3 Business Books Every Home Educator Should Read

In the midst of all this homeschooling, I find myself knee-deep in business books. As I am reading, I realized these amazing business books can help us all to be better home educators.

But why do I find myself reading business books?

Truth be told, I find myself as a struggling single mom of four kids. I need to get a business off the ground and I find myself looking for the tools that help people become successful.  

I see my success uniquely tied to my kids' futures. 

And I am just like you.  I want to give my kids all the tools to succeed in life and achieve their dreams, but how can I do that when I am far from achieving my own dreams?  

How can I equip my own children properly when I feel overwhelmed?  Running a house and homeschooling is hard enough.  Then by life circumstances, I am forced to find a way to support them. 

Like you, I am busy. I don't have the energy nor the time to have kitchen table battles over a textbook.   I need my kids to be on board and motivated to take control of their own education, and that is when it hit me.

In the midst of my search to be a successful entrepreneur, I realized these books had the key to making my life easier at home.

Successful business people know how to motivate and inspire people to action. They don't argue at the kitchen table or even bribe with pizza.  Instead, they connect to our deepest desires and use that to motivate us.  And that is why I think these business books are a must read.

How to win Friends (Our Kids) and Influence Them

Our children are no different than us. They have desires, and the biggest desire is to feel important. Marketers understand this desire and they utilize that desire to get us to buy.

It is one technique used against us every day, but can we use this technique for good? Dale Carnegie wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People back in 1936 that is still on the top of list of must read books.

Carnegie saw the power to make people feel important as one of the essential ways to be successful in business and in life. Our children have a real need to feel important.  Carnegie writes that we can influence our children to take on projects and ideas with the same enthusiasm as if they choose it themselves. Carnegie gives beautiful anecdotes to illustrate his point, but he also provides the psychological evidence this power has over people.

Not only should you read this but it should be required homeschool reading.  The ability to influence people effectively will take any child far. ​

Business Secrets from the Bible

It is necessity that has driven me to start my own business, but really, I had a terrible mindset about wealth. Even though I have this strong desire to change the world, my bad attitude towards riches held me back.

I credit Rabbi Daniel Lapin for straightening me out, and nothing can persuade me more than some Hebrew and scriptures.  If you have a mediocre, "I am just going to be happy with less attitude," this book will teach you the godly value of wanting more. 

Rabbi Daniel Lapin writes in his book Business Secrets from the Bible that wealth is a natural consequence that God put into the world.  God wants to encourage us to serve His other children well, and He does that with the reward of wealth.  I never thought of it that way and that made sense to me.

Rabbi Lapin's book is jam-packed with practical advice on how to be successful not just in business but in life.  He constantly points back to the scriptures to uphold his viewpoint, and that is very persuasive for me.  God is who I ultimately want to please, and He is pleased when I serve others well. Wealth is just a natural consequence of serving others well. 

Rabbi Lapin shows that we are all in business in some way or another. It is just whether or not we are serving people well with our business. He gives so many tips on how to serve others well whether you own your own business or work for a company.

When I curled up with my children for our nightly prayers, we talked about the value of serving others well, and I could see that this sparked in their minds a strong desire to solve problems in a way that served people.  This kind of motivation is Christ-centered and if it pleases my heart, I can only imagine how it pleases the Father. 

The Storyteller’s Secret: From TED Speakers to Business Legends

All day long my kids are enthusiastically telling me their stories. I am sure I gave birth to a drama club. Whether it is about their brother that just hit them or it's about the book they are currently immersed in, my kids tell stories all.. day... long. I bet your kids do too. The reality is we are all story tellers but the best storytellers change us forever.

Carmine Gallo writes in The Storyteller’s Secret that successful business people use stories to motivate people to action.  I don't know about you, but that is what I want happening when we are sitting down at the kitchen table tackling school work.  Action!

We know how easy it is to motivate our kids to action when they are soaking up every word we are telling them, but this seems to only happen when we are bribing them with pizza and ice cream. If we want action at the kitchen table, we are going to have start telling stories that motivate and inspire them to do so.  

And as I listened (on audible because I am too busy to read), it occurred to me that he told one biography after another to motivate me to tell better stories.   There was the key, biographies.  It is accomplished people that motivate us to action because we want to be important just like them. Biographies will play a central role in our home from here on ​out. 

The End Game of Homeschooling and Business​

We didn't get into the homeschool game to see how many textbooks we could complete.  We did it because our hearts' desire is to inspire and equip our children to do amazing things for God's kingdom.  That isn't going to happen unless we motivate them with great stories. 

Beyond getting pass the struggle of daily school work, we need to tell better stories that compel our children to see their hearts' desires lie in serving God's other children.  When we have willing hearts, work gets done well and faster.  Efficient learning lies in a motivated heart.   

I hope these books help you in your journey of raising children who serve God's children well.  I would love to hear what you are reading and let me know if you have a favorite business book.

Please support local and online small business for all you book purchases.