During the month of February, as well as the end of January, I spent each Friday afternoon volunteering to talk about business and economics with a bunch of 4th Graders. This was in connection with Junior Achievement.
It might sound like pulling teeth, but it was really a blast. The kids were great. They were engaged and interested. In fact, by the end of the course, they were greeting my by name as I entered the room… I was late on the last day, and one of the kids commented that she “was afraid I wasn’t going to be there.”
The whole experience was immensely rewarding.
Just to be clear, these weren’t hand picked students or a special class of high achievers. These were average kids in an average class…
While the details of the classes aren’t important, there is something else that IS very important. The important part is that these kids WANT to learn and WANT to have adult come in and talk with them about the larger world. It helps to be entertaining and to speak to issues and examples to which they can relate.
And there is something else that is important…
As people that are involved in business on a daily basis, we can help these ids understand how business works and how the economic system can benefit them and society as a whole.
It doesn’t matter if you choose to invest your time with Junior Achievement or some other worthy organization, giving to the kids is very rewarding and the payback is exceptional.
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Good for you! I have a 4th grader nephew and I tell you he is sharp!!! He is very interested in everything...as a matter of fact he was my accountability partner...he was having a hard time practicing his lay ups and I was having a hard time making my phone calls so we shook on it and he called me every day to see how I was doing! LOL Only lasted a week but i got a kick out of it!
SO many organizations need volenteers and I feel as you do if we can make a tiny difference in these kids' lives what a great thing
Hi Lane,
Kids can be very sharp. I think that's a great idea since business is rarely taught in school. I think it should be taught in high school - but what do I know....
That sounds pretty cool. I suspect the kids in public school do not get to hear directly from "evil capitalist" too often. Get them on the right track about hard work and success.
Lane,
Getting to talk to 4th and 5th graders - especially when this might be their only exposure to free enterprise concepts - is fantastic. The perfect age to hear this. :)
Steve
I teach Junior Achievement. Children need a dose of good ole capitalism to counteract some of the other things they are being taught. Case in point - My 6th grade nephew came home telling all of us how great socialism is.