Finding the right high school elective curriculum for your student can be tricky. There is a wide variety of products out there for homeschool electives, but you never know if they will be a good fit for your student. This is why I was excited to receive Shop curriculum from Landmark’s Freedom Baptist Curriculum to review with my ninth-grade son.

The Shop curriculum we received included the student study guide, test and quizzes book, the study guide answer book, and the test and quizzes answer book. This is a one semester, half credit high school course for grades 9-12. This consumable curriculum is available for only $35.00.

The student study guide has 18 weekly lessons. They cover many topics like safety, basic electricity, plumbing, heating and air conditioning, basic machine shop, welding, basic automotive maintenance, carpentry, and more. There is also a final exam review section and a glossary. Each weekly lesson is broken down into five smaller lessons and also features a weekly Scripture verse to memorize. Lesson one is always a vocabulary lesson so that students can learn all of the terms associated with that week’s subject. Lesson two and three are the reading portion on the subject of the week. This text discusses the tools used for the subject, the methods used, and any other important information about the subject. Lesson four is study questions that review the reading. Lesson five is a weekly quiz and checking the Scripture verse. There is an area for the teacher or parent to sign when the student has recited the memory verse and is ready to take the quiz. The quizzes are short, usually less than ten questions, and review the concepts learned throughout the week and have the student write out their memory verse. All of the answers for the week’s work can be found in the study guide answer book or the test and quiz answer book except for the answers to essay questions which are based on your student’s opinion.

My son is interested in construction, small engine repair, and home improvement so I thought that this Shop curriculum would be a good fit for him, but I wasn’t sure what to expect from the course until we got it in our hands. It covers a wide variety of topics and has more than one week of lessons on several of the topics so that they are studied in-depth. We followed the layout of the study guide which is completing one lesson per day. Each day’s work took my son about 20-30 minutes depending on the task. They were easy enough that they didn’t take a long time but detailed enough so that he was actually learning the material. In week one he got to come up with a project that fit one of the topics covered in the book that he would complete by the end of the course. My son decided to make a cabinet for his project with the help/supervision of his dad. The study guide had him figure up the supplies and cost of the project and figure out which topic he would really need to study to be successful at his project. My son thought it was pretty neat that he would not only get to learn about so many topics, but he would actually get to put them to use for the class as part of the curriculum. He has worked through eight weeks of this course so far and really enjoys it. He said it is one of his favorite classes this year and he can’t wait to finish it and finish the cabinet he is making.

I am happy that my son is enjoying Shop class. I like the way it is set up and broken down into easily managed sections. I am thankful for the answer keys so that I can grade his work each day since I really don’t know anything about Shop. I do appreciate  that this curriculum encourages Scripture memory and it is from a Christian company. I personally like that the student has to both recite and write the memory verse to finish up the week, but if your student has a hard time with that part you could leave it out. If you want a well-rounded Shop class for your homeschool, I would definitely recommend this one.

-Product Review by Cassandra Holdeman, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, June, 2018