2. Open an online store.
At fifteen, my middle son enjoyed creating
paracord bracelets. He purchased his materials and opened an online store. What a joy
to watch his enthusiasm as he gained orders! Though this was a short-lived venture,
it did provide some lessons in economics,
such as budgeting and supply and demand.
3. Have a themed garage sale.
Several summers in a row we teamed up
with friends to hold a vintage garage sale.
The boys baked our secret-recipe jumbo
cookies and purchased soda and bottled
water for resale. We found that dollar beverages brought in more profit than twenty-five-cent lemonade. We created a refreshment stand to match our theme and ended
up with a profit that enabled us to purchase
tickets to an amusement park. At one point,
my eldest son ran back inside to put more
cookies in the oven, as people returned to
our sale in order buy them.
4. Sell home-grown produce.
Gardens are a wonderful way to involve everyone in the family. Your artistic child can
create labels for the plants, and your child
who loves order can help you dig straight
rows and plant the seeds. We suggest cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, peppers, and
lettuce as the best-selling veggies. Once you
have a sufficient crop, pull out that vintage
refreshment stand you made for the garage
sale and turn it into a veggie stand. Order
small berry baskets online to achieve a cute
and functional look. Be sure to advertise to
friends and family your sale times to give
your entrepreneurs a little boost.
5. Host a backyard club.
The backyard club has proven to be our most
lucrative endeavor. We’ve held homework
clubs, nature camp, book clubs, and sports
camps in our own backyard. At one point,
we had over twenty kids attending our mu-
sic-themed backyard club. I did most of the
teaching, but my teenagers helped lead the
craft and game times. Holding a fantastic
club is easy once you’ve assessed your fam-
ily’s strengths, chosen a theme, and calcu-
lated your costs. Then make up invitations
that list your times and days. We held our
music club from 9AM to 11AM Monday
through Wednesday. (Avoid Fridays if you
can, as people often go on weekend trips.)
We suggest writing up a daily schedule and
organizing each day’s materials into bins
the week before you start. Our music club
was so popular that by the third summer
we held four week-long sessions at a cost of
$25 per day, per child.
What can you do? What can you learn to
do? How can your family’s combined skills
lead you to that honest penny? You may
find there are a thousand ways!
Joleen Steel
Joleen Steel is the curriculum specialist
for Camping Stick Kids. She has a B.A. in
elementary education. She taught public
school for ten years before deciding to open
her own music studio, and homeschool her
boys. Joleen is a pastor’s wife and grew up
as a pastor’s kid. Her love for the good news
of Jesus Christ flows out of her and into the
Camping Stick Kids curriculum. Her easy
style and creative approach to teaching will
encourage your student to learn the Gospel
story and be able to share the good news with
their friends and family. Joleen would love to
have you visit the Camping Stick Kids web-
site and blog at www.campingstickkids.com
A Skill for Life
Accelerated Learning Typing Tutor
using Brain Balance
HOMESCHOOL EDITION
A structured but fun and easy way to
teach your students how to type
Includes free option of our
NEW SEN/ Edition
(developed with the Dyslexia Research Trust)
www.kaz-type.com
For Tablets / Laptops / PC’s
Special 10% discount
Use Coupon Code
TOSHFall
Ages 6+
Used in schools
worldwide
Online or
Download
