Entrepreneurial & Design Thinking for Kids –

Entrepreneurial Kids, Design thinking, Maker, STEAM, Financial Literacy, Edtech are all big thinking topics that educators are trying to fit into the curriculum. As a company in the education arena, Brainspace is well-versed in the trending buzzwords.

Entrepreneurial and design thinking is a passion of mine because it’s a natural fit. As a publisher of educational content for kids, I’m always thinking of big thinking for kids. Entrepreneurial thinking, at its core, is about being in charge of what you do. It’s also the realization that the only person that can make critical decisions about one’s own progress is oneself. It’s a healthy mindset for achieving goals.

Think Like a Boss

Think of adjectives that describe a leader; autonomy, initiative, self-starter, guts, drive, winner.

The word entrepreneur is French and it translates to: take on the lead and ensure completion (success).

Think like a boss. Stay on top of all the parts of your business to ensure success.

In the sentence above, replace the word “boss” with student and the word “business” with education.

Isn’t that what we want for students? We want kids to have the initiative and self-confidence to follow-through on their ideas and the ability to process what is required from thought to fruition. For the majority of students, this is not a natural tendency. It’s learned behavior. Yet it’s expected that kids should get it.

It takes most new business owners 3-4 years to figure out the entrepreneurial mindset. The length of a post-secondary education.

Entrepreneurial and Design Thinking is about finding solutions and innovating new ways of solving issues. It nurtures:

• independent thinking vs. rubrics

• inquisitiveness vs. sit and listen

• trial and error vs. don’t make mistakes

• willingness to fail vs. everyone wins

• big picture thinking vs. segmented learning

In the entrepreneurial mindset, learning isn’t about being managed. It’s about being empowered. Using the Entrepreneurial Thinking toolkit, squeeze 30-minute sessions twice per week and it can foster entrepreneurial skill-development.

If we are to nurture #futureready kids, we need to relinquish some control and trust that kids can develop their own parameters.

Setting parameters are part of running a business too.

It’s a privilege to be a boss.

It’s a privilege to be a boss. Abusing the status will crush your business.

In the sentence above, replace the word “boss” with student and the word “business” with education.

I had an idea. A few actually. But the idea that made me an entrepreneur is the one I followed through on. The one I nurtured and grew into a successful venture. https://brainspacemagazine.com