My readers continue to ask for more information on teaching children entrepreneurism.  In response to that I have been reading extensively of late on parenting and especially, as you know, parenting gifted children and have come across some insight I would like to share.

With gifted children, as it is with most children, I’m finding the power struggle of parental arbitration is often a train wreck. Because kids need to “self guide,” they have to be put in positions where they suffer the natural consequences of their own decisions.  Excluding life and death situations, these become very powerful learning experiences.

Examples of this might be: “I don’t want to put on my coat.” “Cool, I’m curious to see how that goes for you.” Another one might be: “Wow, you forgot your lunch, what a bummer.  I’ll make sure I cook an extra big dinner.  The best two books on this subject I have read are Raising Children with Love and Logic and Guiding the Gifted Child.

There is a natural fit in teaching children entrepreneurism and allowing natural consequences to provide the “learning moments.”  Kids want a lot of “things,” most of which cost money.  This allows for tons of opportunity to teach children entrepreneurial skills.  The two that I will focus on in this article are: the difference between needs and wants and creative consumption of wants.

I explain needs to Jaken, my four-year-old son, as things that keep you alive—food, shelter, clothing, etc.  Wants, on the other hand, are everything else.  It keeps it very simple for him.  It becomes simple to say, “Do you want that…. or do you need it?” When we determine its category then we can explore solutions to the desire.

I always ask him what he thinks he can do to create the solution and I reflect implications of his suggestions and ask him if he wants me to offer suggestions as well.  That process usually involves solutions like selling something else, saving his allowance for a certain time, searching for a better deal and/or earning extra money in creative ways. After that we make a “move forward plan,” and he is responsible for the follow through but knows he can ask for help.

He gets to assess whether it’s all worth it, and he is in control. He learns problem solving, self reliance, reward, and self-imposed discipline, all of which are massive life skills.   He also gets to suffer the consequences of not following through or when he is thrown a curve ball, and learns how that feels as well.  I work very hard to keep it light and fun.  I show exuberance in the challenge and empathy when there is disappointment.  This strategy also involves reflection before he consumes which helps him to learn patience with purchases, a skill many of us lack.

There are many more aspects to this one category that we can teach and I will be writing more on it in the near future.  I encourage you to try this out and take this frequent battle parents must wage and turn it into a life skill lesson that’s fun and empowering for your children.  If you have any direct questions regarding this topic or want to know more on a specific area please feel free to use the comments below to correspond with me and I will reply. Good Luck.