April 2022 Monthly Newsletter
April 1, 2022
The following post will be a blog archive copy of Build Your Library’s April 2022 Monthly Newsletter. If you missed the email, you can subscribe to our mailing list here. [Scheduled to be sent 4/1/22 8:15 AM EST]
[April 1, 2022 ] – Welcome to our April Video Newsletter! We actually started running the video newsletter version in April 2021, so this is our one year videoversary! You should have gotten our regular monthly e-mail newsletter in your inbox if you are subscribed. But you can now watch the video highlights and read the full details below or watch the BYL April 2022 Video Newsletter on Facebook.
Hey everybody, it’s Emily from Build Your Library! If you are just going to skim the beginning, here are the main topics in this month’s newsletter:
Now that I have your attention, here are the details on those items and more.
“A gush of bird-song, a patter of dew, A cloud, and a rainbow’s warning, Suddenly sunshine and perfect blue– An April day in the morning.”
― Harriet Prescott Spofford
Monthly Newsletter
Somehow it is April – March seemed to go by so fast I feel like I almost missed it!
It’s finally starting to feel like spring on a regular basis here, hopefully, winter has decided to retire for the rest of the year – I’m ready to bask in the sunshine and finally enjoy some warmer temperatures!
As far as the newsletter goes, we have some new information to share, as well as some reoccurring monthly reminders!
Build Your Library Updates
In an attempt to answer when the next level update will be ready, we have compiled our projected schedule into a post for easy reference. We will periodically update the chart when we make progress or have any changes to our tentative schedule.
Currently, the Level 4 update is underway. It will be available in the coming days and I’m excited to share the new Level 4 with everyone! It took me longer than anticipated, but I’m very pleased with the way it has turned out.
I replaced out-of-print titles, added some new books that I feel make great additions to the level, and updated the maps and timeline figures. You can see the updated booklist on the Level 4 purchase page right now!
Next up for update is Level 8!
Spring Sale Extended!
Originally we were going to run the Spring Sale from March 14 – 31, which was a nice round number date-wise. But that made it start on a Monday, and run through a Thursday, 2 weeks later… Ultimately that seemed like odd and unusual timing, so we decided to extend it a couple of days to end on a more standard Sunday. Three-week sale it is – March 14 through April 3! You haven’t missed it yet, but only have through this weekend to save 20% OFF all of our secular, literature-based homeschool products!
April Bookish Holidays
April might be the busiest bookish month of them all! The entire month is designated both National Poetry Month and D.E.A.R. Drop Everything And Read Month. The second week of April is National Library Week, which includes National Library Workers Day on Tues and National Bookmobile Day on Wednesday of that week.
Then we have Children’s Book Day (Apr. 2), National School Librarian Day (Apr. 4), National Read A Roadmap Day (Apr. 5), Encourage a Young Writer Day (Apr. 10), D.E.A.R. Drop Everything And Read Day (Apr. 12), National Scrabble Day (Apr. 13), National Librarian Day (Apr. 16), National Haiku Poetry Day (Apr. 17), National Columnists’ Day (Apr. 18), National Talk Like Shakespeare Day (Apr. 23), Last Saturday in April is Independent Bookstore Day (Apr. 24), National Tell A Story Day (Apr. 27), and National Great Poetry Reading Day (Apr. 28).
As far as birthdays go, William Shakespeare (Apr 23, 1564 – hence National Talk Like Shakespeare Day), Beverly Cleary (Apr. 12, 1916), Terry Pratchett (Apr. 28, 1948), and Harper Lee (Apr. 28, 1926) all celebrate this month.
2022 Build Your Library Reading Challenge Check In
This is the 3-month check-in. How are your reading challenge checklists looking so far this year? The 2022 BYL Reading Challenge included a new list of 40 reading prompts to help you and your children stretch your reading muscles.
After being cooped up in our homes for the last two years, I thought it might be time for something exciting – the theme this year is “We’re Going on an Adventure!” Head over to our blog and download your checklist today!
History Book by Book (HBBB)!
We have recently started to create some blog post articles on HBBB! You can check out our first couple on our HBBB Blog.
History Book By Book is our database collection of engaging, entertaining, and educational books about various historical topics. Whenever possible, we have cross-referenced topics, internally linked additional suggestions based on like subjects, and created useful categorized lists for you to search and browse. Hopefully, you will be able to glean a vast amount of information and find as many history-related books as you would ever want to find. We discussed it in depth during a recent Tea With Emily Livestream on Facebook, you can view the recording here.
As a long time homeschooling parent, and the author of literature-based homeschool curriculum, we designed HBBB to help:
(1) homeschooling parents looking for additional resources to read to their children,
(2) homeschooling parents looking for more historical based books to give their children to read themselves,
(3) any teen or adult looking for categorized historical reading material for their own enjoyment and knowledge.
