Real trade knowledge — woodworking, small engine repair, and more coming — taught conceptually and safely. No tools required, no shop needed. Here's exactly what Shop Class is, and just as importantly, what it isn't.
Start Free →Shop Class is a Lumi Academy subject that teaches real, hobbyist-level trade knowledge — right now, woodworking and small engine repair — through narrated lessons a kid can do anywhere, with no tools, no workshop, and no engine in the driveway. It's part of Academy's "Academic Extras" bonus-subject system, alongside subjects like History and Animals & Nature, and it exists for families who want their kids to genuinely understand how real-world trades work without needing access to the equipment those trades actually use.
Shop Class teaches concepts, not hands-on instruction. It does not walk a kid through using a real saw, chisel, drill, or engine part alone, and it never will. Every single lesson that touches a real tool or hazard — sharp blades, hot engine parts, moving belts, fuel — says explicitly that real hands-on use always requires a supervising adult or professional nearby. This is not a soft disclaimer buried in fine print; it's a safety framing repeated throughout the lessons themselves, because it's genuinely true and it matters. If you're picturing your kid learning to run a table saw unsupervised from an app, that is not what this is.
Real tools (saws, chisels, clamps, squares), how to read wood grain, hardwood vs softwood, sandpaper grit, fasteners, glue, and four full project-planning capstones that walk through designing, choosing joinery for, and finishing a birdhouse, a wall shelf, a step stool, and a tool caddy — including the load-bearing math and structural reasoning behind each one.
How two-stroke and four-stroke engines actually work stroke by stroke, what a carburetor does, why two-stroke fuel needs mixed-in oil, and four diagnostic-reasoning capstones that walk through real troubleshooting scenarios — a lawnmower that won't start, rough idle, and seasonal fall/spring maintenance — the way a mechanic actually thinks through a problem.
Rather than describe this in the abstract, here's what a few real Shop Class lessons actually teach. In woodworking, one early lesson explains the difference between a crosscut saw (teeth shaped to slice across the grain) and a rip saw (teeth shaped to cut along it) — and closes by reinforcing that "saw blades are sharp enough to cut skin just as easily as wood," which is exactly why real sawing always happens with a supervising adult or pro. Another walks through why "measure twice, cut once" is the most repeated rule in the trade, and another explains why plywood resists warping better than a solid board, because its layers are glued with the grain running in alternating directions.
In small engine repair, kids learn the four-stroke cycle one stroke at a time — intake, compression, combustion, exhaust — and why a two-stroke engine has no separate oil reservoir, so oil has to be mixed directly into its gasoline. The diagnostic capstones go further: one walks a kid through the actual sequence a mechanic uses to diagnose a lawnmower that won't start, checking fuel freshness, then spark, then air filter and compression in that order, and reasoning about why that order makes sense rather than just guessing at parts to replace.
The woodworking capstones are the clearest example of what "conceptual, not hands-on" looks like done well. A kid doesn't just learn what a dado joint is in isolation — they plan an entire wall shelf project: choosing a dado joint over a plain butt joint because it resists sagging under real weight, figuring out where wall studs are likely spaced, and reasoning about anchor weight ratings with a safety margin. The step stool capstones go further still, teaching why a structure that bears a person's full, shifting body weight needs real safety margin beyond a shelf's static load, and why mortise-and-tenon joints and triangulated bracing resist the "racking" forces a stepping motion creates. Every one of these capstones ends by restating that the actual cutting, drilling, and assembly always happens with a supervising adult or professional at the tools.
It would be easy to oversell this as "your kid will learn to build furniture." That's not what happens, and framing it that way would be dishonest. What actually happens is a kid builds a real mental model of how these trades work — the reasoning, the vocabulary, the safety instincts, the way a woodworker or mechanic actually thinks through a problem — so that if and when they do get real hands-on time with a parent, a class, or a trade program later, they're not starting from zero. That's a genuine, useful head start. It is not the same thing as hands-on training, and Lumi Academy doesn't claim otherwise.
Shop Class runs across three age tiers — 7-9, 9-11, and 11-13 — with vocabulary and lesson depth adjusted for each range. A 7-year-old and an 11-year-old aren't shown the exact same lesson text, but the safety framing is constant across every tier: real tool and engine work always needs a supervising adult, at every age.
Woodworking and small engine repair are live today. A trade picker inside Shop Class lets a kid choose between the two. Carpentry, sewing, knitting, electrical, and plumbing are planned additions but are not live in Lumi Academy yet — if you're comparing programs today, only woodworking and small engine repair should factor into that decision.
No. Shop Class is conceptual and knowledge-based — it teaches how tools, joinery, and engines actually work through narrated lessons, not hands-on instruction. Every lesson that touches a real saw, chisel, or engine part is explicit that real hands-on use always requires a supervising adult or professional. Lumi Academy does not supply tools, does not walk a kid through using one alone, and is not a substitute for in-person shop class or trade-school training.
Two trades are live today: woodworking (101 lessons covering tools, real joinery techniques, and four full project-planning capstones — a birdhouse, a wall shelf, a step stool, and a tool caddy) and small engine repair (94 lessons covering engine fundamentals, real diagnostic reasoning, and four diagnostic and maintenance scenario capstones). More trades, including carpentry, sewing, knitting, electrical, and plumbing, are planned but not live yet.
No. Shop Class does not grant certification, trade-school credit, or any credential, and it is not a replacement for hands-on training with real tools under a real instructor. It is hobbyist-level conceptual knowledge meant to build genuine understanding and curiosity about a trade, so kids who go on to real hands-on instruction later already know how the tools and concepts work.
Shop Class is age-tiered across 7-9, 9-11, and 11-13, with lesson depth and vocabulary adjusted for each range. Safety framing — that real tool and engine work always needs a supervising adult — is repeated throughout every tier, not just the youngest one.
195 real Shop Class lessons across woodworking and small engine repair, included in every Lumi Academy account. Free 72-hour trial, then $25/mo, locked in forever if you sign up before Oct 1 2026.
Get Started →Shop Class for Kids is part of Lumi Academy's broader homeschool system: daily lessons for kids, practical records for parents, and a simple setup that supports more than one child in the same family.
The product combines guided lessons, child profiles, parent dashboards, attendance, report cards, standards tracking, printable resources, and app-store/PWA access. The goal is to reduce planning while keeping learning visible.
Instead of asking parents to assemble separate tools for curriculum, grading, records, and motivation, Lumi keeps those pieces connected inside one learning flow.
Kids start from their own profile and move through a guided session with a friendly on-screen teacher, short explanations, interactive questions, and instant encouragement. Younger learners can use tap choices and read-aloud prompts; older learners can answer with typing, speech, quizzes, and subject-specific checks.
Parents can review lesson history, scores, subject progress, standards touched, attendance, and printable summaries. That turns daily learning into usable homeschool documentation instead of a vague "we did school today" memory.
Lumi keeps lessons short, varied, and forgiving. If a child misses something, the app can explain again, offer a hint, log the result, and bring the concept back later. That makes the curriculum feel less like a worksheet stack and more like a steady learning loop.
For best results, treat Lumi as the daily spine of your homeschool routine. Most families do one focused session per child, then add reading aloud, outdoor time, projects, errands, co-op classes, or hands-on practice around it. The app covers the repeatable academic work while parents keep the flexibility that makes homeschooling valuable. If a kid finishes a Shop Class capstone and wants real hands-on time, that's the moment to bring in a supervising adult, a local maker space, or an actual shop class — Lumi's role is the conceptual groundwork, not the final step.
If you are comparing programs, look closely at whether the tool teaches the lesson, checks understanding, saves progress, and gives you printable records. A page can promise "complete curriculum," but the day-to-day mechanics are what determine whether parents can actually sustain it.
Yes. Lumi is designed as a full K-8 homeschool curriculum with math, reading and writing, science, social studies, quizzes, progress records, and printable parent documentation. Shop Class and other Academic Extras sit alongside that core, not in place of it.
Each learner has a separate profile with age range, grade level, subject progress, guide character, daily goal, and lesson history. The app uses completed lessons, missed questions, retry queues, and performance patterns to keep practice moving at a workable pace.
Most families begin with the free trial, add each child profile, choose age range or grade level, then let Lumi run the daily lesson sequence while the parent dashboard tracks progress.