January 2024 Monthly Newsletter
January 1, 2024
The following post will be a blog archive copy of Build Your Library’s December 2023 Monthly Newsletter. If you missed the email, subscribe to our mailing list here. [Scheduled to be sent by 1/1/24 8:30 AM EST]
[January 1, 2024 ] – Welcome to our January Video Newsletter!
If you subscribed, you should have gotten our regular monthly e-mail newsletter in your inbox. But you can now watch the video highlights and read the full details below or watch the BYL January 2024 Video Newsletter on Facebook.
Hey everybody, it’s Emily from Build Your Library! If you are going to skim the beginning, here are the main topics in this month’s newsletter:
- 2024 Build Your Library Outlook
- Build Your Library Updates
- Build Your Library Reviews and Testimonials
- January Contest
- Holiday Unit Studies
- Collab with Soul Sparklettes Glitterbombers!
- January Bookish Holidays
- BYL Online Used Book Super Store (UPDATED)
- 2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge
- History Book By Book!
- Homeschool Tidbits Blog and Video Series
- “Tea with Emily” Instagram Live Stream
- Build Your Library Support
Now that I have your attention, I have the details on those items and more for you.
Monthly Newsletter
“JANUARY,
The first month of the year,
A perfect time to start all over again,
Changing energies and deserting old moods,
New beginnings, new attitudes”
―“January is the month for dreaming”
― Jean Hersey
2024 Build Your Library Outlook
We are hoping for a great new year going forward in 2024!
Of course, we are planning on continuing our “Tea with Emily” Instgram Live streams in February, April, June, August, October, and December. We are also working on some continuous updates to our lesson plans, with schedule details below. I also have some new unit studies and more Lit Bites in the works. I can’t wait to get more traction on these and release more details, but we are pretty excited!
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.
I’m getting the Level 11 update underway beginning this month. I don’t have much to share yet, but you can expect peeks at new books and such in the coming months. I’m not anticipating any major structural changes, but I’ve said that before and ended up revamping everything, so who knows!
Not an update, but I have a new Lit Bite coming out later this month! I’ve been working on a Lit Bite for The War that Saved My Life throughout December, and it will be available before the end of the month!
Build Your Library Reviews and Testimonials
We have always needed to improve at keeping up with trying to compile reviews and testimonials. Over the past 11-plus years, we have gotten a few here and there, but we really should get on top of them. We would love to hear about your experience with Build Your Library! Your review could be as short as a few sentences or as long as you’d like.
Google reviews make up a significant component of the SEO algorithms. We are told it is as significant as ~1/3 of the equation. With that said… We would really appreciate it if you clicked the link below and showed your support by leaving us a Google review, Facebook Review, or testimonial for our website. Our growth has been focused on customer interactions and building long-standing relationships. Thank you all for everything and for making it so easy to love what we do.
January Giveaway
Congratulations to our winner of last month’s Giveaway!
Our first giveaway of 2024 will be a $24 gift card good for anything in our store! Use it towards new curriculum, a fun unit study or Lit Bite, or some goodies from our used bookstore!
Each action gives you entries into this month’s drawing, with some allowing for daily clicks. The odds of winning depend on the number of entries received.
Check out the contest page for more details, and come back each month for new opportunities!
Collab with Soul Sparklettes Glitterbombers!
I’m excited to announce that we are collaborating with Soul Sparklettes Art! They have many fantastic art projects that blend incredibly well with Build Your Library. You can sign up for Glitterbombers membership through our affiliate link. Check the downloads on the Purchase Pages for Levels 0 – 5 to see what projects align!
The Glitterbombers Membership is OPEN from January 2nd
through 8th!
The membership includes hundreds of art projects, videos, and resources designed for homeschoolers and art teachers BY a homeschooler and art teacher team. There are three completely DONE-FOR-YOU curriculums: Global Art Hop, Elements & Principles (PEP), and a USA Curriculum. Everything is included when you join – there are no surprises and no waiting.
There’s a reason kids love these projects – Glitterbombers is the only curriculum out there that is 100% kid-tested, kid-approved, and developed with kid input. All projects are cross-curricular, match with other homeschool curriculums, and offer standards and differentiation. It’s a full art experience for kids – so they can learn THEIR way.
And when you enroll through our link during the enrollment period, you get a free Lit Bite of your choice! So not only do you get an amazing art program, you get a free literature unit too! It’s win-win!
Sign Up for Glitterbombers Here!
January Bookish Holidays
Happy Birthday to Charlotte Mason, born 182 years ago, on January 1, 1842! Several other notable authors also celebrate birthdays this month, including Isaac Asimov (also National Science Fiction Day – Jan 2, 1920), J. R. R. Tolkien (Jan 3, 1892), A. A. Milne (Jan 18, 1882), and Edgar Allan Poe (Jan 19, 1809).
