Some days homeschooling somewhat resembles traditional curriculum in that there is a time for some math, a time for some history, a time for some writing, and a time for some science… this is not to say that the delivery of these subjects resembles a classroom though- in my home it probably doesn’t since all my children are in the same room together and they rarely sit at their desk to do worksheets…
So what about the other days? Today was one of them. A bit of literature, math, science, etc was covered, but the bulk of the day was spent learning about life and applying all those things we learn in school to a real life situation.
Tiger decided he was going to start a business. One of the girls at co-op had been selling lunches at lunch time during co-op but lost interest. Since Tiger likes to cook he decided to create his own lunch business. He selected a recipe for a rice and beans dish, made multiple calculations, had many discussions with me about business practices, made a test batch of his recipe for the family, and we took a trip to Business Costco. If you have never been to Business Costco, it is NOT the same as Costco. It has a totally different clientele- many in the restaurant and snacks business… so there are all sorts of pots, pans, serving dishes, etc. Tiger selected what containers, cutlery, etc. he wanted for his business. The whole time calculating cost out loud. I never bothered to show him that Costco actually does many of those calculations right on the price papers. I figured it was good practice for him to do the calculating and even better for his sisters to hear him calculating. 
This morning, as Tiger had been discussing and planning his business, Butterfly and Pumpkin Pie decided they too would have their businesses. Butterfly decided her should be a snack business- Snacks and Snips she wants to call it. We talked a little bit and I suggested she do a little market research. She agreed to market research since she has no startup capital and would need a loan… then her eyes got big at Costco. She wanted to buy fruit snacks to sell. Knowing her possible clientele I didn’t think that was such a good idea but I didn’t say anything. I reminded her of her decision to do some research and asked her what each pack of snacks would cost. She quickly realized she needed a few more math skills she didn’t quite have yet. She wanted me to teach her how to do the calculations right there in the store. Ummm as happy as I was to see her wanting to do some math, I couldn’t teach her that in the store with a 3 yr old trying to climb out of the cart, a lack of adequate paper, and the 6 yr old clamoring to start her own business too…
After we got home, Butterfly has decided not to sell fruit snacks- she would have to sell too many to make $1 that it didn’t seem to be worth it to her. But, she did get a chance to see some division in live action… Once she realized her previous idea wasn’t well thought out yet, she tried to just get into her brother’s business without taking on any of his debt… She had to learn that if she wanted the benefit of the profit she had to invest in the risk too.
Pumpkin Pie is still clamoring that she must start her business tomorrow… and the menu?
1. Jus cavrd pretsls (Juice covered Pretzels)
2. Pretzels
3. Juice
4. Juice Covered Pretzels and a juice box
5. Frout salid (Fruit Salad)
Oh, and the Juice covered pretzels sell for $1 for 1 small pretzel. Yup- I have fallen down the rabbit hole of innocence!
Books have been read, studies have been done for the day now (well not everyone’s studies since at the time of this writing Tiger has returned to his other studies), and it is time for dinner and karate.
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