It is so exciting to see your child succeed.  It is even more exciting to know that you are helping to provide wings for future flight.  With encouragement and practice those sings will truly soar.  That is what is happening with our "Ebay Class".  It is not always easy to allow God to direct the study in your homeschool, but when I have been obedient and followed His lead, true education takes place.

We started our Ebay Class about one month ago.  I gave my daughter, age 14 and no stranger to garage sales, $20 to invest in items to sell at auction on Ebay.  We spent the morning shopping various garage sales.  We have since tried to shop at as many sales as we could find – sometimes by chance and sometimes deliberately.   

My daughter is in the process of totally her profits thus far.  And profits there are.  More later!!!

This past month I have been teaching my children how to purchase things used at garage sales, thrift stores, etc. and selling them for a profit on ebay.  This is definitely an endeavor that requires some study and skill.  However, we haven't gotten off to a bad start.  We have managed to find some very desireable products that we sold for dollars on the pennies. 

You can get rich selling on ebay, but that is not the goal.  I truly desire my daughters to be "Keepers At Home".  If I can give them even one venue which allows them to earn a little extra income from home, then I know that I have fulfilled what God has put on my heart to teach my daughters. 

Life is not about how much money you can make, but rather how you live your life.  Living your life is about investing your time.  The bible says children are a blessing from the Lord, and I pray that my daughters will raise their children (invest their time) as I have done and when (financially) things get rough, they will not turn to the work place, but to the Lord's leading and to their own skills. 

Ebay is just one area that can help make ends meet in a big hurry.  An item listed today can give you cash to spend in less than two weeks.  You can start with things just laying around your own house (or in storage that you'd never miss).  Then you venture out to find freebies and bargains galore.  It does help to do some homework in advance to find out what is selling on ebay.  However, we have more than made up in profits what we have lost in bad buys. 

I will post some of our results from this past month as we finish this weeks' sales.

Because many entrepreneurs are developed from parents who think like entrepreneurs the following article is a great read.  If you long for your children to develop Entreprenuerial Thinking (E.T.), they will catch E.T. from you when YOU start your own business!

Why Start a Home Business?
Read past issues of the e-journal HERE>> Sign up below.

by Ellyn Davis

When I traveled around the country to various home schooling conventions when we had the Elijah Company, I was continually approached by people intrigued with the fact that we operate a business out of our home, or who want advice about starting a business of their own. So I’m going to devote a series of articles to answering these questions and will send you those articles in-between articles on home schooling.

When it comes to having a home business, the most common questions I’m asked are “How did you start?” and “What is it like having a business in your home?” and “What do I need to do to start my own business?” I will cover the answers to these questions in future articles, along with some pros and cons of operating a business out of your home. But in this article I want to address the “why” of having a home business.

When I started the Elijah Company, I had five things in mind:
• I wanted to earn extra income at home.
• I wanted my children to learn entrepreneurial skills.
• I wanted my children to have meaningful labor.
• I wanted to do something that would help other people.
• I wanted to do something I had a passion for and get paid for it.

At the time I started the Elijah Company, I had no thought that eventually it would grow into a business that not only supported our whole family, but provided the livelihood for up to five other families and that touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of home schooling families.

Plus, my children grew up helping in a family business and having meaningful labor, and they learned to think like entrepreneurs (which statistics show that children who grow up in family businesses tend to become entrepreneurs themselves).

I also was able to make a living doing two things I loved, which were helping others and reading books.

So, I’m planning a series of articles around various aspects of starting, owning, and operating a home business, but in this article, I primarily want to address just one of the many reasons you should consider starting your own business. And that reason is because of the enormous tax benefits available to home-based businesses. These tax benefits are the “hidden” ways having a home business earns you income.

Also see:

"The Importance of Thinking Like an Entrepreneur" from our August 10, 2006 newsletter. GO HERE>>

"Four Proven Paths to Wealth" from our October 12, 2006 newsletter. GO HERE>>


Hidden ways having a home business “earns” you income

Yes, there are the sad statistics that 9 out of 10 small businesses fail within the first five years, but that really shouldn’t be a deterrent to you starting your own business if you are careful not to invest more than you are willing to lose. After all, even having a home business for five years can create enormous benefits to you and your family.

One of the major benefits is in the tax advantages to having a home business.

If you have a home-based business of any kind, including consulting, sales, free-lance writing, art or crafts, babysitting, selling on E-Bay, or even Network Marketing, you actually have many tax benefits built right into your financial picture that will save you a lot of money!

And did you know...you do not even have to make a profit to qualify for these benefits? You must simply operate with the intention of making profit.

The key: You must actively work your business with the intention of making a profit.

So, what are the tax advantages to having my own business?

When thinking about money and the tax advantages to having a home business, it is helpful to think in terms of “before tax dollars” and “after tax dollars.” Most of us pay all of our expenses with “after tax dollars.” This means we are living on the money that is left over after the government takes out its share.

But what if you could take a huge chunk of that money and legally pay certain expenses with it before it was taxed? Then there would be less taxable income, and therefore your taxes would be lower. So having a home business allows you tax deductions that mean you can keep more of what you earn.

To make this a little easier to understand, let’s imagine you are in a 25% tax bracket. That means that 25 cents out of every dollar you earn goes to paying income taxes. (We're not even going to go into all the other taxes you have to pay, like sales tax, property tax, etc.)

But what if you could still earn that dollar, but only be taxed on 50 cents of it? That would mean that for every dollar you earned, you deduct 50 cents of it and you are only taxed on 50 cents. So your tax is now 12 and a half cents instead of 25 cents of every dollar.

The best advantages of owning a home-based business are you can turn many of your ordinary, ongoing expenses into tax deductions. These deductions not only reduce federal income tax, they also reduce self-employment tax, Medicare tax, and state and local taxes.

But, before I go into some of the tax deductions, let me assure you that I am neither an accountant nor a tax expert, so anything you do needs to be checked out thoroughly with a tax specialist.

Some favorite tax deductions for home-based businesses include the following:

Household expenses. A traditional business writes off costs like gas, electric, water, and sewer. With the correct formula in hand, you can do the same, and deduct a portion of your home’s basic utilities.

How about rent and mortgage? Yes, just like a traditional business, you may do the same. If you are a renter, this may be a huge relief!

Your car can be worth HUGE tax deductions if you use the "IRS Two Business Location Rule" to connect your small or home-based business with your "day job". This rule actually turns non-deductible commuting miles into fully deductible business miles. Wow! If you're not taking advantage of that, it's like throwing a $10 bill out the window every time you drive 30 miles!

For most taxpayers, vehicle mileage deduction alone is worth some $3,000-5,000 in new tax deductions.

Meals and Entertainment can be 50% deductible when you are with prospective or existing clients, vendors, etc. If you are in a service business or sell products, almost every person is a potential client. It is important to follow the simple documentation guidelines issued by the IRS and to understand there are limitations. An example of a deduction you cannot take is dining out with your spouse. Even if you are business partners, the IRS says no to this. If together, you take a potential client to lunch, then the meeting expense is deductible.

Trips must be mostly business-related to be deductible. If a small element of fun is involved, you will most likely still have a completely deductible trip. The deductions will not apply to a spouse who tags along, unless it is also a working trip for the spouse. Compliance with IRS regulations can be tricky, so it is best to check with your tax advisor before assuming your trip to Hawaii will be deductible.

Conferences are also deductible as continuing education expenses. This means you could come to any of the conferences we recommend and deduct all the costs associated with attending.

Utilities and other expenses for the portion of your home or apartment you use exclusively for business are powerful deductions. Without a home-based business, the most one can deduct is interest and property taxes (on Schedule A). In relation to a home-based business, a portion of utilities, maintenance, cleaning, lawn service, pest control, etc. can be deducted on a Schedule C.

Involving Your Children

Involving your children in a home business is an excellent way for them to learn valuable business skills, whether they go to become employees or business owners. But from a tax-advantage perspective, another way to create tax deductions is through Income Shifting.