If you are trying to come up with some synonyms of commonly used words to spice up your vocabulary, the perfect day is January 18th which just happens to be National Thesaurus Day. The fourth Wednesday in January (Jan 27) is Library Shelfie Day, so snap a picture of yourself at your local library (or your personal bookshelf if you don’t make the trip on the 27th)!
Also, although not book-related, if you have any leftover from the holiday season, January 1st is Fruitcake Toss Day.
BYL Online Used Book Super Store
We are pleased to announce our newest, most requested feature: an Author or Title SEARCH! We have also incorporated the bookstore into our regular website and consolidated shopping carts so you can purchase both used books and homeschool curriculum in the same place!
https://buildyourlibrary.com/usedbookshop
I have wanted to open an independent bookstore my whole life. A cute, cozy Hobbit hole of a bookstore with new books, used books, maybe tea… After many delays and setbacks, a brick-and-mortar store is currently out of the cards.
However, since I have a storage unit (and house) full of books I’ve been collecting for a store, we have decided to try to set up the BYL Online Used Book Super Store! We are so excited to announce that we are open for business! So yay! Happy book shopping!
We are adding new books almost daily, so keep checking back. We have something for every reader!
2024 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 with challenges the past four years, so we’re continuing the tradition! For 2024, we created a new list of 40 reading prompts to help you and your children stretch your reading muscles. This year’s theme is Reading Through History! It’s no secret that I love reading about history and historical fiction is one of my favorite genres. So this year I’ve created 40 prompts to help you dig into history! Need ideas for the prompts – I’ve got you! Just head over to History Book by Book!
It’s going to be an amazing reading year filled with fun challenges and lots of historical reading! Head over to our blog and download your checklist today!
History Book by Book (HBBB)!
History Book By Book is our database 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 helpful, 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 historically 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
We have recently started to create some blog post articles on HBBB! You can check out our first couple on our HBBB Blog.
Homeschool Tidbits Blog and Video Series
We have an ongoing series on both our blog and YouTube channel called Homeschool Tidbits!
In this weekly video series, I will briefly discuss a homeschooling-related topic. I will share some of my knowledge and expertise as a long-time homeschooling mother of 4 children, Three of whom have graduated high school, and one who is a college graduate!
This series will include an approximately 10-minute “quick-bit” YouTube video and a corresponding blog post article.
I aim to share a new tidbit every Friday, so stay tuned for some new homeschooling inspiration starting on Jan 5!
Most Recent Episodes:
- Episode 55: Homeschool Tidbits: How I Plan Our Homeschool Year (8/18/23)
- Episode 56: Homeschool Tidbits: Tour My Homeschool Planner (8/25/23)
- Episode 57: Homeschool Tidbits: You Do NOT Need a Dedicated Homeschool Space (9/8/23)
- Episode 58: Homeschool Tidbits: Tips for Teaching Multiple Ages (9/15/23)
- Episode 59: Homeschool Tidbits: How to Assign Grades in High School (9/22/23)
- Episode 60: Homeschool Tidbits: The Evolution of a Homeschool Parent (10/28/23)
- Episode 61: Homeschool Tidbits: How to Build a Home Library (11/10/23)
- Episode 62: Read Aloud Recommendations for Teens (11/17/23)
“Tea with Emily” Instagram Live Stream
We hope you all enjoyed our last “Tea with Emily” Instagram Live Stream. If you missed our “BYL Reading Challenge 2023 Wrap up and 2024 Unveiling“ in December, you can find a recording by scrolling through our Facebook or direct links on our past events page.
Our next Facebook Live will be in February!
I host a 30-60-minute Build Your Library homeschooling chat every other month. You can ask questions about homeschooling using the Build Your Library curriculum, book recommendations, etc. We will announce the date beforehand, and you can submit questions you want to cover. Additionally, you can also ask questions during the interactive livestream. 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 logically for you to peruse.
BYL Social Media Shout Out
We always have our Social Media “chicklets” at the bottom of our newsletters and web page, but we wanted to ensure you follow us on our other platforms. The Build Your Library Facebook is our go-to social media site, and we post there frequently with excellent 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.
Although not 100% exclusively Build Your Library related, our Arrrgh Schooling YouTube channel has videos about books and homeschooling, but let’s be honest, it’s mostly books. If you want to see what I’m reading, join my Arrrgh Booked Book Club. This year is especially exciting because I have a brand new co-host – Tanya from Project Happy Home! This month we’re reading The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore!
You can also stay subscribed to our email list and browse our monthly newsletters.
Wrap Up
I hope you have a wonderful January! I can’t wait to see what this new year brings!
“In January
it’s so nice
while slipping
on the sliding ice
to sip hot chicken soup with rice.
Sipping once
Sipping twice”
― Maurice Sendak
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.
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:
