Why Your Kids Need to Love the Learning of Science and Business?

Chances are you have heard about Apple and Microsoft. These are companies, and very successful at business too. Chances are that if you are reading a blog like this one you must be parenting kids or teaching some in a classroom or two.

One probable reason that you look into this post is to see how to get kids (yours or the ones in your classrooms) to love science and business effectively (so they would be as smart or as successful as those Apple or Microsoft engineers, right?

Well, okay, the point is not to set the bar that high. The point is to get your kids on the road towards that path early on, and though the phrase its never too late is always true, the early bird catches the worm proverb also runs true).

First of all, there are many books and blogs on the 'how' part. I am not going to touch on that today, on this blog post. I am going to leave that to another blog post.

Now I am just going to focus on the why part. Why invest time teaching, encouraging, and empowering our kids with learning about science and other STEM subjects, as well as business (including finance, economics, entrepreneurship)?

Here are top ten reasons:

1. Kids are exploratory by nature and are fast learners.

This is the best time for them to learn useful skills in STEM and business. As kids grow older, they would have more time allotted to other things, such as sports, extracurriculars and community service.

2. Although science is not the only way to success, science is one of the many ways to success.

Doctors, for example, utilized science as their path to success, as well as pharmacists, dentists, Masters and PhD level scientists.

Even at the Bachelors' degree level, science, medical and healthcare professionals receive a minimum salary range of $32,000-37,000 (Almost worst case scenario) but at the higher end, science, medical, and healthcare professionals earn a whopping salary range of $95,000-400,000.

Some extraordinary software engineers may also earn an annual salary of a million or more. Combining science with business, your kid(s) will be equipped with not only one way to success, but two.

3. Science helps kids to understand the world better.

Why the sky is blue? Why don't we float on earth like astronauts do on the moon? What makes planes fly? What makes cars run? Once they start learning, they would continue to learn more.

Learning business principles early on would help kids to learn more about money better, and allowing less financial mistakes to be done as they reach adulthood.

(Of course, if you're fine with your kid going to that nice expensive school for engineering, and then suddenly change his major after his or her sophomore year so he or she could take biology courses instead of engineering, and without scholarships or grants, I am ok with that)

4. Science is interesting and inspiring, it keeps the passion going - for those who have passion for science.

If your kid has a bug collection, or a habit of coding after school, or making new bracelets to sell to friends at school and church or other social avenues, don't coddle that, encourage it instead.

Several biographies of very successful people, including those of Mark Zuckerberg, Laura Deming and Emma Watson, mentioned that one of the elements to their success was their parents' endless substantial support and empowerment for their passions, namely computer science, DNAs and acting.

I mean, who knows if your kid could be the founder of the next Google or the discoverer of the next cure? Don't we all want the best for our kids if we have them?

5. Kids have great potentials awaiting them in the years to come.

The doors of this greatness might as well be science or business. If they delve into these subjects now, they would have an edge later.

6. Many kids are already on this path.

The Acton Academy in Austin founded by Jeff Sendefer is already providing an edge on business and Thomas Jefferson School for Science and Technology has long been in the equipping kids with science and tech business.

Although not attending these schools will not necessarily guarantee your child's failure, but not learning science or business subjects would greatly hamper your child's success as he or she becomes an adult.

7. As the world embraces the increasingly rapid and broadening of technology, more highly skilled workers or skill providers will be required for employment.

This means that kids of this generation need to know how to use their knowledge of science and business to create value that either generate income or is lucrative and attractive to employers.

There is no sure way of knowing what kind of economy or what kind of skill would be lucrative in ten, twenty and thirty years into the future, but since the late 1800's technology has increased, and since the 50's or 60's technology has increased exponentially, requiring people to gain higher amount of knowledge in order to succeed.

Several decades ago, it was sufficient to just graduate out of high school and land a great career. Today, even college grads have trouble landing jobs. In the future, maybe everyone has to have higher degrees such as Masters, PhD's, MDs, Doctor of Dentistry, JD, etc. or start a company just to get to the bare minimum, or not.

Maybe it would be entirely different. There is no sure way of knowing. If things don't go for the worse, chances are that if your kids learned the sciences and business they would be able to use those skills and knowledge as tools to create something of value or offer a service that is of value to others that would generate income.

8. Eighteen years of childhood is not a long time.

Ignorance is bliss then, but the mistakes that kids conduct when they are eighteen or older may not be costly only to them but to their parents as well. Everyone makes mistakes, but shouldn't we all try to do as many small mistakes as possible (so we can learn) in order to avoid the big costly mistakes?

For example, not being able to manage college loans, car loans and credit card debt may prove to be costly to your adult children. Today, many college graduates have college loans, car loans, credit card debt or a combination of all of these. (If you are ok with debt, I am not going to comment on that).

Kids need to learn early on how to manage risks and debt. (Business classes in school may or may not be sufficient. Why don't you just take control of that too?).

Sure, I hope those who do get into such financial holes do get out, but if I had kids, I would rather not have them go through a subtantial debt (higher than $25,000, no actually, I really prefer if my kids have no debt at all, although college loans and mortgages are not necessarily evil things).

9. Science and business learning and teaching tools for kids are cheaper today than they were ten years ago.

I don't think I could get a Chemistry kit for less than $50.00 ten years ago, as I could now, and I don't think I could get an electronics kit for less than $20.00 as I could now as well.

I bought the electronics kit on Amazon and I saw the Chemistry kit on several sites including Amazon, Ebay and Fat Brain Toys. You can get a Raspberry Pi kit on Ebay and Amazon too for a reasonable price (for those who are more inclined to raise a young programming whiz).

10. More often than not, children want to learn, given the right environment.

But they need to see the perspective. They need to see why they need to know the importance of business and science. When children are being raised by great providing parents, chances are that they would not know that things are costly, until you give them the opportunity to see and learn what money does and what lack of money costs them. (Sure, if you'd like to keep handing out Economic Outpatient Care to your adult children and not have substantial amounts of cash for your retirement, you an skip this part).

Now that I have given out ten reasons on why kids should learn business and science at a young age, it is time to take great action steps. As I stated earlier, this post is focusing only on the 'why' part, and not the 'how' part. I am going to leave the 'how' to another post. But just to get you going, I'd suggest three tips:

1. Explain the science of things whenever you can, maybe the physics of sports, or the biology of pets and animals, or the chemistry of cooking.

Explain that their or your ipads require coding, and that their TV is an assembly of electronics. Explain how your household products could be profitable to their manufacturing companies. Explain how money works.

2. Set the example and communcate the importance of these examples.

If you are observing stars, explain to them, if you are reading the news about the latest tech gadget, explain to them. There are plenty of parents who explain, but there are also plenty of parents who don't. This advice is for those who don't.

3. Create a system or set an environment for your kids to learn these things in an easier way.

Create piggy banks or money jars allotted for spending, giving, investing and saving. Demonstrate the power of investing. Help them to understand the importance of saving. Show them the impact of giving. And teach them to spend wisely.

Finally, I would like to say that though it is wise for the parent to cultivate a passion for science and business in a child today, it is also wise to allow children to dabble in other different things as well.

Although it is beneficial if children and adolescents pursue these areas, this does not mean that parents should prohibit their children from indulging in the arts and music, as these subjects may actually complement and even supplement a child's ability in the science and business areas.

In fact, many successful people tend to have indulge in the arts for leisure purposes as they succeed n the STEM and business areas. I would rather leave that subject for yet another post.

#STEM #Bizedforkids #WhySTEMandBiz