Did you know that if you own your own business, you can employ your dependent children (over eight years old) and pay them to work in your business and their salary is tax deductible?

Each child can earn close to $5000 (check to see what the amount is for 2006, but it was $4750 when our children last worked for us) without paying income tax. You also have the advantage of not paying Social Security or Medicare taxes on your dependent children who work in your business. For example, if you employ three of your children, you have shifted $14,100 tax-free dollars to your kids. This is clearly better than giving them an allowance. There are rules, however. The kids have to actually work and be paid fair (not excessive) wages for their services.

We used this strategy with our three boys and from the time they were each eight years old paid them minimum wage salaries for doing odd jobs for the business. They used their salaries to pay for things we would have normally paid for, like their clothing, piano and dance lessons, and even a portion of our mortgage.

What is the power of this? Here’s an example. If you have an income of $40,000 per year, and are married and file jointly, in 2003 your income taxes would have been $5304. Say you have three children that you employ in your home business and pay $4,700 a year each. ($4700 a year at $6 an hour is 783 hours a year, which amounts to around 15 hours a week of work. It’s easy to find at least 15 hours of work for your business, even for an 8 year old. This work can be cleaning, emptying trash cans, doing lawn care around your “office,” helping with mailings, filing, posting sales on E-Bay, etc.) The children’s salaries are deducted from your income, which means your income has dropped to $25,900. Now you only owe $3,189 in taxes, which is a savings of over $2,000.

Educational Expenses are also deductible. Did you also know that an employee can receive $5250 a year from a corporation for educational expenses and that amount is not considered income to them. You can spend $5250 on educational expenses for each child who is an employee of your business and it becomes a tax deduction for you and tax-free income to them.

Other ways of creating tax deductions with your children is to use their photos in ads and pay them royalties. Put the royalty money in their education or retirement accounts.

There are even more tax deductions available that we haven’t experimented with yet. For example, did you know that your business can have a “cafeteria plan” where it provides meals for all employees? For a large family, this could mean a huge savings if your meals were deductible.

Do you lose thousands of dollars in medical deductions each year because you fail to meet the minimum percentage required to claim the expenses? There is a way you can claim every single dollar that anyone in your family spends on medical out-of-pocket costs, deductibles, co-pays, plus many non-covered health-related expenses such as eyeglasses, dental exams, chiropractic services, holistic healing and sometimes even cosmetic surgery.

How does this work? Your small or home-based business gives "Employee Benefit" reimbursement for these categories.

Do you have a dog that barks when someone approaches your home? You may have a tax-deductible "guard dog", allowing you to deduct your dog's vet bills, license fees, even dog food.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg!

There are dozens of other deductions, too. The rule of thumb is, if a traditional business can deduct it, your home-based business probably can, too. With all the advantages available to households with a home-based business, the average savings in tax relief is $4,000-14,000 a year!

These are just a few of the many tax advantages available to owners of home-based businesses. However, before implementing them, I strongly recommend you enlist a qualified tax advisor to help you learn how to document your expenses and how to legally take every deduction to which you are entitled.

Best Resources for Home Business

The Stay-at-Home Mom's Guide to Making Money from Home. This book is written for the woman who puts her children first, and is dedicated to her role as mother, but would still like to work from home. Liz Folger guides you through the process of finding a business, getting started, and dealing with the challenges of combining business and family. She then goes on to profile 29 moms and their home businesses. Reading these profiles is like sitting down for coffee and a chat with a girlfriend. The moms are honest about the mistakes they've made along the way, and they also tell how they manage to "do it all."


The 200 Best Home Businesses profiles 200 of the best and most profitable businesses that you can run from your home. Inside, you'll find jobs for your every interest, from Computer Programmer to Personal Chef. Each business profile provides you with all of the information you need to choose the business that's right for you, with the pros and cons of each business, estimated start up costs, skills needed, advertising tips, and expert advice from home business entrepreneurs.

Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki. Kiyosaki has dozens of books in print. All of them are well worth reading, but to me this is the most life changing of them all. It clearly explains the way money flows in the hands of the poor, the middle class, and the rich, and why you must change your cash flow pattern if you want to become financially well-off. But the most interesting part of the book is the explanation of the four different types of people in business—the employee, the self-employed, the business owner, and the investor—and the thinking and lifestyle that lies behind each. This book will change forever how you look at a job, and also how you look at owning your own business. Read it!

Multiple Streams of Income and Multiple Streams of Internet Income by Robert Allen. These two books are a gold mine of information about how to create “streams” of residual income that make you financially self-sufficient. Most of us are used to thinking in terms of only one stream of income—a job—so the idea of creating multiple streams (no, not by taking more jobs) is revolutionary. These books cover the many, many ways there are to create wealth in such an easy-to-understand way that almost anyone can do it.

The Best Home Businesses for the 21st Century by Paul and Sarah Edwards. This is a huge book that takes the 100 best businesses that can be started and run from home and analyzes the kind of personality it takes to be in that business, the education and skills needed, the start-up costs, and everything else you will need to know to determine if one of these businesses is for you.

Homemade Money: Starting Smart! How to Turn Your Talents, Experience, and Know-How into a Profitable Homebased Business That's Perfect for You! and Homemade Money: Bringing in the Bucks! A Business Management and Marketing Bible for Home-Business Owners, Self-Employed Individuals and Web Entrepreneurs Working from Home Base by Barbara Brabec. These two books are a revised and greatly expanded version of Barbara’s one volume Homemade Money, which has long been considered “the home business Bible” for anyone wanting to know how to start and operate a successful home business. The first book, Starting Smart, contains information and resources for everything from a quiz to see if you really have what it takes to work out of your home, to figuring out what home business is right for you ... and beyond, with information about how to run (and profit!) from a home-based business. This book is the perfect resource for everyone who has the drive and determination to making working from home a reality! This book is a “must have” work at home resource. Bringing in the Bucks! is the most comprehensive "manual" available for anyone starting or thinking of starting a home-based business. No questions are left unanswered. From start-up concerns like zoning, permits, and legal forms of your business, torunning your business day-to-day, this book is the only one that you'll need to get up and running in no time. What's more, Barbara Brabec has solicited the comments of industry professionals from many different fields. They offer tried-and-true tips and techniques to run your business smoothly and, as the title says, "Bring in the bucks"!

The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. The key to creating a business that survives and thrives and frees you from being a slave to your own company is creating systems. You must turn your business into a system or else all you may have done is created an 80 hour a week job for yourself that probably pays only $2.50 and hour. You’ve gotta read this book if you want to create a successful business. I wish I had read this book 20 years ago.

Building the Business of Your Dreams by Ellyn Davis and Tim Lakey. This is a set of 8 CDs from a business conference sponsored by The Elijah Company. The set includes the following CDs:
• The Entrepreneurial Mind, which is an explanation of the kind of thinking it takes to become an entrepreneur.
• Multiple Streams of Home Income, which focuses on different avenues of home income and ways to look at cash flow.
• Identifying Your Dreams and Business as a Vehicle for Achieving Your Dreams helps you get in touch with what it is you really want out of life and discover a business that is a vehicle for living the life you want.
• Developing Your Business Plan is a two CD set that walks you through every area of creating a business plan.
• The Importance of Business Relationships discusses why having connections with many different people is so important to your business.
• Redeeming the Marketplace is an interview that Ellyn Davis held with Mike Bickle and Bob Fraser of the Joseph Company about the impact a Christian business can have on a city.


Also see:

"The Importance of Thinking Like and Entrepreneur" from our August 10, 2006 newsletter. GO HERE>>

"Four Proven Paths to Wealth" from our October 12, 2006 newsletter. GO HERE>>

If you haven't had a chance yet to tell me what home schooling means to you, please GO HERE NOW. It will just take you a few minutes and your input is invaluable to me. Thanks!

WHAT HOME SCHOOLING
MEANS TO ME SURVEY

Any article appearing on this website may be copied or forwarded electronically provided that proper credit is given and that the article is not substantively modified. No article may appear in whole or in part in a publication sold for profit or as part of any commercial endeavor without the written consent of Home School Marketplace. Any reprint must include an acknowledgement of where it came from and the sentence "Sign up for the Home School Marketplace newsletter at www.homeschoolmarketplace.com."

© Copyright 2006. Home School Marketplace, 1053 Eldridge Loop, Crossville, TN 38571.

I thought the idea of creating a family mission statement was GREAT!  Especially with equipping our children with an entrepreneurial mindset!

How to Create a Family Mission Statement The first step in planning a family mission statement is for all members of the family, including children, to sit down together and have a brainstorming session. It is best to choose a leisurely time when everyone is more likely to be in a reflective state of mind. Use a notebook, chalkboard, marker board, or large paper pad on an easel for writing down ideas. At this point, welcome all thoughts and do not allow comments to be made about the validity of any suggestion. Listen respectfully and record everyone's expressions accurately. Be patient, as this process will take time. In some cases, it might take several sessions. While you will have to make allowances for children's differing age levels, it is important to obtain everyone's input. Getting the whole family involved will increase their commitment, since the mission statement is something they must all choose to live by. As a starting point for your family discussion, consider the following questions: What does it mean to be a family? What adjectives describe our family? What things are most important to us as a family? What are our strengths as a family, and what areas could use some improvement? What do other people say about our family? What are the priorities on which we want our family to focus (e.g., trust, honesty, kindness, service)? What guiding principles and values do we want our family to live by? What would we like to accomplish as a family? What do we see in other families that we would like to see in ours? What competencies do we want to develop (physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, spiritually)? What are the responsibilities of parents and children? What kind of home environment do we want? What great historical figures have inspired us? What are our long-term goals and expectations for the future? What is our purpose in life? Think about the above issues and talk about them. Separate the responses into categories by dividing them into goals (what you are striving for) and action items (things to do to reach the goals). You can shorten the lists by combining similar ideas. Keep going over the suggestions and rewriting them until everyone is in agreement on what your family mission statement should include. Each family member should ultimately agree, since working together toward the same objective is essential for a family to function properly.

Next, arrange the list of thoughts into an orderly composition. Putting a mission statement in writing makes it stronger, emphasizes its importance, and reinforces commitment. Other than that, a mission statement does not have to conform to any set of rules. It may be in the form of prose or poetry. It can be a phrase, a sentence, or an entire page. It may incorporate a picture, symbol, or motto. A family mission statement may be based on a Bible verse or other suitable quotation. Just don't copy someone else's mission statement in an attempt to make it yours. Their mission statement reflects their unique style and point of view, as yours must reflect your own. Your mission statement will remind you of the discussions you had on each topic, so it will have a special meaning for your family that goes beyond the meaning it would have for anyone else.

Try to keep your family mission statement simple. Each word should be meaningful, clear, and concise. Whether it is short or long, the mission statement must be one that everyone understands and will remember. A mission statement has to be written in the heart and mind as well as on paper. When family members have internalized the principles of the mission statement, they can sense the appropriate practices that pertain to each situation. Thus, a well-thought-out family mission statement will help to ensure a happy and secure family environment, by incorporating important principles which all family members choose to live by at all times.

Once you have drafted a family mission statement, you and your children must follow it. The mission statement can direct the family's day-to-day activities, decisions, and expenditures. Keep in mind that while we can control goals, we cannot control results. If used properly, however, the mission statement will help you stay on the right course. By comparing your actions to the mission statement, you can tell if you are straying off the path. If you have difficulties, the mission statement motivates you to make course corrections and get back on track. Any time a member of the family does something contrary to the mission statement, instead of criticizing the person, simply ask them to check whether their action is in line with the mission statement or not.

A wise man once said, "If you want to see the strength of a nation, look at the strength of its families." By placing a family mission statement in your living room or other prominent place where the family gathers, it will be a constant reminder of your family's purpose and principles. Your mission statement should be a living document. Don't just file it away--use it, review it, memorize it. Look at it often and regularly consider how you are conducting your life in accordance with the mission statement.

Did You Know...?

Bible verses relating to family mission statements include the following: Deuteronomy 6:5-9, Deuteronomy 11:18-20, Joshua 24:15, Psalm 119:33-34, Proverbs 1:2-9, Proverbs 3:5-6, Proverbs 4:1-13, Proverbs 6:20-23, Proverbs 10:1, Proverbs 22:6, Proverbs 24:3-4, Proverbs 29:15, Proverbs 31:10-31, Isaiah 54:13, Malachi 4:6, Ephesians 6:1-4, I Corinthians 13, Philippians 4:8-9, Colossians 3:20, Colossians 3:21, Colossians 3:23, I Timothy 4:11-13, Titus 2:1-5.

Special Circumstances Teens, singles, stepfamilies, and family businesses have their own specific challenges and requirements when it comes to developing an effective mission. Please see the websites below for advice on creating mission statements for each of these circumstances. (And even if you participate in creating a family mission statement, you may want to make your own personal mission statement as well.) Additional Resources How To Develop A Homeschool Mission Statement - http://www.knowledgehouse.info/hs_mission.html First Things First: To Live, to Love, to Learn, to Leave a Legacy by Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R. Merrill. How to Develop a Family Mission Statement (The Seven Habits Family Leadership Series) by Stephen R. Covey (Audio Cassette). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families: Building a Beautiful Family Culture in a Turbulent World by Stephen R. Covey and Sandra Merrill Covey. The Path: Creating Your Mission Statement For Work and For Life by Laurie Beth Jones.

Teri Ann Berg Olsen is a home educator, a librarian, and the author of Learning for Life: Educational Words of Wisdom. An AFHE member since 1995, she and her husband have always homeschooled their children. In addition to serving as resource coordinator for the Knowledge House Learning Resource Center, Teri is the leader of Desert Hills Christian Homeschoolers and the Arizona State Coordinator for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Visit her blog: www.HomeschoolBlogger.com/Arizona and website: www.knowledgehouse.info.

Home Schooling the High Schooler, part 2
How Do We Earn Credits?
Read past issues of the e-journal HERE>> Subscribe to the ejournal below.

by Ellyn Davis

How Do We Earn Credits?

The number of high school credits needed for graduation vary from state to state, but most states require a minimal number of high school credits in core subjects. This minimum is shown in the chart below. Please check your state's minimal requirements.

Credits Required for High School Graduation

Language Arts 3 - 4	Science 2
Math 2 - 3	Social Studies 2 - 3
Fine Arts/Language 1	U.S. History 1
Economics 1/2	World History 1
Government 1/2	Electives 7 - 9
Physical Education (includes health) 2

This list reflects the minimum requirements for most states. If your child plans to go to college, there will probably be more credits required in the core subjects (Language Arts, Math, Science, History) as well as an additional credit in Foreign Language.

What do these credits mean? Usually one credit in a particular subject (for example, one credit in Language Arts) means that a class was offered in that subject for 50 minutes each school day for a school year (180 days) and that the student attended that class for 165 of the 180 days it was offered and performed work in that class to the teacher’s satisfaction.

First, let’s examine the concept of a high school credit in more detail. Let’s say your child needed one high school credit in Language Arts. If we multiply 50 minutes (the length of class time each day) by 150 days (the number of days the student actually attended the class, assuming the student was allowed 15 absences a year and another 15 classroom periods were spent with assemblies, pep rallies, substitute teachers, non-learning activities, etc.) we get 126 hours of actual class time toward that credit. However, we know that in a typical classroom less than half of the time is spent in learning activities. The other half is spent settling down the class, discussing assignments, taking up or giving out papers, dealing with trouble-makers, and so on.

This means that out of that year of class time in Language Arts, teaching (and presumably learning) was actually occurring for less than 63 hours. Add 20 minutes of homework in that class three days a week and that adds another 36 hours of learning time. So a high school credit actually reflects roughly 100 hours of work in a particular subject, if that much. (When we have talked to former school teachers, they agree that 100 hours is a generous estimate.)

The second thing we need to examine is what a credit of work in a subject represents. For example, if our subject is Language Arts, usually the high school level courses are such things as “Survey of Western Literature,” or “American Literature,” or “Short Stories, Poetry, and Plays,” or “Theater,” or “Public Speaking,” or a general course that includes grammar and composition. The goal for each literature course is for the student to become familiar with the major works of a particular literary genre and to have some understanding of the plot structure of novels, the metric structure of poetry, and the presentation of a play. The goal for the grammar and composition courses is the ability to communicate clearly and persuasively through writing, and the goal for the public speaking course would be to communicate clearly and persuasively when speaking to a group.

Now that we have some understanding of both the amount of time that is involved in earning one high school credit and the goal of the subject studied for that credit, we can develop our own course outlines.

Non-traditional methods of earning high school credits

Suppose we wanted to develop a course similar to a “Survey of Western Literature.” We would begin with books like Reading Lists for the College Bound that list the literature major colleges consider most important for high school students to read. We would also find books on using discernment in reading, such as How to Read a Book. If we picked ten books that represented the best in Western literature, had our child read those books, write brief essays about each according to the ideas in How to Read a Book or discuss each book, this could easily take 100 hours and earn one high school credit in Language Arts. We would represent that credit hour on our home-made transcript as “Survey of Western Literature.”

As far as grades are concerned, we are free to establish our own guidelines, since that’s what school teachers do. In a public school, the teachers are free to decide how they will grade their classes (how much credit for homework, for tests, for classroom participation, for the final exam, etc.) and they are also free to choose whether they will grade “on the curve” (which means grades are determined by the class average) or on a strict numerical value.

One way we can grade would be on the effort expended and the quality of the papers and discussion. If this seems too subjective, we could clearly define grading before the course began in ways like: read 10 books and write/give 10 reports equals an A; 8 books and 8 reports equals a B; 6 books and 6 reports equals a C, and so on.

Because our student is earning a course credit based on spending 100 hours of time, this 100 hours can be spread over two weeks, two months, or two years. When and how the credit is earned is not the issue; covering the material is. We could even design the course so that it provides only half a credit. In high schools with a semester system, courses are often only given for one semester, so they count for half a credit each.

Half a credit courses are even easier for home schoolers to design because they only represent 50 hours or less of work. A lot of high schools and colleges have developed summer school courses that are only two to three weeks long. Students concentrate intensively on one or two subjects for those few weeks and get a full semester’s credit.

High school credits can be earned in other ways than through reading books. Our children have all the Language Arts and Fine Arts credits in theater they will ever need because they have been in several productions at our community playhouse and each production requires at least 100 hours of rehearsal and performance time. They have an intimate understanding of the many aspects of presenting a play, from auditions, to memorizing a script, to making scenery, to setting props, and more.

Our boys also took dance classes and horseback riding lessons, and we counted the lessons and all practice as Physical Education. In addition, they also listen to many books on tape as we travel, and the listening and subsequent discussions in the car can be counted toward course work. One well-researched term paper can easily require 50 to 100 hours of work and be credited in Language Arts as “Grammar and Composition.”

Examples of other non-traditional ways to earn high school credits

•“Career Choices.” Course requirements: Work through some of the books on career choices such as Finding the Career That Fits You, and arrange to work for a set period of time at some of the careers that spark an interest.

•“Shop.” Course requirements: Build something functional like bookcases, a table, a gardening shed, a stall in the barn, etc. Maintain some equipment, such as the lawnmower, the car, etc. Credit hours are given depending on the number of hours spent on the project.

•“Economics.” Course requirements: Open checking and savings accounts. Manage these accounts faithfully for a specified period. Be responsible for purchasing for the household within certain categories (examples: food, clothing, gas) according to a budget. In addition there are many books on economics your child can study.

•“Philosophy.” Course requirements: Study the various world views influencing us today through such books as The Universe Next Door. Write a paper discussing your own world view. If you combined the world view study with a study of cultures and civilizations holding those world views and the historical rise of each world view, you could count this course as “World History.”

•“Public Speaking.” Course requirements: Join the 4-H public speaking club and attend their meetings. Enter the 4-H public speaking contest at the county level and be prepared to go on to the district and state levels. Alternate requirements: Prepare several speeches or talks and invite friends and family to come to hear you speak or prepare an audition piece for a play.

Many more ideas for developing course work and granting high school credits for all of your child’s learning activities are found in the book Homeschooling the Teen Years. After all, if major colleges grant credit for courses on Star Wars movies, why can’t we grant high school credit for interests our children pursue?

What about the really hard courses?

Calculus, physics, chemistry, German—these are the types of courses parents usually feel inadequate to teach. However, foreign languages and higher level math and sciences are only an issue if the student plans to attend a four year college, and even then colleges vary in the number of credits they require.

Most parents can tell by the time their child is 12 or 13 whether that child is college material, junior college material, technical school material, or “get-a-job” material. Check with potential colleges to determine the actual number of credits required for acceptance.

If the college requires a heavy load of credits in foreign languages and higher level math and sciences, all of these courses are available from traditional textbook publishers. In addition, Abeka, The School of Tomorrow, and The Chalk Dust Company produce teaching videos in subjects like Chemistry, Physics, Advanced Algebra, Calculus, and foreign languages. However, the easiest way to pick up course credits in these subjects is take them at your local community college.

Many home schoolers take their junior and senior years in high school at a community college under a dual enrollment plan and get both high school and college credit for their coursework.

Studying to the Tests

Most prep schools design their senior high courses around preparing for the SAT or ACT. These schools are in the business of getting their students into Ivy League Colleges, and the only way they can do this is to make sure the students score high on the tests that determine college admissions. Therefore the better high schools tend to “teach to the tests.” Home schoolers can take the same approach. We can get SAT and ACT test preparation books and design our senior high courses around preparing for these tests.

Another thing we can do is gear senior high courses to the CLEP or Advanced Placement Tests. These are tests the child takes that count for college credit. Many home schooling high school students (including the famous Colfaxes whose sons received scholarships to Ivy League colleges) turn their high school years into studying for and taking one CLEP or Advanced Placement Test after another. By doing this, some of these students can exempt most of the course work in their first two years of college.

An excellent book of strategy for high schoolers is How to Get Into the Top Colleges. Written by people who run a consulting firm for parents who want their children admitted to the better colleges, this book gives an inside story on what colleges look for and a step-by-step program for high school that virtually guarantees admission to any college.

General Resources for Home Schooling Through High School

Charting a Course for High School by Ellyn Davis of Home School Marketplace is a CD explaining why the high school years are crucial years of identifying who each child is and how we parents can use high school to prepare our children’s futures. This message is part of an 8 CD set on home schooling called Turning Hearts.

Homeschooling the Teen Years. Cafi Cohen speaks from experience about teaching teens at home. Her book paints a picture of the many paths to success, including all the details of preparing a student for college.

The Christian Home Educator's Curriculum Manual, Volume 2. If you are trying to tailor teaching materials to your family's needs and values, this is the place to start. Using the four different learning styles, Cathy Duffy shares how to choose curriculum that works best with your teenager; helps for college, career, and vocational planning; how to “graduate” your child from high school; ideas for record keeping; and reproducible charts. She recommends the best teaching materials for each type of learner.

Reading Lists for College Bound Students. Suggested reading lists from 100 top colleges, plus an annotated booklist of 100 most often recommended books.

Discovering Your Children’s Gifts by Don and Katie Fortune. This book does an exceptional job of taking the list of spiritual giftings in Romans 12 and showing parents how those giftings express themselves in their immature forms in children. There is a different chapter for each gift describing the gift, how it tends to operate in children, how it affects the way the child learns, and how it gives a child a bent toward a specific life’s work. Very informative.


What Color is Your Parachute for Teens? This book has been around a long time because it has no equal. It is considered the best book available for determining which job is most suitable for a person and how to go about getting it. Note: This book covers getting a job in all job markets.

