September 2022 Monthly Newsletter
September 1, 2022
The following post will be a blog archive copy of Build Your Library’s September 2022 Monthly Newsletter. If you missed the email, you can subscribe to our mailing list here. [Scheduled to be sent 9/1/22 8:00 AM EST]
[September 1, 2022 ] – Welcome to our September Video Newsletter!
You should have gotten our regular monthly e-mail newsletter in your inbox if you subscribed. But you can now watch the video highlights and read the full details below or watch the BYL September 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.
“September days have the warmth of summer in their briefer hours, but in their lengthening evenings a prophetic breath of autumn.”
―
Monthly Newsletter
Hello September! The summer is coming to a close, we can open the windows again and pull out the cozy blankets and sweaters…well, almost. But I’m definitely opening the windows and enjoying pumpkin and apple everything! I love everything about autumn – the cooler weather, the colorful leaves, pumpkin spice everything!
As far as the newsletter goes, we have some new information to share, as well as some reoccurring monthly reminders!
Announcing our Newest Lit Bite: Willodeen
Lit Bites are small literature unit studies, based on just one book. These bites contain everything you need to study a piece of literature with your child. They include vocabulary, discussion questions, and activities based on the story. We released four Lit Bites already, with more coming soon!
Our latest Lit Bite: Willodeen by Katherine Applegate has just been released!
This book feels like a modern fable, teaching us that we are all connected in ways we don’t even realize. Your child will learn abou+t ecosystems, wildfires, and the scientific method as they read a story about a girl who is determined to save an unloved creature. The Willodeen Lit Bite is perfect for ages 7-10.
Have you tried a Lit Bite yet? Lit Bites are literature units focused on just one book. These bites contain everything you need to study a piece of literature with your child. They include vocabulary, discussion questions, and activities to help you get more out of the story.
These short units are perfect when you just want to study a specific title, or when you need to swap a book out of a level. Now you will have a ready-made literature unit to use instead of having to come up with something on your own!
Our first 5 Lit Bites are available in our store and I plan to add more soon! These are becoming the next evolution of our Read Aloud Book Clubs, as instead of buying the whole package, you can just order the “unit study” portion and source the book yourselves. This opens it up for you to either purchase the book online, locally, or borrow it from your local library. Or even download the audiobook version. Sadly, you will have to make your own bookmarks, although that sounds like a fun activity!
This also makes them available to our overseas customers who were unable to get the book club packs sent internationally. Now you can order the PDF lesson plans, and find the book on Amazon.UK or whichever vendor is local to you, without exorbitant shipping costs! We expect to be able to offer new Lit Bites approximately as frequently as the RABCs were offered in the past. So stay tuned for upcoming releases!
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.
The Level 8 update has now been released! If you already purchased Level 8 and you want the update – it’s completely free to you! You can use your original download link to access it. If you need a new link, just send me an email to let me know and I’ll be happy to send you one. Level 9 is on deck – I have been collecting books, and I plan to start working on it later this month. I anticipate a late fall release.
I’m also hoping to get to the Darwin and Evolution unit soon. It should also be a pretty quick update as the majority of the books will be staying as is. I mostly need to update links in that unit study. There are also a few new Lit Bites in various stages of completion from concept to rough drafts. So hopefully we will get some more of those out in the not-too-distant future.
I am always brainstorming and collecting books for various unit studies too… lots of exciting new things in the works! I hope to be able to share more about those projects soon!
September Giveaway
Congratulations to all of our winners of last month’s Anniversary Giveaways!
This month we will be giving away a copy of our newest Lit Bite: Willodeen! Actually, it will be a BYL gift card for $5.95, which you could either use to purchase our newest Lit Bite or just put it towards your next purchase of whatever. But in honor of its release, we will say that is the suggested prize. 🙂
Each action gives you entries into this month’s drawing, with some allowing for daily clicks. 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!
September Bookish Holidays
September has a bunch of fun book-related holidays. We have National Library Card Signup Month, Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month, National Read A Book Day (Sept. 6 – shouldn’t this be every day?), International Literacy Day (Sept. 8), National Punctuation Day (Sept. 24), National Comic Book Day (Sept 25) and the last week of September is Banned Books Week.
For author birthdays, we have Tomie dePaola (Sept. 15), George R. R. Martin (Sept. 20), Stephen King (Sept. 21), and Shel Silverstein (Sept. 25). There is also a Lord of the Rings birthday or Hobbit Day (Sep. 22 – Bilbo and Frodo Baggins Birthday) (perfect timing for The Hobbit Unit Study)!
Back to “Home” School Series (B2HS)
Every year we update and re-feature our Back to “Home” School series towards the end of August, right before we all get back to business. We are wrapping these up, as we turn this series into Homeschool Tidbits! Same great information, some new updates, and a new fun video package! So stay tuned on Fridays for the rest of the Back to “Home” School-inspired Tidbits this month!
- (1) Homeschool Tidbit: Advice to the New Homeschooling Mother (B2HS)
- (2) Homeschool Tidbit: Getting Organized for the New School Year (B2HS)
- (3) Homeschool Tidbit: Tips for a Great First Day (B2HS)
- (4) Homeschool Tidbit: Tips for Avoiding Homeschooling Burn Out (B2HS)
- (5) Homeschool Tidbit: Build Your Own Timeline 101 (B2HS)
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
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 and 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 is also a brand-new college graduate!
This series will consist of an approximately 10-minute “quick-bit” YouTube video and a corresponding blog post article.
Our next Homeschool Tidbit will be up on September 2nd!
Most Recent Episodes:
- Episode 24: Homeschool Tidbits: Preschooling, On Homeschooling Littles (7/29/2022)
- Episode 25: Homeschool Tidbits: Advice to the New Homeschooling Mother (B2HS) (8/12/2022)
- Episode 26: Homeschool Tidbits: Getting Organized for the New Homeschool Year (B2HS) (8/19/2022)
- Episode 27: Homeschool Tidbits: Tips for a Great First Day (DITL B2HS Edition) (8/26/2022)
“Tea with Emily” Facebook Live Streams
We hope you all enjoyed our last “Tea with Emily” Facebook Live Stream. If you missed our “Getting Excited for the New Homeschool Year!“ in August, you can find a recording by scrolling through our Facebook or direct links on our past events page.
Our next Livestream will be on Friday, October 7th at 1pm (EST), more details as we get closer to the event.
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 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 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 September! I can’t wait to see what this new month brings!
“Happily we bask in this warm September sun, which illuminates all creatures… ” ~ Henry David Thoreau
“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp int he fall.” ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
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:
