Elementary Entrepreneurship
Student Journey from Creation to Transaction
This program provides a way for young students to be exposed to (and empowered by) entrepreneurship. Students work in teams to develop a product, pitch their idea, and launch their business. The starting point for creation is ‘reduce, reuse, or recycle’ – which tends to inspire discussion and innovation around social good. The unit culminates in a marketplace experience where students sell their products. The classroom teachers collaborate with volunteer business professionals who mentor student teams, provide real-world context, and champion student efforts.
It Starts Here: A Progressive Entrepreneurial Journey
Students are grounded in the entrepreneurial mindset by learning the importance of failure and how to iterate. The learning unfolds through six distinct phases of 'doing' — all supported by comprehensive curriculum, activities and hands-on learning.
Adaptability
Collaboration
Persistence
Problem Solving
Self-Assurance
Communication Skills
Creativity
More than ever, our youth need to develop strong social-emotional learning (SEL) skills as they navigate the complex world around them. Research supports the notion that when educators teach students how to identify, alleviate, and manage stress, students have a greater likelihood of intensified learning, avoiding negative behaviors, and achieving successful outcomes inside and outside the classroom.
Flexible Fit Into Your School Year
This project based learning unit aligns with standards for ELA, Math, and Social Studies frameworks.
Typically implemented over a 6-8 week time period, freshINCedu includes 25 lessons plus a one week sales period. The program, designed to be used by all students, can be flexible to run for one section 45 or 60 min in length or multiple 30 min sections. It can be extended to accommodate other schedules or be run as a summer course. No business teaching experience is required; freshINCedu is designed to train and support teachers of any discipline. Students leave the class having built and launched a business and product via a real world marketplace. We provide the resources for the marketplace implementation via an online store or an event based pop-up store.
Program Materials, Tools, & Support
- Comprehensive digital library of materials and assessments, including lesson plans, project-based assessments, and rubrics
- Access to a turnkey marketplace experience via an e-commerce website/platform for your students to sell their products, or through an event-based Pop-up marketplace
- Communication materials to promote your students’ marketplace to the community
- Volunteer recruitment materials, and specific mentor guidelines and training
How Entrepreneurship Connects & Builds SEL
According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), an organization that works toward integrated social-emotional learning for preschool through high school, “social-emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.”
Foundational to entrepreneurship are these skills. So, teaching and building competency around these skills through entrepreneurship can be powerful. Our ‘entrepreneurship stack’ is the collection of entrepreneurial content, skills & knowledge, behaviors and mindsets that become student outcomes: teamwork, empathy, listening and communicating, and rising to the challenge of accepting failure.
Self-Awareness
Self-Management
Social Awareness
Relationship Skills
Decision Making
“To me being an entrepreneur is having an open mind to other people’s ideas and thinking outside the box."
"Also, as an entrepreneur I believe entrepreneurs should always create products that benefit those in need.”
freshINCedu
5th grader,“Being an entrepreneur to me means that I can do whatever I set my mind to.”
freshINCedu
Elementary School Teacher,“It was an excellent project-based learning [unit] that helped me teach my students the true meaning of collaboration.”
freshINCedu End of Year Survey Feedback