writing class beginning in two weeks. I have a few things published, but will up my writing efforts for publication.

What ideas for micro businesses do you have?

Image via Wikipedia

Robin

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A Good Read-Aloud Book on Insects? Yes!

2011-08-16T06:04:00-05:00

Jean Henri Fabre liked to lay on the ground observing ants crawling and digging. I've observed this tendency in my own son. Whether or not he will do what Fabre did remains to be seen. Fabre became a famous French entomologist.

Image via Wikipedia

The Dover translation of Fabre's Book of Insects is just plain fun to read, but is also an excellent book for any nature-loving kid or the kid who might think that bugs are boring.

Sixteen Chapters include:

the Praying Mantis
Grubs
Locusts
the Anthrax Fly
and the Glow-worm.

He also includes a chapter on his first lessons in nature watching and why he wished to have his own bare spot for identifying and observing insects.

I love that Fabre's writing shows how he took his passion to a level beyond most people by patience, diligence, and persistence.

While he describes for us the Sacred Beetle rolling his ball of ground matter, he is also, unconsciously, describing how to observe nature in it's own setting.
When he writes about the bedroom and tunnel of the Cricket, he is causing us to see what the life of the insect consists of.
When he describes the queer body and head of Empusa with the "delicate appetites of the invalid," he is building for us a fascinating word picture of the world of entymology.

Get this book and enjoy it with your own budding entomologist!

Robin

Creative Home Learning

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10 Tips on Organizing Your Homeschool

2011-08-15T10:17:59-05:00

A little organization goes a long ways towards keeping your homeschool running smoothly, not to mention keeping your sanity intact. Start your year off well with these:

10 TIPS

FOR ORGANIZING

YOUR HOMESCHOOL

1. Let each child have their own pencil bag and space for books, notebooks, and folders. Teach your kids to ALWAYS return these to the same place.

2. Have ONE place for work to be turned in for checking. We use a fabric box on a bookshelf.

3. Use a whiteboard calendar to mark anything that happens OUTSIDE the home - homeschool picnics, scouts, soccer practice, choir rehearsal.

4. If you plan assignments for the kids, let each one have a NOTEBOOK where these are written, so they can learn to look at it and follow it.

5. If you have older, independent learners where you just want to keep track of what they cover each day, try a WHITEBOARD with subjects marked, and a spot to check when work has been done.

6. Place games you want to use on a bookshelf where they are VISIBLE and AVAILABLE.

7. If cooking or making decisions about what to eat takes too much time, have a PRE-MADE, ROTATING PLAN for breakfasts, noon meals, snacks, or dinners, or all of the above.

8. Keep ONE bin for used books or items you may use with other kids later, ONE for new items you pick up, but are not needed yet, and ONE for stuff that can be given away or sold.

9. Have a special shelf or basket just for library books. We use one shelf for books that I pick up that the kids will read, and one spot in each of their rooms for the books they pick up.

10. MY FAVORITE TIP WITH THE MOST REWARDS

For EACH child, use a manilla envelope or plastic file folder, to keep precious or important pieces of paper you want or need to keep. This includes certificates, artwork, writing examples, math tests, recital programs, ribbons from camps, etc. If required to keep a homeschooling portfolio for inspection, this will be a huge timesaver at the end of the year. If not, it's a manageable file of what was accomplished during the year.

Robin

Creative Home Learning

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Need To Earn Some Money? Consider A Micro Business

2011-08-12T08:22:58-05:00

Is your child interested in earning money? Do you wish they could get business experience without a huge investment of time and money?

Consider a micro business. In a nutshell, here's why:

Easy to begin and stop
Little start-up money needed, if at all
Manageable
Usually home-based

If you're interested for your kids (or for yourself), the first step is to check out www.MicroBusinessForTeens.com. Carol Topp is a CPA who has, literally, written the book on starting and running a micro business for teens.

Our Family Entrepreneurial Club is working our way through the first book, Starting a Micro Business. We each have an idea for a business, but the book walks us through writing a business plan, understanding what problems may arise (and how to meet or avoid them), and gives clear encouragement for giving your micro business a real try.

What I really like about the book is that Carol shows

just how simple a micro business can be,
how easily it can work with our schedule and available time,
the practical steps to creating a business, marketing, and financial plan,
and that all her suggestions are realistic for kids.

As a homeschooling mom who wants her kids to learn multiple ways to support themselves and ministries dear to them in the future, I believe micro businesses are an excellent way to practice those ideas now.

Let me know what micro businesses you and your kids begin or are running. Perhaps your good idea may inspire others!

Robin

Creative Home Learning

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Want A Science Project Involving Nature Study?

2011-08-11T06:00:00-05:00

Image by seth_k via Flickr

    Sometimes a simple thing can be the most fun. Follow these steps for your own MINI BOTANY SCIENCE PROJECT.

Plant a tree in an indoor pot or in your yard.  (Check at a nursery for a sapling or pick up a free seed from your yard or a park.)

Track its growth for the next year. Include the answers to the following questions: Did you mulch around it? Water it? Do nothing? How did the weather affect it? What birds and wildlife does it attract? Are there any signs of insects or disease?