Reading your way through history… one book at a time.
History Book By Book Main page
“Read Aloud Book Club” Pack
Our Read Aloud Book Club is on hiatus until further notice – but we still have plenty of past packs available to purchase.
You can also watch the unboxing video for the March pack: Everything’s Mathematical here.
Homeschool Tidbits Blog and Video Series
We’ve started a new series on both our blog and YouTube channel called Homeschool Tidbits!
In this weekly video series, I will briefly discuss a homeschooling-related topic and will share some of my knowledge and expertise as a long-time homeschooling mother of 4 children, three of whom have graduated!
This series will consist of an approximately 10-minute “quick-bit” YouTube video and a corresponding blog post article.
Episode 1: Homeschool Tidbit: What is the Charlotte Mason Method? – (1/7/2022)
Episode 2: Homeschool Tidbit: What is a Living Book? – (1/14/2022)
Episode 3: Homeschool Tidbits: How to Use Living Books – (1/21/2022)
Episode 4: Homeschool Tidbits: Living Books Recommendations – (1/28/2022)
Episode 5: Homeschool Tidbits: Narration, or The Art of Telling Back (2/11/2022)
Episode 6: Homeschool Tidbits: To Screen or Not to Screen? Technology and Homeschooling (2/18/2022)
Episode 7: Homeschool Tidbits: Why You Should Give Copywork a Chance (2/25/2022)
Episode 8: Homeschool Tidbits: Dictation – The Language Arts Powerhouse (3/4/2022)
Episode 9: Homeschool Tidbits: Picture Study – How to Look at Art With Children (3/11/2022)
Episode 10: Homeschool Tidbits: Teaching Vocabulary Painlessly (3/18/2022)
Episode 11: Homeschool Tidbits: Morning Baskets, or the Best Way to Start Your Homeschool Day! (3/25/2022)
Our next Homeschool Tidbit will be up today. In Episode 12, I’ll be discussing Morning Baskets Part 2, and share some great resources and fun ideas for things to include!
“Tea with Emily” Facebook Live Streams
Our next Tea with Emily Livestream will be Thursday, April 14th at 1pm EST! We’re going to be discussing “Homeschooling When Life Gets Busy” which is a timely discussion for me as I work from home, homeschool, AND we’re getting ready for a ton of family coming into town next month for our oldest daughter Sarah’s graduation from college! So how do I manage to keep our homeschool chugging along with all of that going on in the background? Tune in to find out!
We hope you all enjoyed our last “Tea with Emily” Facebook Live Stream. If you missed our “Getting the Most Out of Your Homeschool Curriculum“ discussion in February, you can find a recording by scrolling our Facebook or direct links on our past events page.
Every other month, I host a 30-60 minute Build Your Library homeschooling chat. You can ask questions about homeschooling, using Build Your Library curriculum, book recommendations, etc. We will announce the date ahead of time, and you will be able to submit questions you would like to cover. Additionally, you can also ask questions during the interactive live stream. Grab a mug of tea (or coffee) and cozy up with our virtual hangout!
For a comprehensive, everything you ever wanted to know about homeschooling with Build Your Library, check out our “Build Your Library University (for Parents).” We have collected the definitive list of articles, videos, and books about Build Your Library, Charlotte Mason, and general homeschooling, all categorized in a logical order for you to peruse.
BYL Social Media Shout Out
We always have our Social Media “chicklets” at the bottom of our newsletters and webpage, but we wanted to make sure you are following us on our other platforms. The Build Your Library Facebook is our go-to social media site, and we post there frequently with cool Amazon products and book recommendations we think you would like, as well as all of our Read Aloud Book Club announcements, blog posts, full-year and unit study product releases and updates, and more.
Our Build Your Library Instagram page regularly posts pictures and insider info about projects I’m currently working on or what I’m doing with my kids.
Or if you just want ideas for books to read (either for you or your children) you are sure to find something useful! We also have a BYL Twitter feed where I share links and information about BYL and homeschooling. Or you can stay subscribed to our email list and browse our monthly newsletters.
Wrap Up
I hope you have a wonderful April! I can’t wait to see what this new month brings!
“April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.”
― William Shakespeare, “Sonnet XCVIII”
If you are looking for some more inspiration, here are some articles you might find helpful:
- On Mother Culture, Or How to Homeschool Yourself
- Earth Day Mini Unit Study
- How to Source Books for Build Your Library
We have well over 100 blog posts on various homeschooling and book-related topics if you want to browse for more.
I think that is about all for this month. Again, please follow us on whatever social media you frequent, there will be periodic updates posted there as well, but we will try to keep everyone in the know wherever you are surfing!
Thanks and Happy Reading! Emily
See Also:
