Build Your Library Curriculum - Level 0 Review

[@melissazanni4833]

I LOVE BYL and am so happy to see more reviews of it. You can follow it as Emily’s scheduled out or move around it the best way for your family and life. Her book lists are amazing and the entire thing is easy to follow and incredibly affordable. Our books come from the library and thrift books. Even though we are what you would call unschoolers who incorporate Waldorf and Charlotte mason, BYL is always kind of a spine for us. It works however you wanna roll. Like you said about the art, if something isn’t for you, skip it. I’m not going to pretend like we have a particular schedule or structure in our homeschool, but reading aloud and lively discussion is the one thing we all enjoy and hang onto. Emily’s videos , particularly her early ones on narration, how it’s done and the various ways to do it were such a guiding light for me starting out on this homeschool journey. I have learned and continue to learn so much right along side my children. Fantastic idea going out to eat traditional food from a culture you’re studying! We made an Ancient Greek feast for a Waldorf unit we did once and I swear the kids only remember anything about Ancient Greece because of that yummy feast. Thanks for the great share!

[@sciencemama]

Melissa Zanni I love everything you said about BYL - the flexibility is amazing! She picks wonderful resources that I feel like I can use in ways that fit my family best! What levels have you done with your kiddos?

[@melissazanni4833]

Science Mama we first did the BYL Prehistory unit study which was a lot of fun! Level 2, level 6 (before her recent updates) and level 10. All wonderful. I stuck with my kids ages/levels but definitely feel more confident now in picking any level that seems interesting to my children and incorporating work that’s appropriate for their age and ability. Levels 2 and 10 were particularly fun because the kids and myself really enjoyed the themes of those levels. We are still reading through the books and took pauses to use Bravewriter for several of the BYL selections-another show of the versatility her program allows. My plan is to look through her current levels and see what looks fun for us and adjust that level to each of my kids ranging from age 9-16. Btw, I’m so happy to have found your channel a while back! Initially I came across your channel because of your book reviews (I’m obsessed with book tube). You had done one, I can’t remember now, on a book i read.....🤔 anyway, when I found you and homeschool content also, well...it was a big score 🤩 I know it takes a lot of work and it’s appreciated.

[@sciencemama]

Melissa Zanni Hearing you describe her program and how you have made it work is wonderful because that is exactly how I intend to keep using it ... as a really loose base! I really enjoy picking a choosing whatever sounds good to me and the kids. I’m planning a prehistory unit for after Christmas followed by Level 1 😍. How fun - I’m glad you love my book content too! Would love to hear more of your BYL journey as you go!

[@stacyolivares987]

Hi, is there any chance that you can show us a closer look at your version of the schedule? Thank you so much!

[@CozyReaderKelly]

I had decided to go with this curriculum before watching your video. But I’m glad to see it worked well. I liked your idea of writing up all the assignments so that we can be more flexible. I think that would work better for my situation too. Often, when we start a chapter book my daughter wants to keep going, so having the flexibility to do that is good. I was planning on only doing school Monday thru Thursday, so it would help to not have to follow a five day schedule. I had also worried about Little House when I saw it on the book list so good to know you all got through it. Now that I think about it my daughter would probably love some of the things they do in the book since we recently moved to the country. She has been loving helping with the garden and gathering the chicken eggs. Plus we live in Amish country so she actually sees people using a horse and buggy as regular transportation.

[@sciencemama]

Cozy Reader Kelly I bet she would love some of the activities described - like making bread and pie - as well as the hot maple syrup in the snow 😀

[@CozyReaderKelly]

Science Mama We tap our trees so have our own maple syrup. Those all sound like amazing activities!

[@sciencemama]

Cozy Reader Kelly That is so cool! Yes, you should definitely do those activities 😀

[@Michelle-xk9gl]

Love the Little House on the Prairie books, I have read some of them more than once. My children love them too.

[@kristinajones9975]

We are working our way through Lvl 0. We were originally going straight through, but I had also purchased Sassafras Zoology before I heard of BYL. So it is good to hear you took it out of order because I am starting that now. We are using the main Sassafras book because it has more of a storyline where they travel the globe and study animals, then the following week, I add Emily's items on (rotating between the two). I pick my own art from youtube or elsewhere and also dont do the cookbook either. I may add my own recipe here and there. So, we will see how it goes. Honestly, if I didnt have Sassafras already, I would just stick with Emily's stuff, but the kids like the story aspect, so it works. I am very excited for Lvl 1 though and plan to follow it a little more closely than I did this year. I love history, so I have high expectations. We also use TGTB Language Arts and Math with this to round it out.

[@sciencemama]

Kristina Jones Level 0 is so much fun! How old are your kiddos? I feel like Sassafras Zoology would fit in really well with the program ... I’ve looked at their stuff and I’ve been intrigued by it, I think my kids would really like the story aspect as well! I’m am really excited about Level 1 for next year! I’m waiting a little bit because my daughter turns 5 in June ... so we might start 1 in January of 2021 ( my son will be 7 and she will be 5.5). So in the fall I’m thinking of taking Emily’s prehistory unit and stretching it out a bit... still working on that, but I might make a video if I get it all together! We’ve used the preK TGTB and really liked it ... but I LOVE the Logic of English for phonics! Im excited for you to go through Level 0 - please reach out if you have any more questions or if you just want to share 😀

[@heatherplumbear]

@@sciencemama we love logic of English. I finished it with my older kid and am going to start my daughter this year! Thanks for the review! I just found byl. We used five in a row for my older kid. I loved it, but wanted to try something different.

[@sciencemama]

Heatherplumbear LOE is the best! Can’t wait to hear what you think of BYL!!