Augment your record by photographs of the tree taken at regular intervals, measurements of the tree's height, growth rate, and girth. Collect leaf samples, bark rubbings, and make drawings the tree.

Write a final summary of the changes you have watched and any work you put into it.

    That's it! Don't make it harder than it needs to be. Trees can be started indoors over the winter (keep away from heat registers), then planted outside in the spring. Or transplant it to a larger pot and place on a deck or patio for a moveable bit of garden.

Robin

Creative Home Learning

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe for FREE with RSS or email to always get the next one. Recommendations for enthusiastically homeschooling your smart, curious kids are found in the Creative Home Learning Store at the top of the page. Enjoy!

Want To Motivate Your Kids To Bicycle More? Try These 3 Tips

2011-08-10T06:00:00-05:00

    Living where we do, we are limited in the area the kids can ride their bikes on their own. On top of that, one child likes to pedal so slow you could beat him to the corner limping, with a walker. There's also one who doesn't want to sweat. Quite a challenge when you want to count their bike riding as a physical education activity.

Image via Wikipedia

    Here are THREE TIPS to motivate them to:

ride longer,

more often,

and at a speed to get their heart rate up.

ONE --    Require x-number of minutes riding per x-number of minutes for something else. We like 10 minutes of fast biking for every 30 minutes of reading.

TWO --  Create a map with a marked route to a particular place.  Keep track of the distance they've ridden. Once they've reached the destination (across the state, 50 miles, the distance to grandma's house) they get a treat.

THREE -- Use a stopwatch to time a trip around the block (or other marked distance). Then spend five days attempting to beat that time at least three times in a row.

    So, if your kids would rather read than ride a bike or you're limited in where they can go, try these tips to juice it up a bit. Fitness is too important to ignore and with a little creativity we can help our kids get into it.

Robin

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe for FREE with RSS or email to get the next one. As always, recommendations for enthusiastically homeschooling your smart, curious kids can be found in the Creative Home Learning Store at the top of the page. Enjoy!

Is This History Book On Your Shelf? It Ought To Be!

2011-08-09T06:00:00-05:00

    Historical fiction at its best! Escape From Warsaw by Ian Serraillier should be on everyone's booklist or bookshelf.

    Follow the struggles of the siblings Ruth, Edek, and Bronia who are left alone in Warsaw after watching their mother being hauled away by the Nazis, in 1942. Their father, after escaping from a camp, finds his home blown up and the children gone. He travels to Switzerland in hopes of finding his wife while not knowing that his children are alive.

    The Balicki children struggle to keep sane, keep hope, and keep alive. They are befriended by another orphan, Jan. Their adventures involve a chimp, a dangerous canoe ride down a river, harrowing escapes from soldiers, a rooster named Jimpy, and a small silver sword.

    Excellent for historical studies of Poland and World War II, this book is also perfect for reading out loud to your kids as you can talk about

why the children were alone,

whether it could happen again (compare to orphans of Somalia making their way to refugee camps today),

how difficulties can change us for good or bad,

and the effects on someone who has gone through something horrible and the need for compassion.

Image via Wikipedia

    Escape From Warsaw is a gem. Written for fourth through eight grade, it's a classic that other ages will enjoy, too. Realistic and touching without being overly dramatic or graphic, this is can't-put-down historical fiction.

    And, although the characters are fictitious, many place names are real, so a map can be consulted or drawn up to add to your study.



Robin

Creative Home Learning

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe for FREE by RSS or email to get the next one. This book and more recommendations for enthusiastically homeschooling your smart, curious kids are found under the Creative Home Learning Store button at the top of the page. Enjoy!

Reminder: Posts follow this schedule: Monday, Parents: Straight Talk and Inspiration; Tuesday, Best Homeschooling Resources; Wednesday, Great Hobbies, Activities, and Games; Thursday, Mini Unit Study; Friday, Entrepreneurial Club Info & Updates.

7 Questions To Ask BEFORE You Buy That Awesome Curriculum

2011-08-08T06:00:00-05:00

    As you rev up for your homeschooling, keep in mind that the curriculum you choose is for... your use. This means you have permission to use it how you want to (which may be different than the publisher's idea) and you can change your mind.

    To help you make the best decision from the get-go, here's a list of 7 Questions I Ask Myself Before Buying Curriculum now.

1.   Will I really use it? Or am I secretly hoping that if I pay for it, I will be motivated enough to use it? Be very, very honest with yourself.

2.   Does it fit how I like to do things? Is it a curriculum I can dip into as needed or is it strictly for a linear, day-by-day approach? Which will I use?

3.   Is money an issue? If it doesn't work, will I be out an amount I either can't afford or will regret?

4.   Will our circumstances change this year?  Is there a new baby on the way? Will you need to spend extra time with a struggling learner? Is there an illness in the family? Will you be moving? Do I need a more flexible curriculum or one with less teacher preparation?

