One of the most far-reaching changes we can make for our children and their future is to establish entrepreneurial life skills as a core competence for all students, beginning as early as kindergarten and continuing through high school. This is especially true for girls, who suffer from gender bias in many ways. When girls are…
Explore how VentureLab is leading the charge in educational transformation by expanding STEM into STEAM with an added focus on the arts and entrepreneurship, fostering creativity and inclusivity in learning.
Little girls are naturally imaginative and industrious. In class or at home, learning that they can make their ideas a reality sparks their motivation. With a bit of encouragement, they will find ways to be productive, leading to a lifetime foundation of self direction and self confidence. After entrepreneur Michael Holthouse sold his telecommunications company…
Most 5-year-olds have not yet been to school, and don’t yet understand what it is to make a failing grade. What better time to introduce them to the entrepreneurial skill of learning from successive failures? Testing, trying, failing, rethinking, adjusting, failing again, wisely—this cycle is designed into Entrepreneurship 101 for 5- to 7-year-olds. We ensure…
“It took me four years to paint like Raphael but a lifetime to paint like a child,” Pablo Picasso once said. Too often, children lose the confidence to follow their interests because of an educational system that is test-obsessed and focused on correct answers instead of creative problem-solving. The loss can be gradual, subtle and…
For young girls, every day is a new adventure of first-time experiences, discovering boundaries along the way. The entrepreneurial twist is to encourage girls to identify their problems and think about solutions to frustrations, focusing and improving on their ideas, with just enough guidance and assistance from grown-ups. When I teach 5-year-olds, I’m continually struck…
There aren’t many experiences that take place in a conventional school in which there are no grades, no penalties for not following rules, no possibility of a humiliating failure, no multiple choice test nor essay, no consequence for disruption, no avoidance of “coloring outside the lines,” no swipe at GPAs, no carrots or sticks, no…
Over the last six posts, I’ve outlined six of the seven strategies for encouraging creativity and curiosity in young girls, which I’ve identified through my own work and teaching, and through the findings that Frans Johannson explored in his book The Medici Effect. So far, I’ve introduced you to strategies for: Reawakening a drive in children…
Learn how art and design are being used as powerful tools to encourage more girls to pursue science. This innovative approach combines creativity with scientific learning, aiming to create a more inclusive and appealing environment in STEM fields.
Discover how VentureLab encourages girls to embrace the STEM fields by showcasing the inherent creativity in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (eSTEAM). Learn about the transformative experiences and educational approaches that can guide more girls towards innovative eSTEAM careers.
In this series of posts, I’ve been outlining seven strategies that I’ve uncovered—through my work, and through the insights explored by Frans Johannson in his book The Medici Effect that encourage the curious child to embark on a quest of discovery. In the last few posts, I looked at the need to reawaken a drive in children,…
In my previous two posts, I began to outline the seven strategies that encourage the curious child to embark on a quest of discovery. I spoke about the need to reawaken a drive in children and to encourage children to learn differently. Here is the third strategy for encouraging curiosity in children: Make it play…
In my last post, I began to outline the seven strategies that play out in entrepreneurial class—strategies that encourage the curious child to embark on a quest of discovery. I spoke about the need to reawaken a drive in children. Here, I look at the second strategy: 2. Learn Differently Diverse teams who have been…
How can you encourage a curious child to move from first ponderings to a quest of discovery? From Frans Johansson’s insights into what he has called the “Medici Effect,” in which combining disciplines leads to creative discoveries, and from my own work as a scientist and as an entrepreneurship educator, I’ve have identified seven strategies…
A family that lived in Italy 700 years ago changed history so much that we still talk about it today. The Medici were wealthy, entrepreneurial, politically powerful, religiously connected (producing four popes) and, as if that weren’t enough, influential in helping to kick-start the Italian Renaissance. The Medici were a curiosity-driven bunch. They loved a good conversation,…
Our pop-culture mind values creativity in music, the visual and performing arts, media, digital design, and self-expression. But our K-12 education system is heavily focused on student “outputs,” how well children perform on standardized tests, and how well they tell admissions officers what they want to hear. In today’s society, we praise creativity but penalize children…
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