I have been looking for a curriculum that teaches budgeting and money management in a fun, interactive way for several years. I have also been planning to have each of my children start their own business as part of their education. Then I was given the chance to review The Kingdom Code products and found both in one curriculum! I have had the privilege of trying out all of the products in The Kingdom Code curriculum line over the last several weeks including the Complete Starter Kit, The Jr. KCK Budget Kit, and The Kingdom Code Coloring Book. The Complete Starter Kit includes The Kingdom Code Student Textbook, Student Packet, and Teacher’s Guide. The Jr. KCK Budget Kit includes select items targeted for younger children and instructions to set up a budget binder for your younger students. 

The Kingdom Code Student Textbook is a glossy, full color, spiral bound book that introduces not only finance and business topics but faith, honor, problem solving and more in bright, colorful, bite size snippets throughout its 240 pages. The Kingdom Code Teacher’s Guide is a binder-ready (you provide the binder) set of pages that walk you step-by-step and day-by-day through each lesson including material lists, suggestions, preparation tips, and a section to include your own notes. The Student Packet includes full color activity pages to guide your student through each activity on her path to building a business, worksheets to correspond with each lesson, covers for the student binders, stickers for each pouch in the budgeting binder, business forms, flash cards, and a treasure map to reward progress through the course. The worksheets, forms, and activity sheets are hole-punched and binder ready. A receipt book with carbon copy receipt is also included for the student to use in her business. 

The Jr. KCK Budget Kit includes a binder cover and stickers to create a budget binder along with coloring sheets so your younger student can participate along with those completing the full course. The Kingdom Code Coloring book is also a nice addition for younger family members with coloring pages reflecting the concepts and Bible verses covered in the curriculum.

Additional materials are needed for this curriculum. You will need at least three binders, one for the Teacher’s Guide and two for each student completing the full curriculum or one for any student using the Jr. KCK Budget Kit. Each student completing the full course will also need a set of five divider tabs, one folder with brads, one red pencil, six zippered pencil pouches with clear plastic fronts, and one quart size clear sealable bag. A student using the Jr. KCK kit will need five zippered pencil pouches with clear plastic fronts. You will also need a variety of material throughout the lessons, most of which are readily available household items and art supplies. Each lesson includes a material lists so you will want to look a few lessons ahead in order to collect these items.

The Kingdom Code: Make and Manage Money…. God’s Way! curriculum is designed to be a full year curriculum divided into two 45 minute lessons per week. The lessons cover personal budgeting principals as well as starting your own business. It guides students ages nine through 13 through all aspects of starting a business from exploring their interests and brainstorming ideas, through writing a business plan and conducting market research, on to budgeting for and purchasing material all the way to conducting the actual business. The program is designed for students to end up with a real, functioning, income generating business of their own.

The Complete Starter Kit costs $89.99 and if you have multiple students you can purchase additional Student Packets for $45.99. For your younger students the Jr. KCK Budget Kit is $9.99 and The Kingdom Code Coloring Book is $5.99.

While the program is designed for ages nine through 13, my 13-year-old felt it was a little too childish for her. She listened in and gleaned ideas but did not care to participate in the activities. My nine-year-old however absolutely loved it. The imagery and whimsy included in the program as well as the hands on activities were all right up her alley. We did adjust the schedule because with smaller children time constraints made 45 minute lessons difficult so we spread the lessons over three or four days each. Most of the time we still completed the lesson in a week but occasionally went a little longer.

This curriculum is written for a classroom setting but is very easily adapted to the homeschool environment. It would also work very well for a co-op or even a small group of families who would like to complete it together. It does require preparation time both setting up the curriculum and all of the components at the beginning as well as preparation for each lesson. The lessons are also very teacher intensive.

Overall my children and I have really enjoyed this curriculum. The activities and way material is presented lines up wonderfully with my nine-year-old daughter’s personality, learning style, and interests and she is very excited to start her business. My seven-year-old has enjoyed listening in, participating in the discussion and some of the hands on activities with us as well as working on his Budget Binder and coloring in the Coloring Book. I personally don’t care for the amount of preparation required and the large number of different activities to conduct - as a mom of a large family I usually look for more hands-off curriculum - but my children are learning the concepts well and gaining wonderful skills and knowledge from this course so it is worth the work.

If you are looking for a great, comprehensive finance and economics curriculum for your older elementary student or you would like your child to learn the skills and value in starting his or her own business this is a wonderful option that your child will probably enjoy. I look forward to continuing it with my own children and watching as they grow their own businesses!

-Product review by Sabrina Scheerer, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, November, 2018