5.   Do I really need it? What do I already have that I can reuse or adapt?

6.   Is it worth what it costs? There is much excellent curriculum for homeschoolers, but there is also some that is totally unnecessary. Be discerning.

7.   Will my child enjoy it or am I trying to make them fit a different learning style because it's easier for me?

     Answering these questions accurately may take some time and experience. You learn by trial and error. Everyone buys some curriculum it turns out they didn't need after all or something they just didn't use. Other homeschoolers can't live without the same things you are rejecting. That's why there is such a variety of curriculum choices! Don't beat yourself up for picking up something that doesn't work. Learn. Move on. Make a different choice the next time.

Wishing you God's best,

Robin

Creative Home Learning

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe for FREE by RSS or email to get the next one. Recommendations for enthusiastically homeschooling your smart, curious kids are found under the Creative Home Learning Store button at the top of the page. Enjoy!

Reminder: Posts follow this schedule: Monday, Parents: Straight Talk and Inspiration; Tuesday, Best Homeschooling Resources; Wednesday, Great Hobbies, Activities, and Games; Thursday, Mini Unit Study; Friday, Entrepreneurial Club Info & Updates.

What Entrepreneurism Can Teach Our Kids

2011-08-05T06:00:00-05:00

FAMILY ENTREPRENEURIAL CLUB

Lessons Kids Learn From Having Their Own Businesses:

How to work with money

Image via Wikipedia

    Even at the beginning of a business venture, the student must think about money. If offering a service, there can be costs of proper equipment and getting to the customer's home or business. If creating items for sale, there is cost of making and storing inventory. Then there is money for getting your business' name in front of people and gas for driving for supplies or to perform the job. While choosing the price to charge, kids will estimate what they hope to earn compared to output necessary to earn the profit, thus learning a real life lesson in feasibility.

Communication skills

    Whether selling online, in person, or working with clients, your student will end up talking to strangers. This, however, is not a bad thing. The experience, as the saying goes, is priceless. Not everyone will gush over the handcrafted item like Great Aunt Talulah nor offer $10 for an imperfectly cleaned window. But, they will get verbal feedback to their actions, their words, and their business. This creates opportunities to do better, be clearer, speak tactfully, and evaluate the worth of what they're hearing.  Remember, listening is also a communication skill.

Robin                                                                                                                                                                                   Creative Home Learning

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe for FREE by RSS or email to get the next one. Recommendations for enthusiastically homeschooling your smart, curious kids are found under the Creative Home Learning Store button at the top of the page. Enjoy!

Reminder: Posts follow this schedule: Monday, Parent Personal Development and Inspiration; Tuesday, Best Homeschooling Resources; Wednesday, Great Hobbies, Activities, and Games; Thursday, Mini Unit Study; Friday, Entrepreneurial Club Info & Updates.

How To Easily Turn This Nonfiction Children's Book Into A Unit Study!

2011-08-04T06:00:00-05:00

    Shipwrecked! The True Adventures of a Japanese Boy follows the life of Manjiro Nakahama from nine years old to his death at 71. During that time, he went from poor fisherboy to honored samurai, visited ports all over the world while sailing on a whaling ship, learned American ways, and acted as a consultant when Japan negotiated their first peace treaty with the outside world.

    Here's how to use the elements of this book in your own unit study.

Image via Wikipedia

GEOGRAPHY

Using a blank world map, trace his voyages on the whaling ships from Japan, marking the points of call - Dutch East Indies, British South Africa, Spanish Guam, Sandwich Islands (Hawaii).

Using a blank map of Japan, mark his birth town and the other cities and towns in Japan in which he either worked or was called to - Osaka, Edo, Tokyo, Hakodate.

Mark the path of the Tokaido Road, Japan's longest, most important road.

HISTORY

Make a list of all the Japanese customs and their American counterparts.

Read a biography of Commodore Perry (such as that by Rhoda Blumberg).

Place Manjiro's life on a timeline with other major events such as the French Revolution, the American Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the California Gold Rush, or with inventions such as the telegraph and railroads.

Create a small lapbook on whaling using the information about the ships, the killing of the whales, and Manjiro's jobs on board for details.

ART

Study the wood block prints and other pictures in the illustrations.

Find other ninteenth-century pictures of life in Japan in an art encyclopedia or online.

Look carefully at the composition of the Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagowa (pictured on the front cover), then draw your own rendition.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Create a vocabulary list of any word your child does not know.

Create a spelling list from the above list.

Pretend you are in a foreign land. Write a letter describing their strange customs to your family and what you think of them.

    Carry these ideas over into other nonfiction children's books and you'll be well on your way to creating your own specialized unit studies!

Robin                                                                                                                                    Creative Home Learning

Reminder: Posts follow this schedule: Monday, Parent Personal Development and Inspiration; Tuesday, Best Homeschooling Resources; Wednesday, Great Hobbies, Activities, and Games; Thursday, Mini Unit Study; Friday, Entrepreneurial Club Info & Updates.

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe for FREE by RSS or email to get the next one. Recommendations for enthusiastically homeschooling your smart, curious kids are found under the Creative Home Learning Store button at the top of the page. Enjoy!