Canfield 3rd-graders learn business basics through hot chocolate

CANFIELD

On Thursday afternoon, Kristin Hartshorn’s third-grade classroom at C.H. Campbell Elementary School was transformed into an assembly line as the students participated in a mock business exercise selling hot chocolate mix.

Mixing bowls passed from station to station as students added powdered milk, sugar, cocoa and non-dairy creamer. At subsequent stations, students whisked together the ingredients, poured them into Ziploc bags, added labels and packaged individual orders for students to take home.

Hartshorn said they try to have lots of hands-on and project-based learning at the third-grade level.

“We want them to have the experience of running their own business, so that someday they might start their own,” Hartshorn said.

The exercise taught kids economic concepts, such as the difference between capital (whisks and mixing bowls), labor (the students) and natural resources (milk, cocoa and sugar) as well as the difference between profit-sharing and paying salaries. Ohio state standards require teaching economics in third-grade. The exercise also allows students to apply knowledge of measuring and encourages teamwork.

Ken English, whose son Gavin is in Hartshorn’s class, was there as a supervisor. He said he has a business degree and is all for teaching elementary school students entrepreneurial skills and business acumen. He said the teacher deserves a lot of credit for bringing it all together.

Read more about the lesson in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.