This section has been developed from questions that have been asked. We thought it would be a much more efficient use of everyone's time to ask and answer the questions once.

What  is TeachingKidsBusiness.com - we are a social venture providing online programming to introduce kids to business and prepare kids for a career in business or operating a business. We are focused on kids under 18 years of age with our main users 10 to 14 years of age. (k-12)

Why - we feel kids need more preparation for business and careers. We believe there is a need to provide kids with access to information on business preparation. We recognize that kids will all be involved in business at some point in their life and will benefit from being aware and prepared.

How - we offer free online programming to introduce kids to activities to develop skills in our (resource center). We create opportunities for kids to get valuable experience (business encounters) and we encourage communities to participate (community involvement). 

Where - as an online resource we compile input worldwide and provide our services 24/7/365. Our development is managed in North America and we are currently  limited to the English language. Our book is published in Japanese and Chinese.

When - We launched this site on October 23, 2000 and have grown from an initial 20 pages to several 1,000 pages of programming.

Why is the site called Teaching Kids Business when there is so much more?

This is a very relevant observation. It is always difficult to catch the essence of something when naming a website with 1 to 3 words . We wanted the name to be self explanatory but not limiting. 

Teaching is a well know term that indicates that the site plays a teaching role by providing knowledge, to show and to demonstrate. We are teaching by providing resources, experience and providing support and encouragement from our greater teaching community.  We are all teachers for kids by the examples we set and the way we  influence kids through our private and professional lives.

Kids is a term we are using to refer to children 8 to 18. We believe that the term kid is understood and one that is endearing to people. We found the terms youth and children did not create the same effect as kids. To many people, a kid is someone younger then themselves and someone they teach a few things to.

Business is a term that we consider in  a broader context. We believe business encompasses much more then being in business, running a business or understanding a certain business. We believe that the terms business and career are very similar when developing training resources for kids. We use the term  business to also mean the same as a career in business.

Consider a person's life has a private component and a professional or business component.  The business component is often directly related to a persons private life in regards to a persons education and opportunities they are provided. In addition, peoples lives today are becoming very intertwined between business and person. This creates a situation in which life skills and business skills are interchangeable.

Business in our website consists of a number of components that help prepare kids for business and for life. We have approached the teaching of business with a training component, career planning, creating business experiences and exposing kids to business in general.

We also believe that business is where a career takes place, therefore the preparation is similar.

Why should we teach kids business at an early age?

This is all about preparing kids for independence. It is inevitable that kids will have to work someday and assume the responsibility to look after themselves. We haven't lost site that "kids need to be kids" which traditionally focuses on having fun and being sheltered from many responsibilities and pressures of life. Kids can be kids but we can also help them to be better kids and more successful adults, if we prepare them in a way that gives them a great foundation. As business is integral to life, we recognize that business skills and life skills are very interchangeable. The main difference that we draw on is that business is much more aware of the need and impact on skill development. We can learn from business, apply it to kids and hopefully learn from kids and apply it to business. It is a win-win for Kids and business.

Business teachings are also beyond the business skills.  TeachingKidsBusiness.com also gives kids "business encounters" to gain experiences to help understand business and help kids prepare for careers.

We have also developed the term "business preparation programming" to further explain the concept of teaching kids business.

Who should do the teaching of business?

Teaching can be done in a number of ways as you can teach yourself or have someone work with you.  We have developed the tools and experiences in a way in which kids can work independently or can benefit from adult assistance and group participation.  The younger the child is the more assistance they may require. Since we have provided and presented the content, the teaching role really becomes encouragement and advice .  We have  built this into the programming but recognize that personal involvement has its advantages.

Don't underestimate your ability to teach as teaching is to show or help to learn how to do something. You will also find that teaching is much easier when you have good resources.

This program has been designed to be shared with kids by many people. Just by sharing our information with kids,  you will start them along the path of learning about careers and business.  Teaching can be accomplished by sharing information and talking about careers and business with kids.

Who are you? (Who is behind this initiative.)

A page has been provided "about the founder" to explain how the concept has evolved,  background of the founder and some reference letters. An e-Mentor profile has also been provided.

The founder is a parent/business person who is interested in providing kids with a safe, educational and inspirational site to engage them in business activities at an early age. The goal of the founder is to introduce, prepare and launch kids into business.

What are your intentions in launching the site?

The "about the founder" explains how the site was conceived. As an involved parent with a keen interest in education, my intentions are very straightforward. To teach kids business is the intention. I saw a need, an opportunity and a chance to create something very special from the grass-roots.  I saw it as a challenge to take an innovative concept from start to implementation.   The primary motivator is the impact on kids, secondly the satisfaction of developing a successful community enhancement initiative and thirdly the future business opportunities for kids outside of TeachingKidsBusiness.com. 

Who verifies the content from the people who participate?

This is a very important component of TeachingKidsBusiness.com and one that will distinguish it from many sites.  All information will be edited before it is posted to the site. Initially the founder reviews all material before posting and over time this stewardship will be managed by responsible individuals in accordance with very stringent policies and procedures.

Do you have an educational background or career experience that qualifies you to develop and run this site?

There are many business resources that are used to teach adults business skills and career development.  The challenge is to interpret and relate this to kids.  The combination of business experience and relating to kids is an important element to succeed in this initiative.

The founder has a professional designation in management accounting  (CMA), 20 years of business experience, 15 years of experience as a "parent as teacher™"  and experience developing business partnerships and educational enhancement programming within the public school system.  To compliment the founder, the Company consults an Advisory Board to participate in the strategic development  of the Company.

Who sees the e-mail inquires. Are the addresses used/marketed/sold?

The privacy policy addresses this question in great detail. In essence we are not trying to capture information and no information is currently used/marketed/sold or reviewed outside of the company.  As we are dealing with kids we are very respectful of the necessity for privacy and we will thrive to ensure that this not compromised.

Our contact us refers to children's privacy laws.

Are kids safe?

The content in the website is very safe for kids.  We have developed the activities in a way that encourages adult involvement.  We believe that we can engage adults to participate in our quality programming with children on the Internet.  This will increase general Internet safety. We have linked to other sites but we advise kids to advise parents/adults that they are leaving the site.

We are very respective of privacy laws as they pertain to kids. We have adopted the rules of the U.S.A. which prevent requesting personally identifiable information from kids under 13 years of age. When we ask for e-mail contact we refer kids to our contact us page to advise kids appropriately.

How  are you funded.

Jeff M. Brown, the founder has personally funded the development and maintenance of the site.

We have developed products which are sold through our website in our kids business e-store. Our book, The kids' Guide To Business is an important marketing and funding tool for us.

 The Company plans to use commercial proceeds from KidsE-Marketplace.com and other associated websites to assist in the long-term funding of TeachingKidsBusiness.com . The Company will  pursue strategic alliances to provide resources in the future.  This will be a very select process as the goal is not to commercialize the concept or clutter the site with unrelated advertising. 

A commercial relationship is developing in our  KidsE-Marketplace.com website.  This site is  based on kids developing  an internet marketplace with kid's online digital information products.  Kids evolve from explorers of business related content , activities and business related experiences to business kids in their marketplace.  Kids experience a business game that provides the bases for an opportunity to launch their product into a kid's marketplace, developing as KidsE-Marketplace.com. It is the kid's marketplace that will provide kids with the opportunity to go into  business and in turn will provide revenues through our social venture  fund to help further develop programming and the management of the TeachingKidsBusiness.com website. 

We feel that a business  association with a kid's venture, such as KidsE-Marketplace.com  is true to our cause and one that benefits kids.  Through this strategy we can maintain our high safety & programming standards and we are not influenced or put in a compromising position for commercial gain. We can respond to kids needs rather then our advertisers or sponsors needs.

We have also created an e-book to help fund the maintenance and development of the website.

Where are you located?

The founder's office is located in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada (Toronto area) and an associate is located in Seattle, Washington.  The "Contact Us" explains our location philosophy.

Are the website services free?

Yes, all programming in TeachingKidsBusiness.com is free. We have no intention of creating any barriers for kids to use these programs. We want all kids to have access to the programming. We are working hard to provide access to kids that don't have computer access or educational enrichment programs. We are also pursuing international development and expanding the language offerings.

Why isn't TeachingKidsBusiness.com set up as a charitable organization.

We realize it is normal practice to set up a community service initiative as a charity.  This may make sense in the long term, but initially we would like to teach kids business through a business, operating as a social venture. TeachingKidsBusiness.com has been set up as a business mainly to explore  a shareholder plan for kids, include kids in decision making and to make kids a part of a viable business. We believe that exposure and involvement  to an incorporated business is a great experience and an effective way to teach kids business.  

We also realize that many charities are not effective in reaching their cause with their funding.

If there are other questions that you feel are relevant or you need clarification on, please mailto:contact@teachingkidsbusiness.com