Light of Mine Unit Study - Premium from Towers of Light Christian Resources LLC Review

Disclosure:  I received this complimentary product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW.

I was so excited to receive Light of Mine Unit Study - Premium from Towers of Light Christian Resources LLC to use with our family!  This specific unit study is geared for kids grades 3-6+.  

Our Premium package includes the paperback novel, unit study workbook, USB flash drive and the Pathway Personal Player!  This is a truly impressive set.

Our Pathway Personal Player is an audio book MP3 player that includes our novel + bonus tracks.  The audio book is narrated by Stacey Bradshaw.  What a bonus to receive!  There are so many different ways to utilize this - if you have a struggling reader, you are traveling in the car, you just want to hear the story again, etc - such a cool addition to this premium package.

E (5th grade) has really enjoyed both reading our book and listening to it.  The audio is done extremely well.  I can hear her singing along with the music (This Little Light of Mine, etc.).

Light of Mine is the first book in a six-book series written by Allen Brokken.  This christian fantasy adventure is 222 pages and this includes 19 chapters, reading comprehension questions, an about the author page and more information about the other books in this series.  There are no illustrations within the text.  When Lauren, Aiden and  Ethan find themselves alone after The Darkness has taken their parents, they need to discern who to trust and how to navigate life.  They must stop the agents of The Dark One from putting out the Light and dooming the heathlands to eternal Darkness.  This first book specifically focuses on the christian value of discernment and E loves it.  It is gripping and adventurous.  The boys are now listening to it and they are very enthralled.  I love the questions it generates and how it really gets them thinking.  We are really looking forward to getting the additional series books!

How is the workbook set-up?  This unit study is specifically designed to be completed in four weeks.  Each week there is ~ 50-60 pages of reading because students are reading a chapter each day.  This reading can be done independently or aloud (this works great when multiple kids are listening, or if you have a struggling reader).  They can just listen or follow along in their book.

Above you can see a peek into our workbook with a peek into E's reading journal as well.

Students are encouraged to keep a reading journal and I love this!  For the first 4 days students will copy their memory verse and complete the vocabulary exercise, read the story passage aloud and discuss this as a group, complete the daily reading assignment (either independently or aloud), after reading, students will answer the reading questions in their journal - all of this will be done each day.

Here you can see E's answers to the reading questions.  After she completes them, we discuss them.

On the 5th day, students will complete the daily reading assignment (as all other days), recite their memory verse and wrap up the week with the coloring page, puzzle, and hands-on activity.  There is an answer key in the back of the workbook for every day of all 5 weeks.  I appreciate that this workbook has all the information for parents and students to complete it.  This workbook is a great way to encourage kids to dig a little deeper into the book and think about what they are reading while having fun.  And because of the christian worldview, they learn about God - what a win!

Want to know more?  Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of Towers of Light Christian Resources LLC.

You can engage with Towers of Light Christian Resources LLC on social media @:

Facebook
Instagram

Pinterest

YouTube

TikTok

Battle Sheep Review

You know we love games over here!  I have another one to share with you today from Timberdoodle, Battle Sheep!  Battle Sheep is manufactured by Blue Orange Games and is geared for ages 7 and older or 2nd grade and up.  It's a 2-4 player game that averages ~ 15 minutes per game.

What's included?  This game includes 16 pasture boards, 64 sheep tokens (16 of each color - blue, red, black and white) and an illustrated rules booklet.

 

Some of the pasture boards.  These feel like a laminated cardboard to me so they are fairly durable.

 

Some of the sheep tokens.  I love that these tokens are durable and made of thick plastic - they have a nice feel to them 😉.

Game Set Up & How to play?  Each player takes 4 pasture boards.  If you are playing with 2 players then 8 pasture boards will be used for the game board, if you are playing with 3 players then 12 pasture boards will be used and so on.  Players take turns setting up the game board.  So player one lays down a pasture, the next player connects one of their pastures, etc. until all the boards are connected into one playing field.  All boards have to be connected by at least one side.  

 

Above you can see the board set up for when I played D.

Then, beginning with the youngest player, they place their sheep stack on one of the pastures on the outside perimeter of the playing field.  The rest of the players follow suit.  Next, you begin moving your sheep.  On your turn, you split one of your sheep stack into two stacks (you get to decide how many sheep are in each stack) and move your new stack as far as it can go in a straight line until you either reach another sheep stack or cannot go any farther.  You must leave behind at least one sheep every time you move.  You can also only move in a straight line.  You cannot have more than one sheep stack in the same pasture and you may not jump over other sheep.  If your sheep stack is blocked on all sides by other sheep, then it is trapped and cannot move.  You are out of the game when you cannot move any of your sheep.  When all the players cannot move their sheep, the player who occupies the most pastures wins.  Basically in this strategy game, opposing sheep are battling for the most pastureland.  The player that captures the most pasture space with their sheep wins the game!

 

You can see that D and I actually tied with 12 pasture spaces a piece.  However, I had the largest herd so I came out on top!

If there is a tie (which we have had several times as noted above), the player with the largest herd of sheep (most occupied pastures connected by at least one side) wins the game.

One of our three person games.

I love that this game helps kids think tactically as they have to plan ahead and not just one move at a time.  Likewise, players should be thinking about strategy and both offensive and defensive moves.  I really appreciate that every game is unique because the game board is ever-changing.  I also feel like this game gets better and better the more you play it.  We are really enjoying it in our home and it's such a great addition to our game resources!

This is currently included in Timberdoodle's 3rd grade curriculum kit and we highly recommend it!

Disclosure:  Huge shout out to Timberdoodle for selecting me as a Timberdoodle Blogger.  I received Battle Sheep in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Current Homeschool Resources & Deals March 2020

I wanted to share with you some current discounts on homeschooling resources in light of everything happening right now.  I hope to update this list as more items become available but I hope this helps some of you who are looking for things to do and/or programs to try.  If you are looking for something specific please let me know.

Language Arts / Writing

IEW is providing three weeks of writing, grammar, and vocabulary lessons for anyone that wants them, as well as the first level of their poetry program.  These are digital lessons that include instruction and for those that don't homeschool IEW is widely known and an amazing program.  I highly recommend checking out this resource.

 

 Click here for your free 3 weeks of lessons.

Reading & More

LitWits is offering a free LitWits Kit of your choice!  Just use the code 27READ4FUN at checkout.  Go here to choose your kit.  They have so many fantastic options to choose from.  If you want, check out my previous review here to learn more about them.

 

Lapbook

Home School in the Woods is offering their "Literary Genres Lap Book" at no charge with no purchase necessary.  This can be used individually or as a group project.  If you are not familiar with Home School in the Woods, they are chock-full of amazing resources.  Get your lap book here and enter the code KEEPINGBUSY at checkout!

ART Programs

Artistic Pursuits has current convention specials for everyone - 40% off.  If you are not familiar with this program check out more from my previous review here.

  Get your discount here.

Music

We are huge Slugs & Bugs fans over here.  I'm delighted to share with you that they are providing a free episode of The Slugs & Bugs Show as well as a Free Song Download, "Glory to God."  Check out their resource page to get all the goodies!

Disclosure:  This post contains affiliate links.