I was fortunate to be exposed to the importance of entrepreneurial spirit from a young age. Although I had no idea what an entrepreneur was or what they did, I was influenced by my school teacher parents who involved my brother and I in our family's hustle: renovating houses.

My parents came from a humble background. My mother was homeless for part of her childhood and my father was an immigrant who came from little resources. When they got married, a house represented much more than a place to live. It was safety and security.

Almost every summer growing up, we would move into a new house that met the threshold for being the worst house on a nice street, with the goal of renovating and updating it before the school year started.

My brother and I found it a wonderful adventure to move into a new house every summer and help our parents scrape paint, sand floors, and hang wallpaper. We didn't realize at the time that our parents were helping the family live more comfortably and were teaching us about it. the importance of hard work and channeling our entrepreneurial drive.

Today, as a parent of three young sons, I am also trying to instill an early understanding of financial literacy, business concepts and entrepreneurship in my children. Not only because I want my kids to be financially secure as adults, but also because I know that having that entrepreneurial streak is a great foundation for whatever they pursue as they grow up.

My oldest is a chicken farmer at the age of seven. My family lives in the countryside and he wanted to try raising chickens and selling the eggs to our neighbors.

As basic as it sounds, it's become a fun way for him to learn responsibilities like feeding the chickens and cleaning their coop while being exposed to the concepts of buying and selling produce. It's fun for him, but it's also helping to root a level financial knowledgeas much as reading to him as a baby and toddler contributed to his traditional literacy.

While some efforts have been made in recent years to integrate financial literacy into primary and secondary school curricula, a significant gap remains in educating children and young people about personal finance, business principles and entrepreneurship.

According to a 2024 REPORT from the National Council of Financial Educators, no US state meets even the basic standards for educating students in financial literacy, stating: “While the standards for K-12 education have been reformed, no state applies the same standards for rigor, time of teaching or Preparing teachers for its financial literacy requirements Not a single state prioritizes financial literacy as a core subject area.

The report also endnoteS that this failure to address a critical aspect of basic education has consequences: “Only 57% of Americans are financially literate, ranking the country 14th in the world on this metric; and four out of five American adults say that they were never given an opportunity to learn about personal finance.”

These numbers can lead to extremely bad financial decisions, such as getting a lot of debtentering the high interest loans that can never be paid and, in the most extreme cases, bankruptcies, which pink 16% in June 2024 compared to 2023.

Just because schools aren't valuing the teaching of financial literacy, there are steps parents can take to help educate future entrepreneurs.

Related: How to raise entrepreneurially minded children

1. Teach your financial literacy lessons at home

From the old-fashioned piggy bank to a basic savings account at creating a budget to buy a precious toy with a weekly payment, there are many ways to get children thinking about how money works.

Parents often avoid discussing finances with their children, which can do them a disservice. You don't have to discuss your 401k, but even just getting them to find the cheapest peanut butter at the grocery store or showing them how your car payment works can go a long way toward building a foundation for understand finances.

2. Encourage entrepreneurial reading

There are dozens of great books you can give or read to your child to help teach basic financial literacy lessons. One of my boys' favorites is Lawn boy series by Gary Paulsen, about a 12-year-old who uses his grandfather's lawnmower to build a neighborhood lawn care empire one summer. Other great options include Investing for children: From piggy banks to portfolios, Rabbit money by Rosemary Wells, or Berenstain Bears dollars and sense.

Related: These are the 3 things that make Daymond John want to give you money

3. Help your child start a small business

Most of us remember trying to sell lemonade from a front lawn table at some point during our childhood, or having enterprising friends who tried it. While people may be less inclined to buy food or drink from strangers these days, kids may offer to mow neighbors' lawns, rake leaves, shovel snow — or yes, even start a chicken coop. .

Making signs and flyers to promote their business is a great way to teach kids about marketing, pricing according to demand, interacting with “customers” and exchanging services for money.

Related: 4 Pillars for Raising Entrepreneurial Children

While some parents think that finance and business are not a topic for children, I believe that providing basic, age-appropriate lessons to children can have a huge impact as they grow.

Just as exposing them to a second language from a young age can create language pathways that make it easier to learn languages ​​later in life, the same philosophy applies to educating children on the basics of economics and business.