Finding the Career That Fits You by Lee Ellis and Larry Burkett is a hands-on workbook filled with worksheets that help you pinpoint your personality type, skills, life values, and vocational interests. Burkett’s Career Pathways organization has thoroughly researched the job market to determine which skills will be most needed and which jobs are best suited to particular personalities and aptitudes. By working through this book, you will discover how to pursue a career that is the wisest investment of your God-given abilities.


Homeschooling High School by Jeanne Dennis. Not only does this book offer reading lists, suggested topics to cover in courses, and lists of materials for science, but the author offers a collection of forms that is invaluable. She has time sheets, reading logs, and most importantly, a transcript. I've always wondered what a professional transcript was supposed to look like. There are many other forms as well.

Homeschooling for Excellence by David and Micki Colfax. The Colfaxes’ homeschooling primarily consisted of a lot of hard work establishing a homestead. They explain their process of homeschooling four sons through high school and having each of them receive scholarships from top schools like Harvard and Yale.

Preparing for Adolescence by James Dobson. Although this book assumes the teenage years will be turbulent, it is one of the few Christian resources about puberty. We suggest that you read it first, then work through it with your child. It covers the feelings adolescents commonly experience, the peer pressure they face, the physical and emotional changes in boys and girls, misconceptions about romantic love, and how to accept the responsibilities of growing older.

Homeschooler's Guide to Portfolios and Transcripts provides critical advice, examples, and resources for designing the most powerful and persuasive admissions presentations. This guide cuts through the veil of mystery that surrounds the admissions evaluation process to provide frank, practical, advice from public educators, home and alternative school specialists, and admissions professionals on such critical topics as: When and how to start building a record. Choosing the best medium to convey high school achievements What records and documents must be included - and what's better left out.

The Five Love Languages of Teenagers by Gary Chapman. Each of us has a “love language” of certain actions and words that when others use them it makes us feel loved. A very helpful book that will give you a greater understanding of showing love to your teenager.

How to Really Love Your Teenager by Ross Campbell. Sometimes loving parents can’t seem to get through to their teens. Teens need a special kind of love and understanding and this book tells you how to meet their needs.

Teenage Liberation Handbook : How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education by Grace Llewellyn. This book tells teens how to take control of their lives and get a "real life." Young people can reclaim their natural ability to teach themselves and design a personalized education program. Grace Llewellyn explains the entire process, from making the decision to quit school, to discovering the learning opportunities available.

Raising Self-Reliant Children in a Self-Indulgent World by Stephen Glenn and Jane Nelson. According to the authors’ research, the maturity of a 1990's 18 year old was equivalent to the maturity of a 1950's 11 year old. This book discusses critical factors in developing maturity and explains how parents can help.

Age of Opportunity. Paul Tripp uncovers the heart issues affecting parents and their teenagers during the often chaotic adolescent years. He shows parents how to seize the countless opportunities to deepen communication, learn, and grow with their teenagers.

The Blessing by Gary Smalley and John Trent. Many of us were never identified as who we were by our parents and what we have tried to do with our lives has never been blessed or accepted by them. This two tape set explains the tremendous power of identification and legitimacy that a parent’s blessing gives to a child and shows how a blessing can confirm and direct a child throughout life.

Lady in Waiting. This book offers a refreshing alternative to the dating scene for ladies, and that is to fall in love with the Lover of their souls—Jesus Christ. It shows how important “waiting” time can be as preparation for eventual marriage, and it provides a path for women to follow to find completeness and happiness in their lives, with or without a man.

Raising a Modern Day Knight defines a man as "....someone who rejects passivity, accepts responsibility, leads courageously, and expects the greater reward."

For More High School Resources, GO HERE>>

Going to College While in Homeschool High School Interview with CPCC President Tony Zeiss on the Concurrent Enrollment Program		sponsored by a grant from: Laurel Springs Independent Study Program
	sponsored by a grant from: Laurel Springs Independent Study Program Quick Support Sign Up Cafi Cohen, author of Homeschooling: The Teen Years and Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook, said, "At a recent graduation ceremony for Florida State homeschoolers, the emcee read a short description of each of more than forty teenagers receiving diplomas. More than 90 percent of them had taken college classes concurrent with their high school homeschooling. Several had accumulated more than a year’s worth of college credits." Cafi Cohen interview | "College at Age 13" Sue: There are an increasing number of these programs around the country and we wanted to find out more about them. We decided to start out in our own backyard and took at look at the community college in Charlotte, NC. Even if you don’t live in Charlotte, it may give you some ideas to try to find similar things in your own community. CPCC (Central Piedmont Community College) in Charlotte, NC is a member of the prestigious League for Innovation in the Community College, a consortium of 20 of the nation’s finest two-year colleges. We approached the President of the college, Tony Zeiss and asked him a few questions about his program for high school homeschoolers called "Concurrent Enrollment". The credits are real & transferable This program allows high school homeschoolers to take college courses, while they are in homeschool high school. The credits are real college credits that are transferable. Concurrent Enrollment students may take any course available in the current college schedule. Many students are able to use this alternative path to accumulate enough credits to bypass the entire regular admissions process for four-year colleges. Instead they "transfer" to other colleges using the credits earned at the community college. Usually it takes about 30 or more college credits to do this. For those "worried" about the social skills of homeschoolers, Liz Kroboth, a homeschooled high schooler was enrolled in the Concurrent Enrollment program. She wanted to get involved in student politics. She served as student body president 2000-2001!! How it Works Sue: We asked President Tony Zeiss a few questions about his program. Thank you for joining us! CPCC's Concurrent Enrollment program is a wonderful education opportunity for young adults. When did CPCC start to offer this program and how was the idea developed? Zeiss: Concurrent enrollment is a statewide program initiated January 1, 1987 and codified in NC General Statutes Subchapter 2C, section. 0305. According to the guidelines, a high school student, 16 years or older, based upon policies approved by the local public or private board of education and board of trustees, may be admitted to appropriate courses, except adult high school, concurrently under the following conditions: upon recommendation of the chief administrative school officer and approval of the president of the college; upon approval of the student's program by the principal of the school and the college president; upon certification by the principal that the student is taking the equivalent of one-half of a full-time schedule and is making appropriate progress toward graduation. The law states that high school students "shall not displace adults but may be admitted any semester on a space-available basis to any curriculum or continuing education course." Once admitted, these students are to be treated as all other students. In addition, local board of trustees and school board may establish cooperative programs to provide college courses to qualified high school students. College credits shall be awarded upon successful completion. These cooperative programs must be approved prior to implementation by the State Board. Benefits for Homeschoolers Sue: Many of the students in your Concurrent Enrollment program are homeschoolers. What do you think are the benefits for homeschoolers in taking this program? Zeiss: Most home -schooled students benefit from the small classes and diverse population at our CPCC campuses. Perhaps many home-schooled students come to the Concurrent Enrollment program as their first educational experience outside the home environment. The opportunity to follow their educational interests and to learn in a collegial environment is a tremendous benefit. Not to mention the opportunity to start their college education while still in their high school years. High School Homeschooler in Student Government Sue: Recently you had a homeschooled student in your Concurrent Enrollment program who wanted to participate in CPCC's student government. This is a very good way for young adults to learn and participate. How do you see the role of the Concurrent program influencing the growth and development of students? Zeiss: Yes! Liz Kroboth served as our student body president 2000-2001. She was home-schooled and was very prepared for this leadership role. She served on our board of trustees and had to learn to move with ease from working with peers to working with some of the community's top leaders and policy makers. Any student would profit by serving on our student government. Another former student government leader who was home schooled comes to mind. She was April Prenninger. Like Liz, she was an excellent student, well prepared for life, a good thinker, and received a full scholarship to George Washington University for her junior and senior year. Concurrent enrollment will give home schoolers an early collegiate experience and will help prepare them for higher education in a practical and beneficial manner. It is the best tool for preparing students for their college life to come, and they will already have achieved some college credit before their freshman year. My son, for example, had 11 credits before being graduated from high school. These credits, like most here at CPCC, will transfer to all public universities. interview with Liz Kroboth

