I received this email:
This is not a latin question. We respect your points of view about college and being debt free. My son is very smart and is college material. However, wants to build a business and not go to college. This past summer he began a car wash business. Well all i can say is he is learning from his mistakes. Now , i am looking for a great business math curriculum. You mentioned on one of your past emails that it would be more helpful than higher math. So my question would be if you have any suggestions of a curriculum or text you have tested that he could pursue studying. He is in 11 grade and has already finished PreCalc/Trig. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. You are a great role model to the children and us adults. Thank you for standing against what we have been fed as normal. Is time to break off from the mold 🙂
Here is my reply:
I apologize for the delay. Finally catching up this evening…
Honestly, the world needs academics, too. If your son is the type that would do well in college, I would seriously consider sending him. I would definitely try to beat the system, though. I know that you can test out of several years of college by taking CLEP courses. I don’t know too many specifics, but I know it can be done.
I am all for starting businesses. I have done it several times. However, that is a potentially dangerous game. I know. I have been broke several times, and have been through foreclosure. Not fun. If he can start something part-time while still living at home, this may be ideal. At least he will have a place to land if all goes badly.
My son is currently trying to start his own thing and is having a pretty rough go at it.
I do recommend starting businesses. It teaches you so much about the world. How to work hard, how to deal with customers, how to treat people, and so on. But, there really is no guarantee. It can be pretty tough.
I do think business math is the way to go (especially if you are not interested in college). John Schaub, the famous real estate investor, says you only need two things to become a successful real estate investor. You need to have good people skills and 8th grade math skills. Unfortunately, I do not have any specific math curricula to recommend. I am sorry about that. I wish I had something I could recommend.
Actually, I take that back. I would recommend Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey. (I do not know if it counts as a high school credit.). I would also recommend learning to play the game Cashflow, by Robert Kiyosaki. He may also enjoy the book Rich Dad/Poor Dad. Finally, he might like John Schaub’s book: Building Wealth One House at a Time: Making it Big on Little Deals.
I don’t really understand accreditation, but I wonder if you could get away with calling my suggestions a high school business math credit…?
