Teaching Entrepreneurial Skills The Natural Way!
Have you ever dreamt a fantastic dream of what you were going to be when you grew up? Like many children I imagined myself in all sorts of grownup roles . . . but never in a million years would I have imagined myself where I am today!
As of today, I am a homeschool mom who works from home and am the owner three television networks, with more on teh way! Our family bought a ROKU streaming device for our television and fell in love with all the wonderful, niche, channels we can find among their 1,500 channel options!
We studied how to create our own ROKU channel and with some elbow grease and a lot of questions, we had our first channel published worldwide. Next, we began the first ROKU Homeschooling Network to inspire and inform! We have videos on Ancient Greece, Creationism, Biblical Feasts, Ancient Egypt, Creative Writing and much more! I simply love it!
From there we followed our fancy! Our family loves anything from the black and white era so we started our own TV Western channel. Each evening we can watch good prevail against evil in reruns from yesteryear.
At this point, my eleven year son was getting quite interested in what we were creating. He asked, “Mom, can I help with you the TV Channels?” And that was the start of a beautiful relationship!
My son, Caleb, is interested in the black and white era just as much as his mother is. Shows like Superman and Flash Gordon are his style! Together we decided to make a Science Fiction Channel using our favorite TV shows and serials from the 1940s and 1950s!
First we had to begin with graphic design skills. My son and I had to choose just the right graphic image to help promote our new channel. We chose a silly one eyed cartoon alien and resized it to the right promotions. We chose a name for our channel and then the work really began. We had to compiles dozens upon dozens of videos to download and then upload to our new channel.
Endless urls links can get tedious, so taking turns is a delight! Ultimately, what I am teaching my son is the value of hard work and innovation. We are learning app development, television marketing and budgeting together.
We have chosen to sell our channel for the low price of 99 cents for access to all of our shows! As a family, we plan to split the profits with our son who worked night and day to prepare the channel.
As a homeschool parent, I have a wonderful model for teaching, it is the simple “see and do” method! What your child sees you do, he or she will want to do as well.
Are you learning new skills like piano, French, or singing? Your children will likely want to follow in your footsteps! It is time for you to dream big mom and dad! What are you interested in? Try it! Soon your children will want to learn it too! You will be teaching them invaluable skills that will increase their self confidence and prepare them for real life!
The bonding we have had over making one eyed alien television channels has been out of this world . . . and I know you will enjoy your family bonding learning a new skill together as well! Happy dreaming fellow homeschoolers!
Evonne Mandella is a homeschooling mother and the Creator of the Homeschooling Network on ROKU. She is a Schoolhouse Teacher of Video Creation with the Old Schoolhouse Magazine ®. Checkout the new Homeschooling Network on ROKU and visit www.ROKUHomeschool.com or email evonnemandella@yahoo.com