Excerpt from:
"Homeschooling: The Teen Years"
Ten Reasons to Homeschool
Through High School (pg. 38)
Reprinted with permission of the author, Cafi Cohen
© 2000 by Prima Publishing. All rights reserved

1. Efficiency
   Many homeschoolers complete standard high school academics eighteen to twenty-four months, very quickly compared to the four years most high schools take. Using self-instructional materials, they chose, and learning in ways that make sense to them, most teens can cut the time for traditional high school by half.
2. Head Start on College:
   Homeschooled teenagers often take college classes to supplement high school homeschooling.
3. Self-Directed Learning:
   The absence of xperts in the home promotes autonomy and self-directed learning. Most homeschooled teenagers not only lean t teach themselves, they also become expert networkers.
4. Travel:
   Freedom from the teaching constraints of school allos homeschoolers to take advantage of travel opportunities whenever they present themselves.
5. Work Experience:
   Teenage homeschoolers have time for volunteer and paying jobs. Often they get better jobs than those who attend school simply because they are available during school hours.
6. Time:
   Homeschoolers not only have more hours each day for creative endeavors and learning activities; they also have more time to be alone, to think, to daydream – to develop a private self and a personal identity.
7. Family Closeness:
   In contrast to many adolescents who pull away from their families, homeschooling parents almost universally report that their teenagers grow closer to all family members.
8. Limited Peer Pressure:
   Removed from the near-constant peer pressure in schools, most homeschooled teens develop mature manners and values.
9. Saving Money:
   Both parents and teenagers may earn money while homeschooling, making home education less expensive than attendance at a public school where average yearly costs for extracurricular activities can exceed $500 per year.
10. Fun:
    Homeschooling teens is fun for parents, who – in the light of their life experience – enjoy learning all the math and history and foreign language they missed the first time around.

see the interview with Cafi (Teen Homeschooling)

I thought this article was an great!  Very inspiring!  Especially for those less than perfect days.  (Do I have any of those?  Oh, yeah, that's EVERYDAY!)

Homeschool Heart

Grace In The Homeschool

�...My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.� 2 Cor. 12:9

How's homeschooling been going for your family this week? Has it been flowing and joyful or has it been a bit rocky? You know, it's really easy to homeschool those days when everyone is getting along well, mom is feeling great, the house is picked up, and your kids are excited about what you're studying. But what about when things aren't like that?

What about when Mom feels rotten, the house is a wreck and you struggle to find the books or pencils, or one of your kids just isn't reading well yet and everyone seems to notice? Do you start to wonder if you really are supposed to be homeschooling?

I always have to remind myself that time and time again in the Bible, God used unlikely people to accomplish His purpose. If we were able to do everything without His help, He wouldn't get any of the glory. People would say, �Well of course they can homeschool, they are Super Parents!� However, when people see you willing to tough it out and continue on in faith and obedience, they'll see the God who can work in all circumstances.

If you're having a great week, to God be the glory. If you're having a rough week, to God be the glory as well. His grace is sufficient for you AND for your homeschool!

by Chris Davis

The "Spark"

“It was my son’s first day of school. As he boarded the bus that day, I was as excited as he was. He was such a clever, creative, inquisitive child. I just knew he would thrive in school. Then, one day, several months later, I picked him up at the bus stop. As he exited the bus, I suddenly noticed something missing in his eyes. There was no enthusiasm, no spark. It scared me. I said in my heart, ‘Who did this to my little boy? Where did his life go?’”

This heart-wrenching scene (or one similar to it) has been experienced countless times since the advent of the public school movement. Maybe you have had a similar experience and that is why your little one doesn’t go to school anymore. However, did you know that we can keep our children home and do the same thing to them that has been done to millions of children for over 150 years? We can take the "spark" out of learning. The different ways we do this is the subject of another article, but for now, I want to discuss one part of this "spark," which is curiosity.

I once heard Raymond Moore discuss education and someone in the audience asked this question: "How do you know if your child is really learning?"

His answer, "Look at who is asking the most questions. If it's you, the child isn't learning. If it's the child, learning is going on."

I haven’t seen any statistics to back this up, but I agree with Dr. Moore that children learn a lot more when they come up with the question.

Children come into a world that is filled with wonderful, intriguing; and, yes, sometimes dangerous things. There is an awful lot they need to know. And, there is a whole subculture of trained professionals out there just waiting to get these kids into a room and tell them what they should want to know.

The trouble is, children are curious. God built this into them. They want to know all sorts of stuff. Most of it isn’t very important, really. Except to them. What do your children ask you? Their questions are wonderfully creative and, sometimes, annoying.

Whether our children are in school or we are “schooling” them at home, most of us believe that what children should learn has already been established. It is simply up to us to make sure all the information they are to learn actually get inside of them. But, are these the things our children want to know? If we were honest, we would have to admit the answer would probably be, “No.” Of course, we don’t ask our children what they are curious about, or what intrigues them, or what they would like to know. After all, who are they? Just kids.

What do your children WANT to learn about?

When my sons were younger, at the beginning of each school year, I would take an hour or two and read the Elijah Company Resource Guide out loud to them. That’s right, I would read the Elijah Company catalog, page after page, to the boys. In front of me was a piece of paper divided into three parts. As I read the catalog I encouraged the boys to stop me when something sounded interesting that they thought they might want to learn during the coming year. Then I would type out a list of what each boy indicated he was interested in learning. Of course, each child had way more on his list that could possibly be covered during a year, so I spent time with each one and whittled the list down to a manageable size.

“James,” I said during one of these sessions. “You have said you want to raise snakes this year.” As I had read through the science section of our catalog, I had come to the category on snakes and James had made me put “snakes” on his list. I didn’t mind James raising snakes if that is what he truly wanted to do. I just needed him to know, from my own experience as a boy his age, what raising snakes entailed.

After listening carefully to me, James said, “OK, Dad, maybe I’ll do snakes next year.” James actually never lost his curiosity for snakes because, although he never raised one, I allowed him to spend as much time as he wanted studying them. Of course, in order to do this with my children, I had to object to the worldview that what children should learn has already been established. Why? Because if we allow our children to do many of the things that interest them, a lot of time is used up that ordinarily would be spent teaching them the “officially” recognized information.

In their very important book, Discover Your Child’s Learning Style, authors Willis and Hodson make the following observations:

“When children enter the schoolroom in kindergarten or first grade, their abilities to conform and perform according to preset standards are what they are judged by.” And, “...conformity and performance measures are what count. Memorizing facts, taking tests, and receiving grades replace investigating, wondering, discovering, playing, and asking questions.” (page 25-26).

We assume children will learn what we want them to learn the way we want them to learn it. What is so very dangerous about this assumption is that, for many children, what we really want for our children is destroyed in the process: that each child develop a lifetime love of learning.

Pre-digested knowledge

I have written many articles, and spent many years speaking about the one-size-fits-all, graded, generic, in-the-box, prepackaged, scope & sequence curricula that is in use by homeschooling families. This type of curricula were originally produced when the public schooling movement began in the mid 1800's because these are the materials most useful to efficiently educate masses of children in a “factory” model of institutionalized government (or, for that matter, private or Christian) schooling.

In the beginning of the homeschooling movement, the type of curricula mentioned above was not available to homeschooling parents. The reason is that in the early years homeschooling parents weren’t at all interested in reproducing the public school model of what children did during the day. Since homeschooled children weren’t using the same materials as children who were “in school”, publishers didn’t have a market for what they were already printing. But, as the homeschooling movement drew families whose primary concern was their children’s education, publishers of public, private, and Christian school curricula found a new market for their curricula. Homeschooling parents began to try to produce the same kind of high school graduate as the public school, so they began using the same curricula.

In an institutional school setting, a child’s abilities to conform and perform to present standards are what he or she is judged by. I would like to suggest that, in the homeschool setting, what needs to be judged is the depth of curiosity found in our children.

Recently I read a study which concluded that 85% of all communication aimed at three year olds is either telling the child not to do something he is doing or how bad he is for having done what he just did. I was astonished. What are all these three year olds doing that they need such continual correction? I would suspect they are exploring and, in so doing, getting into things they shouldn’t be getting into.

Encouraging and Nourishing Curiosity

Take a piece of paper and draw a line from the left of the page to the right. At the extreme left side of the line, write “birth.” At the extreme right of the line, write “left home.” Somewhere along the line, put “age 12." Now, from birth to about age 12 your child’s learning should be as experiential as possible. This is the time for taking ordinary activities (ie. setting the table, building a birdhouse, looking through a microscope) and learning while doing. It is the time to buy lots of field guides and a good microscope. Put a terrarium on the kitchen table (or a counter top) and tell your kids, “Whatever you find outside and you don’t know what it is, bring it in and put it in the terrarium. We’ll get the field guide and look it up.” This is the time to raise pets, get to know the stars, and ask thousands of questions.

Thousands of questions? Yes. You should be asking question every few minutes. And, you don’t even have to know the answers. Just ask. “Why do you suppose grass is green and the sky is blue?” “Why aren’t there any blue flowers?” “Why do so many animals hide from us?” “What is electricity?” Why should you do this? Because children need to know that asking questions is not only an all right thing to do, it is the best way to be a life-long learner. If your children hear you asking questions all the time, guess what they will grow up doing? That’s right. And, if they grow up asking questions, they may not accept just anything and everything they are told. They might actually be immune to propaganda and advertising. They will think!

Men have believed many things for long periods of time that turned out to be untrue when someone decided to question their validity. But, first, someone had to ask. One of Einstein’s most famous quotes goes like this,

“If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts.” Einstein spent his life questioning accepted scientific beliefs. He said, “Curiosity is more important than knowledge.”

And, we should be asking our children questions about Scripture. If Scripture is the most true of truths, our children’s faith will be strengthened the more questions we bring to the Bible.

I challenge parents, and I challenge myself, to engender a sense of curiosity in our children. One of the most important words you will ever hear your child say is, “Why?” The second most important word is, “WOW!” This word is full of expression, wonder and inquisitiveness.

Eventually, you will need to add academics to your child’s experiential learning. Don’t begin this too soon and never allow academics to overwhelm curiosity. One can almost see Einstein shaking his head as he wrote, “It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.”

Make sure your education is never so formal that one day you notice something important missing in your child’s eyes.

© Copyright 2006. Home School Marketplace, 1053 Eldridge Loop, Crossville, TN 38571

The Importance of Thinking Like an Entrepreneur

by Ellyn Davis

See the photo? Do you know who this is? Albert Einstein, acknowledged as a modern-day genius. Looks kind of goofy, doesn't he?

Einstein said: “You can’t solve problems with the same thinking that got you into them in the first place.” In other words, you are where you are because you think like you think.

Descartes, the famous French philosopher, said, “Cogito ergo sum.” It means, “I think, therefore I am.” Descartes meant that as a statement that our reasoning ability proves that we exist. But Descartes only got it half right. Instead of “I think, therefore I am,” the truth is “I think, therefore I do.”

What does this have to do with thinking like an entrepreneur? Entrepreneurs think differently than most other people, and therefore they “do” differently than other people.

I hope that you don't look at the title of this edition of the newsletter and just not read it because you're not particularly interested in business or in learning how to create sources of income.

Why? Because I believe that an entrepreneurial mind is a real asset whether or not you ever build a business. If you've been reading the John Gatto articles I've been sending your way, you already understand that the thinking behind traditional schooling methods and operations is to create a compliant, dependent, "don't think for yourself" mentality.

This means all of us parents who were public or private schooled were trained in that mentality, so we can't help but pass it on to our children in our own home schooling.

How Children Learn to Think "Outside the Box"

Last weekend I was at an informal meeting of a group of internet marketers. Many of these people make phenomenal incomes from the internet. At one of the meals, I sat across from Craig Perrine, a young Dad who has made a fortune teaching others how to build e-mail lists so they can market their products on the internet.

In the course of the conversation, he mentioned that as a teen he was really into cars and had gotten the idea to import foreign cars into America and sell them at a profit. I asked him what made him think like that as a teenager and his answer was, "My father always thought that way, so I just picked it up at home as I was growing up."

Then, when I got back home, my son James approached me and said he and his friend Joel have decided to meet together once a week and educate themselves about business. They intend to learn all they can about different areas of business and then start a business together. Because I have had six businesses and have gone to every business-related seminar imaginable, they asked me to devise a "course of study" for them.

So, as I thought about the books and programs that would be most helpful, I realized that the foundation of all successful business is the development of an entrepreneurial mind.

At the beginning of this article I mentioned Einstein and Descartes. You’ve probably heard of them, but have you ever heard of Napoleon Hill?

Hill interviewed most of the highly successful people of his day and found 16 characteristics of success. One of these was what Hill called “The Entrepreneurial Mind.”

Some people call it “BE – DO – HAVE.” This means you have to be what it takes in order to do what it takes to have what you want. This type of thinking is the reason multi-millionaires like Donald Trump can lose it all and come back with even more. In fact, if you read the stories of highly successful entrepreneurs, they often lose everything and get it all back several times.

The important thing when it comes to success is that you get the foundation, which is the THINKING of success. The rest of it is just learning different skills. But the skills are useless without the thinking.

8 Characteristics of the Entrepreneurial Mindset

1. Entrepreneurs believe that the universe is rigged in their favor. What this means is that you have a firm grasp that God’s intention is to bless you. The literal meaning of “blessing” is “empower to prosper,” so you must believe that God’s intention is for you to prosper. A corollary to this belief is that you live in a world of abundance with unlimited opportunities. This means that there are amazing opportunities in every circumstance. It also means that everything that happens, happens in order that you may ultimately prosper. (I can hear you thinking: “But wait. Aren’t there only a limited number of pieces of the pie?” The answer is "No. There are plenty of pieces of pie to go around.")

2. Entrepreneurs believe that they are the power, the creative force in their own lives. (“Hey, wait. God is the only source of power in the universe.” That’s right, but didn’t Jesus say you had been given all that power? And didn’t Paul say that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you?) The Entrepreneurial Mindset doesn’t see yourself as the victim of circumstances, so it doesn’t make excuses for not living the life you dream about living. Here’s some good news and some bad news for you. First the bad news. You create your own reality. So whatever life you’re living now, you created. Now the good news. You create your own reality. This means if you don’t like the life you’re now living, you can change it.

3. Entrepreneurs see risk as a normal part of living life. Most people play not to lose and base their decisions on fear of loss or fear of failure, so they play their hand in a way that minimizes loss. Entrepreneurs have fear, but they don’t live out of their fear, they live out of their dreams. They play to win instead of playing not to lose.

4. Entrepreneurs view themselves as separate from their work or even from their own lives. Entrepreneurial thinking doesn’t hold on tightly to opinions, ways of doing things, their own ideas, etc. Entrepreneurs don’t confuse success or failure with who they are as people. Because they don’t view failure as meaning anything personally about themselves, they can use failure as a stepping-stone to success. Success becomes an “intended outcome,” failure just becomes an “unintended outcome” that they can learn from.

5. Entrepreneurs question everything, even themselves. An entrepreneur never settles for “That won’t work” or “…because that’s the way it’s always been done.” Entrepreneurs look for a way to make it work.

6. Entrepreneurs highly value learning, not just education. Real learning equips you to do what you want to do. Entrepreneurs consider learning one of their primary investments, and particularly value the ability to be mentored by others more successful than themselves. So they don’t look at buying books or training programs or mentoring opportunities as costly, they see them as investments in their future success.

