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CATCHING THEM YOUNG. BY: PETER DELMAR, EDITOR, IT'S MY BUSINESS - SUNDAY TIMES, FRIDAY 4TH MAY 2007
I didn't go to one of the posh schools in Cape Town, and my interaction with the likes of Bishops and Rondebosch was largely confined to the rugby field where we would try our darndest to donner the boys at those rival schools.
Recently, I found myself at Bishops Prep, interviewing that school's headmaster and five of the boys (who have now all graduated to the high school). I must admit that I was hugely impressed with everything I saw and heard there.
Almost a year ago, It's My Business ran a story about a kid in East London who was running a little business growing and selling plants. The reaction from readers was fantastic; it seems that as much as millions of South Africans dream about being self-employed themselves, they also harbour the same dreams for their children.
So I thought of revisiting the whole question of creating an entrepreneurial spirit among our children. The headmaster of Bishops Prep is Midge Hilton-Green who is a great champion of getting youngsters to think entrepreneurially. For some years, under his leadership, Bishops has been running a regular entrepreneurial competition (as do many schools nowadays). The five lads I interviewed were the "board of directors" of a company called Trash 2 Treasure. They did the usual thing of buying sweets and toys and selling them on Entrepreneurial Days but they also organised a couple of discos, held at the MD's house, which raised thousands for their business. And thousands in "tax" which they gave to their school and to a local charity.
The boys were all quite charming and obviously very excited about the whole experience of running their own small business and earning their own money.
In the next issue of It's My Business, appearing in the Sunday Times this Sunday, we feature that interview with the boys from Trash 2 Treasure. And then, on Wednesday 9 May, SABC1 is carrying a short interview with them and Midge Hilton-Green. (It should be on at about 10.20am or so.)
While I was talking to Midge in his office, it dawned on me that he is the stepfather of Greg Bunyard, who I have been talking to for some time about the brilliant kiddies' entrepreneurial programme the latter runs called Ka-Ching!
It was a happy coincidence; in fact, I learnt that Midge largely wrote the Ka-Ching! Business Parenting course.
I'm not an educator but some of my colleagues at Johncom Learning are real experts in the field of education and training so when Greg lent me a copy of the course, I asked my clever colleagues to have a look and to tell me what they thought. They were all so enthusiastic about the course (one immediately bought it for her 12-year-old son) that I prevailed on Greg to let me offer the course to It's My Business readers at a 25% discount.
The course normally sells for R1 150 but, in this Sunday's It's My Business we tell you what the course consists of and how to get a quarter off the regular selling price. If you're committed to giving your children every chance in life you won't want to miss it.
Until next time
Peter Delmar
For course benefits click here
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Children need to be allowed to make mistakes.
They need to discover that this is sometimes the way one learns. They need to be given opportunities to grow in confidence and to contribute their own ideas.
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