{photo by Jeremy LaDuque}
Today’s Magical Moment was contributed by Track A mom Keshet Lavoux. Keshet and her husband, Jeremy LaDuque, are in their third year at SLOCA and have two children – Scarlett (Primary) and Henry (age 5). Read on to hear about an incredibly rewarding experience their young SLOCA student had last month:
It all started when I found the cutest little Lemonade stand for my daughter. It was small, but had all the nostalgia of childhood summers. She was only three and I had thoughts of her selling lemonade and cookies to the neighbors, on the corner. Little did I know this lemonade stand would become the spark to the little entrepreneur in our daughter.
In no time we upgraded the little lemonade stand and not only sold lemonade to the neighbors, but started venturing out to other events and selling all sorts of things.
We would make cookies, cupcakes, popcorns treats, and of course Lemonade. We would then come home, count the money and divide it up in 3 envelopes that said, “Save,” “Spend,” and “Give.” We loved the idea of imparting this life lesson on our kids to always save some and give some, before keeping some for yourself for a job well done.
All the while, I was making jewelry and selling it at craft fairs. Little did I know how much Scarlett was watching me. She would watch me making jewelry, prepping for the events, pricing my goods, making cute signs, and merchandising.
One morning, when I was getting ready for a craft fair, she decided she wanted to paint some Hello Kitty paintings and sell them. She created ten of them and we put them in a corner of my booth for $1 a piece. She sold all ten in the first hour and made $15.00 (tips too)! She was so excited. I think something magical happened for her that day.
Fast forward to today, my husband and I were involved in the planning and organizing of our neighborhood’s Holiday craft fair this past December. This would be Scarlett’s first Craft Fair with her own booth. And while we planned the event, Scarlett went to work getting ready for the fair.
She started months in advance, coming up with what she wanted to make, creating a supplies list, and working with her Dad on what her goals were and what she wanted her outcomes to be.
She then went to work on the fun stuff, creating inspirational paintings on canvases, sewing mini heart pillows, fairy bottle necklaces and hot chocolate on a stick. She recently took a sewing class at SLOCA and was thrilled to make some cute things herself.
{photo by Keshet Lavoux}
Scarlett had her goal and had an idea in her head of how much she wanted to sell… not to mention, an inventory list and profit and loss worksheet (from her Dad)!
As we prepared for the big day we wrote signs with our beautiful handwriting, thank you SLOCA. And a particularly great moment was when we reviewed the inventory sheet. I asked Scarlett if she wanted to bring some scratch paper to write down the calculations, in case customers wanted to purchase multiple items. She said, “Oh mom, I’ll just do it in my head.”
I had heard of Singapore Math prior to coming to SLOCA, but never thought I would see such a real life application of math, at such a young age, until that moment. I know I certainly didn’t have the relationship my daughter has with math when I was seven.
When it was all over, she ended the day with $125. And, as always, we came home and split the money into 3 envelopes… Save, Give, and Keep.
{photo by Jeremy LaDuque}
The day after the craft fair (which was a huge success, raising $1100 for a local charity), as the rest of us were recuperating, my daughter knew exactly what she wanted to do. She went onto the American Girl Doll website, bought a doll that she loved, with the money she made. We also found out that when she bought her new doll, the Company also purchased a doll for another little girl!
I realized then, that having the time, the structure, the involvement in my kid’s life to create real life experiences (this was E&E time) was a true gift. Thank you SLOCA!
And thank you Keshet, for sharing this with us! What a fantastic opportunity this was for your daughter. We love hearing about when young minds catch a spark and accomplish a goal!
If you have a Magical Moment you’d like to share on the blog, we would love to use it here at Down Home! Email us with your ideas or questions. You can also leave a comment below to encourage young Scarlett or share a similar experience!