7. Entrepreneurs believe that what matters to them, matters. Entrepreneurs view pursuing what matters to them as OK, not as being selfish. They believe that if they care about something, that makes it important enough to do something about.

8. Entrepreneurs can move in and out of life frames as needed. They are able to look at things close-up and see all the details, but not get so enmeshed in the details that they can’t see the big picture. But they don’t get so caught up in the big picture that they don’t pay attention to the details.

So why don’t we automatically think this way? Because we’re trained not to. All those objections that popped into your head as you read the characteristics of an entrepreneurial mind are objections that have been put there by either your schooling, your family, your friends, your church, or some other influences in your life.

How to Develop an Entrepreneurial Mind in Your Children

How do we develop an entrepreneurial mind? Remember, not one of the successful business people who Napoleon Hill interviewed was born with the characteristics of success—they developed them.

The best way to develop an entrepreneurial mind is to learn from those who already have one. Read, read, read and learn how entrepreneurs think. Try to find mentors who are successful in the areas in which you want to be successful, and either work for them for free or pay them to mentor you. Copy what others who are successful think and do. Go where entrepreneurs hang out, like conferences and seminars.

I've drug my kids to seminar after seminar on business-building, internet marketing, public speaking, real estate, stock trading--you name it, they've been to it. I do this because this gives them an opportunity not only to see what's out there (there is an abundance of opportunity) but so that they will rub shoulders with people who are very successful at what they are doing. In the process my children have realized that these people think differently from the people they hang around at home.

So my recommendation is that you actually develop an "Entrepreneurial Track" in your home schooling. Get your children to start reading some of the "Top Resources" below. Read along with them, because you probably need to develop an entrepreneurial mind as much as they do.

Then save up and take them to a conference in an area they find interesting--real estate, internet marketing, etc. You will be amazed to discover that there are teenagers who go to these conferences on their own and there are also other parents who bring their kids, so your children won't be the only ones there. And some of these teenagers (yes, even some home schoolers) are making enough with their own businesses to support their whole families.

Top Resources for Developing an Entrepreneurial Mind

Anointed for Business by Ed Silvoso. This book gives a clear understanding of how Christian business people can impact the marketplace for Christ. This is not the thinking we are used to having about business. In fact, the church has tended to treat business people as spiritually inferior Christians, whose main value lies in their ability to contribute money for church projects. Silvoso changes that thinking by explaining what an integral part businesses can play in transforming society. In fact, there are many nations who will not allow Christian missionaries, but who will welcome Christian businesses.

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Napoleon Hill studied all the successful business people of his day and came up with 16 traits that made them different from other people. The good news about Napoleon Hill's research is that none of the people he studied were born with those traits, they developed them. So anybody can do it, even you.

Your Life as Art by Robert Fritz. Robert's work is about recognizing what really matters to you, and then creating your life based on that. So in a way, he teaches you to nourish and equip your deepest desires and highest aspirations so that you live a life centered around those.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. Covey’s ideas are so widely circulated that if you don’t read his book, you’ll be at a disadvantage when people start talking about concepts from the book like “win-win” and “synergy.” But that’s not the real reason to read his book. The real reason is that it is one of the absolute greatest distillations of the concepts that it takes to move toward success and effectiveness in every area of life.

The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch. Did you know that 80% of your success in any endeavor comes from 20% of your efforts? The 80/20 Principle is a cardinal rule in business, because everything about business follows this ratio—80% of your sales will come from 20% of your products; 80% of the effective work will be done by 20% of the employees; and so on. The 80/20 Rule is a double edged sword, because 80% of your activity will only produce 20% of the results you want, so it’s better to zero in on the 20% in every area—your personal life, your relationships, your business—that produces the most results. Koch not only thoroughly explains the 80/20 Principle and the effect it has on all aspects of your life and business, but he gives valuable “keys” for enhancing the 20% that creates the real results.

Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki. Kiyosaki has dozens of books in print. All of them are well worth reading, but to me this is the most life changing of them all. It clearly explains the way money flows in the hands of the poor, the middle class, and the rich, and why you must change your cash flow pattern if you want to become financially well-off. But the most interesting part of the book is the explanation of the four different types of people in business—the employee, the self-employed, the business owner, and the investor—and the thinking and lifestyle that lies behind each. This book will change forever how you look at a job, and also how you look at owning your own business. Read it!

Multiple Streams of Income and Multiple Streams of Internet Income by Robert Allen. These two books are a gold mine of information about how to create “streams” of residual income that make you financially self-sufficient. Most of us are used to thinking in terms of only one stream of income—a job—so the idea of creating multiple streams (no, not by taking more jobs) is revolutionary. These books cover the many, many ways there are to create wealth in such an easy-to-understand way that almost anyone can do it.

The Best Home Businesses for the 21st Century by Paul and Sarah Edwards. This is a huge book that takes the 100 best businesses that can be started and run from home and analyzes the kind of personality it takes to be in that business, the education and skills needed, the start-up costs, and everything else you will need to know to determine if one of these businesses is for you.

Homemade Money: Starting Smart! How to Turn Your Talents, Experience, and Know-How into a Profitable Homebased Business That's Perfect for You! and Homemade Money: Bringing in the Bucks! A Business Management and Marketing Bible for Home-Business Owners, Self-Employed Individuals and Web Entrepreneurs Working from Home Base by Barbara Brabec. These two books are a revised and greatly expanded version of Barbara’s one volume Homemade Money, which has long been considered “the home business Bible” for anyone wanting to know how to start and operate a successful home business. The first book, Starting Smart, contains information and resources for everything from a quiz to see if you really have what it takes to work out of your home, to figuring out what home business is right for you ... and beyond, with information about how to run (and profit!) from a home-based business. This book is the perfect resource for everyone who has the drive and determination to making working from home a reality! This book is a “must have” work at home resource. Bringing in the Bucks! is the most comprehensive "manual" available for anyone starting or thinking of starting a home-based business. No questions are left unanswered. From start-up concerns like zoning, permits, and legal forms of your business, torunning your business day-to-day, this book is the only one that you'll need to get up and running in no time. What's more, Barbara Brabec has solicited the comments of industry professionals from many different fields. They offer tried-and-true tips and techniques to run your business smoothly and, as the title says, "Bring in the bucks"!

The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. The key to creating a business that survives and thrives and frees you from being a slave to your own company is creating systems. You must turn your business into a system or else all you may have done is created an 80 hour a week job for yourself that probably pays only $2.50 and hour. You’ve gotta read this book if you want to create a successful business. I wish I had read this book 20 years ago.

Conversations with Millionaires by Mike Litman. No, we’re not obsessed with getting rich or withbecoming millionaires, but this book is such a window into the kind of thinking it takes to operate a multi-million dollar enterprise that you’ve got to read it. The book is a series of interviews with some of the richest and most successful businessmen in the country and they share their paths to success as well as their failures. It is fascinating reading.

Building the Business of Your Dreams by Ellyn Davis and Tim Lakey. This is a set of 8 CDs from a business conference sponsored by The Elijah Company. The set includes the following CDs:
• The Entrepreneurial Mind, which is an explanation of the kind of thinking it takes to become an entrepreneur.
• Multiple Streams of Home Income, which focuses on different avenues of home income and ways to look at cash flow.
• Identifying Your Dreams and Business as a Vehicle for Achieving Your Dreams helps you get in touch with what it is you really want out of life and discover a business that is a vehicle for living the life you want.
• Developing Your Business Plan is a two CD set that walks you through every area of creating a business plan.
• The Importance of Business Relationships discusses why having connections with many different people is so important to your business.
• Redeeming the Marketplace is an interview that Ellyn Davis held with Mike Bickle and Bob Fraser of the Joseph Company about the impact a Christian business can have on a city.

More rants and raves coming in the next issue . Stay tuned....

View past ejournals HERE>>

P.S. Here are the webpages I've finished. Each page listed will take you to more pages on that topic.

Webpages about choosing teaching materials

Webpages about the importance of reading great books and booklists for children of all ages

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