February 2022 Monthly Newsletter
February 1, 2022
The following post will be a blog archive copy of Build Your Library’s February 2022 Monthly Newsletter. If you missed the email, you can subscribe to our mailing list here. [Scheduled to be sent 2/1/22 8:15 AM EST]
[February 1, 2022 ] – Welcome to our February Video Newsletter! 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 February 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.
Monthly Newsletter
“February is the border between winter and spring”
― Terri Guillemets, “Years”
There’s something sort of hopeful about February, isn’t there? It’s the heart of winter, but you can still feel that the end of the cold and dark is near. March is just on the horizon, and you can almost smell spring in the air.
I hope your homeschool is going well and that you too can feel the hope of spring coming soon!
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.
We have been on a much-needed update hiatus, but will get back into the swing of things with the New Year! The Level 4 update is underway. This will be a fairly minor update – the history is not changing, but I’m replacing a few out-of-print titles and adding in some new literature and readers that I am excited about. We are shooting for a late February completion.
February Bookish Holidays
February is National Library Lovers month, and on the 14th it is Library Lovers day! Make sure to plan a trip to your local library and let them know that you appreciate what they do for your community!
The first week of the month is also Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week. This is a great time to pull out your favorite picture books to peruse, or re-read a favorite children’s book!
For author birthdays, we have Charles Dickens on the 7th (1812), Mo Willems on the 11th (1968), Judy Blume on the 12th (1938), and John Steinbeck on the 27th (1902).
2022 Build Your Library Reading Challenge
Are you looking for a fun reading challenge for the whole family? Well, look no further! We had so much fun the past couple of years with the 2019, 2020, and 2021 BYL Reading Challenge, we created a new list of 40 reading prompts to help you and your children stretch your reading muscles in 2022. 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!
In our last Tea with Emily episode, we discussed our “Build Your Library 2021 Reading Challenge wrap-up and unveiled the 2022 Reading Challenge prompts!” (watch Episode 18 video recording here)
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
Black History Month Book Recommendations
In years past, I’ve shared weekly book recommendations for Black History Month. I’ve decided that this year I’m going to transition that to our History Book by Book social media. So our February Book of the Week posts will all be Black History Month themed! At the end of the month, I’ll do a round-up of the weekly recommendations as well as some other great Black History-related titles. You should check out on our History Book by Book blog and the HBBB African American History Booklist!
Previous year’s book selections:
- 2021 Black History Month Book Recommendations
- 2020 Black History Month Book Recommendations
- 2019 Black History Month Book Recommendations
- 2018 Black History Month Book Recommendations
- 2017 Black History Month Book Recommendations
“Read Aloud Book Club” Pack
Our February 2022 monthly “Read Aloud Book Club” subscription pack is now available! The theme is “Dog Days”. This month’s selection is a sweet story about a dog searching for a family. This heartwarming story is a perfect read-aloud for the whole family!
Don’t forget, we will be hosting a live discussion for the January book – The Spinner of Dreams in the Read Aloud Book Club Facebook group on Saturday, February 15 at 1pm (EST). (Link available in your receipt e-mail when purchased.) These interactive live shows are a great way to connect with you and hear your thoughts on the story. My daughter Sarah will be hosting on her own from here on out and she can’t wait to discuss the story with all of you!
You can also watch the unboxing video of last month’s Dreams + Fate + Destiny pack here.
New Series: Homeschool Tidbits
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. In January, I talked about the basics of a Charlotte Mason education, and did a 3-Part series about living books!
You can check out the playlist on my YouTube channel to see all of the videos: Homeschool Tidbits Playlist
Note that on week’s I host a Tea with Emily Facebook live stream, I won’t be doing a Homeschool Tidbit. So our next Tidbit will go up on February 11!
“Tea with Emily” Facebook Live Streams (this week)
We hope you all enjoyed our last “Tea with Emily” Facebook Live Stream. If you missed our “2021/2022 Build Your Library Reading Challenge“ discussion in December, you can find a recording by scrolling our Facebook or direct links on our past events page.
Our next episode is scheduled for February 4 at 1:00 pm (EST). This month we’ll be discussing “Getting the Most Out of Your Homeschool Curriculum.” It’s a common saying among homeschoolers that you should make the curriculum work for you, but what does that mean? I’m going to be discussing tips and ideas to help you make Build Your Library the perfect fit for your family!
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!
Build Your Library Support
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.
Wrap Up
I hope you have a wonderful February! I can’t wait to see what this new month brings!
“Late February days; and now, at last,
Might you have thought that Winter’s woe was past;
So fair the sky was and so soft the air.”
― William Morris
If you are looking for some more inspiration, here are some articles you might find helpful:
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:
