It's My Business - Spring 2010

Books Arts Bash Winners

2010-06-08T06:14:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten and First Grade: Winner: A Big Problem by Brianna T. Runners up: Adventures of Big D and BMC by Emma W. Zoo With A Strange Zookeeper by Vivian L. Second and Third Grade: Winner: The Adventures of Blue Flame the Heroic Giant Squid-Fighting Hero by Sage M. Runners Up: Ruby, A Twisting Tale by Emilie M. Mittens the Cat by Melea von T.

Fourth and Fifth Grade: Winner: 1 by Nicci M. Runners up: One Girl Revolution by Sadie Z. Blaze by Alexandra S.

Sixth Grade:

Winner: The Princess by Lena G. Runners up: Becoming Callie by Lena G. Trixie by Lydia A.

Seventh Grade:

Winner: Happy Ending is a Place by Mandy H. Runners up: Violet Fire by Bryn B. Kite by Hannah S.

Eighth Grade:

Winner: Hollin by Garrett R. Runners up: Common Animals by Thomas B. Little Angel by Adayla S.

Ninth Grade:

Winner: Why I Missed the Second Set by Rose C. Runners up: Untitled by Larissa S. Tales of the Humbats: The Seventh Piece by Raven M.

Tenth Grade:

Winner: Children of the Stars by Holden M. Runners up: Shattering Darkness by Vienna H. The Scouser Cap by Emily V.

Eleventh Grade:

Winner: Cadence by Scout G. Runners up: Vengeance: 25 cents by Kathleen M. Don't Look Down by Tanya S

Twelfth Grade:

Winner: If Pearls Could Sing by Pamela C. Runners up: Broken Things by Emily D. Falling Night by Anna W.

Big thank you to our generous sponsors:

Dreambox: Visit Dreambox for an incredible interactive math curriculum for kids from preschool through third grade. For kindergarten math, Dreambox is unparalleled in fun and pedagogical value. Check out the free trial and see what you think!

Shurley Grammar: A grammar curriculum that takes your child from first through seventh grade, using drills and jingles to teach writing skills (and also reading skills!) along the way. A trusted name in home education, Shurley will not steer you wrong.

Classical Academic Press: If you're contemplating teaching Latin or Greek in your homeschool, you definitely need this system. With audio, video, fun activities, and online Latin games, as well as standard workbooks and quizzes, anyone can teach Latin.

Prufrock Press: Parents of gifted children often have difficulty finding work that will challenge their kids' abilities while still being fun. Prufrock's gifted education materials are a godsend. Kids see them as a treat!

Explode the Code: Many of us have used Explode the Code workbooks with our kids and enjoyed the progressive phonics curriculum. Now Explode the Code has launched an online version, taking their reading education to a whole new level.

Can you help us by republishing the results and sponsor links on your blog, supporting homeschooled writers and this novel-writing contest? Please email us or leave a comment to let us know you can help. We need twenty blogs to participate. Would you donate a post on yours?

Knowing My Customer

2010-02-28T19:25:00.000-08:00

Hello Entrepreneurs!

After making business journals, we got a start on planning and designing teen rooms. There were lots of great ideas being thrown around for making an amazing Teen Club during the brainstorming session, but we had to make sure that we were keeping in mind our 'BIG 4'. This project is huge, this week was just the start. Next week you will be putting finishing touches on the project, and filming your pitch of the project. Your pitch will then be judged and the winning team will receive loads of admiration and a small prize.

Why this project? This project is a hands on way to understand our 'BIG 4'. The 'BIG 4' are the 4 things we must do and understand be be a successful entrepreneur.

The BIG 4

The 'Big 4', as an entrepreneur you must:

1. Fill A Need: know what is needed in your area and know your potential competitors
2. Research: Know your customer and your product (or service). Have expert knowledge of both the customer and the product.
3. Be Creative and Innovative: think outside the box, look for new and different solutions to needs that have been identified
4. Believe in Yourself and Love what you do: Know your likes and passions, skills/abilities, and work to improve them.

Class Chat:

We reviewed our 'BIG 4', this will be talked about so much in this class you will be chanting the list in your dreams. Last week we went over the the 'BIG 4' but this week we went even deeper with understanding why this works and how to apply it to a business, in this case the Teen Club.

Acquiring skills was another point of discussion during this class. How do we get more skill and why is this important? Some of our skills areself taught . We might need to seek out an apprenticeship with an expert, and part of being a great entrepreneur is knowing when you need to improve.

We put brainstorming into action to generate our Teen Club business ideas, it was a great way to make sure all ideas were considered before designing the final Teen Club. You guys were so great and respectful to your class members, I'm so impressed with you all. No idea was looked down upon and you really made sure that if something didn't fit the 'Big 4' the other class member understood why.

The rest of the class was spent on designing the Teen Club, some amazing questions were discussed, such as:

Will we put an age limit on the club? How will that impact the Teen Club?
What setting is our teen club in? Rural, city, urban?
How will we fund our club?
How will we split the income between the owners?
Is the scale correct?
What will we have to cut out due to space limitations?
How can we make sure we are reaching the widest range of teens?

Key Terms of the Week: The words and terms we discussed as a group

Market : A collection of current and/or prospective customers
Apprentice : A person who studies with experts to learn more in a specific field
Market Research: Gathering and evaluating data regarding customers' preferences for products and services
Brainstorming: A method to generate ideas
Next Week:

We will continue working on our Teen Rooms. At this point you have to have things glued down and be ready to present your work as a group.

Things to Think About:

What are some of my favorite activities? How do the activities I like differ from what other people my age like?

Why is it important to know what others like? Do I have to like what they like too?

If I could make a play space of my own what would it be like? Explain in great detail

I am an Entreprenuer - Class 1&2

2010-02-21T18:13:00.000-08:00

Oprah Winfrey, first ever African American woman billionaire.

Voted class favorite entrepreneur.

Class Review, Day 1 & 2

What is an entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is a person who starts his or her own business in hope of earning a profit. Profit is income earned after all your expenses are paid.

The 'Big 4', as an entrepreneur you must:

1. Fill A Need: know what is needed in your area and know your potential competitors
2. Research: Know your customer and your product (or service). Have expert knowledge of both the customer and the product.
3. Be Creative and Innovative: think outside the box, look for new and different solutions to needs that have been identified
4. Believe in Yourself and Love what you do: Know your likes and passions, skills/abilities, and work to improve them.

Vocabulary Review

Business: A company or organization that buys or sells products or product services

Customer: A person who purchases a product or service

Entrepreneur: A person who starts his or her own business in hope of earning a profit

Innovative: To create something new, original, or groundbreaking

Product: An item created for sale, like cookies or computers.

Service: Providing something useful, like babysitting or animal care.

Profit: Income earned after all expenses are paid

Class Chat: Today we played a quiz game and learned about famous entrepreneurs and how they got their start. We talked about Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jennifer Lopez, Oprah Winfrey, and Madame CJ Walker, some entrepreneurs were very young when they started their businesses. All of these entrepreneurs decided to pursue their passions and make money doing what they loved the most.
There seems to be a lot of energy and excitement over staring your own businesses, we will get there, I promise. All of our classes are building to you starting your own business at HSOBX, we just need a little more time. You all did very well playing with your teams.

For Next Week: Be ready to work in teams building a 'Kid/Teen Center' this is a group activity and it will help you focus on really getting to know and understand the needs of your customers. You will each also being getting your own person 'business file' and this will be used as journal and record keeping for the class.

Things to Think About:
Why do I want to be an entrepreneur?
A perfect day to me would be,...
My idea of a perfect job/business is:
How am I like the entrepreneurs I learned about? Am I interested or good at the some of the same things they are/were?
Four of my major interests are:

Dreaming Big:
If I could do anything I wanted, I would start a business that makes or provides:

There is no real homework for this week, but be thinking about your answers to the questions above, you will be journaling your answers in your chosen format (written or drawn) in your business file.