[@kymmiesreads6651]

Oh wow! Great review! I could never do homeschooling (I just don’t have the patience for it) but that sounds like an awesome book! I definitely think I will check it out and see if I can help my son with reading and find new books for our nightly reads. He is in kindergarten this year, so we log our daily reading and get a prize if we reach a certain number of minutes read each month.

[@sciencemama]

Yes, you should definitely check out the book list for the program! Although, the books are all read alouds for you to read not first readers. We are working our way through first readers too - teaching kids to read is no joke! Good luck and thanks for watching 😀

[@kymmiesreads6651]

Science Mama we just got his results from his first semester of school and he is at the lowest reading level. But I will be working even harder now to work with him on his reading. I always do read out loud books to him-he’s not on first reader yet. He was diagnosed with ADHD in August so he has some trouble paying attention. And yes teaching a child to read is very difficult! I applaud teachers in schools and parents like you that homeschool. It truly is a difficult task but a rewarding one!

[@sciencemama]

Tea Time Reads With Kymmie Stick with it ... I truly believe kids will read when THEY are developmentally ready not when the schools say they should. All our kids are unique! Keep doing what you are doing ... reading good books to him and patiently encouraging him. Stay tough momma!

[@mamabee2151]

going to the restaurants is such a good idea - no idea why i havent thought of that

[@sciencemama]

Mama Bee Haha - it is much easier than cooking during this season of life!!

[@craftylikethat]

Great review! We are halfway through BYL 0 and have been loving it. We skipped around too. We jumped to Asia because of Lunar New Year. I totally agree with you about the art and cooking. Except for making the apple pie in the first week, I prefer to have someone with more experience do the cooking. And for art, we prefer more open ended art to craft projects. I am looking forward to level 1.

[@sciencemama]

Haha - the apple pie was the only cooking we did too! I’m prepping for Level 1 ... although I’m thinking of doing a quick prehistory unit. Have you done the BYL prehistory?

[@Motherhood1]

hi there great review! I was wondering if it was expensive for you to print out the program. ? thank you! as for knowing which books to buy I'm guessing sticking to the spines? and get the rest from the library? choosing what to use makes me stressed. I was going to go by the Ambleside booklist but then this also looks great. so hard to decide. I don't want to be overwhelmed with too many readalouds (chapter books). anyway I'm glad I found your videos.

[@kelseareyes6722]

I just discovered this curriculum. Do you think level 0 is still suitable for 6-7 yr olds? I want to start from the beginning of this curriculum as we didn’t really cover these topics yet.

[@sciencemama]

Yes, definitely! Level 1 is fun as well if you are looking at that :)

[@kelseareyes6722]

@@sciencemama thank you!

[@threatlevelmidnight3588]

Thanks for the review. I have a 2 and 3 yro that I was thinking of schooling together when the time comes and this looks like a perfect fit.

[@sciencemama]

Yes! I did this program with my 5 and 4 year old and it was wonderful :)

[@teresa1991]

What type of audiobook resources do you use ? I would love to start that for quiet time.

[@sciencemama]

I actually just filmed a video on my kids favorite audiobooks, stay tuned!

[@MrsPerdueArt]

Super fun!! We're using Torchlight Kindergarten, but I did tie in some books/activities from BYL. Are you planning on using BYL level 1? I'm planning on blending Torchlight and BYL 1 again, but I can't decide which I use as a base! They're both so good!!

[@sciencemama]

Therese Perdue YES we are using Level 1 and I am so excited! I’ve looked at TL as well and they look so good too 🤦‍♀️. My plans for the fall are to take the BYL prehistory unit study and stretch it over 12-16 weeks and then start Level 1 in January. That way my daughter will be 5.5 and my son will be turning 7. I want to keep them together moving forward so I’m waiting for her to get a bit older because I’ve heard that it’s a pretty big jump from Level 0 to Level 1. How old are your kiddos?

[@MrsPerdueArt]

​@@sciencemama I have three boys- 6, 3 and 2... I'm planning to start TL level 1 in January too!!! We're finishing up level K now and I've looked at the BYL prehistory unit too! It looks SO fun!! We have very similar tastes in curriculum- we've using Rightstart level b, but I just ordered Singapore dimensions to try out... so I enjoyed your comparison video- hehe! That's nice you can combine your kiddos!! I'm sure that makes it really fun for them!! I'm sure I'll combine a lot with my younger two!

[@sciencemama]

Therese Perdue How fun - you have such great taste in curriculum 😉. Are you thinking of adding to the Prehistory unit? I ask because I’m in the process of adding books and activities and I would love any recommendations you might have on good dinosaur books, etc!

[@jones_partyof4401]

Would you still recommend this for a 5 year old all these years later?

[@sciencemama]

YES! I still really love this program :)

[@lorizito3965]

Did you use other curriculums to supplement math, grammar, etc? I love the idea of BYL for level 0, but I'm worried about the hassle of having to supplement so many other subjects.

[@sciencemama]

For BYL0 I added math/phonics/handwriting ... she does not include those subjects in the curriculum. As for grammar, we weren't doing that yet ... but I was using BYL0 when my kids were 5.

[@crystalboehm4405]

This looks amazing! Did you have the pdf printed and bound? If so, where and about how much did it cost? Thank you so much?

[@sciencemama]

I did have it printed ... I either used Homeschool Printing Company or The Family Nest Printing. I think it was around $18-20, which I though was really reasonable!

[@BookZealots]

Homeschooling is so much fun! My son and I are passed this stage, but it's fun to see other homeschoolers using reading in their curricula. 👍📚❤

[@sciencemama]

BookZealots It’s nice to meet another homeschooling mom! Are you still homeschooling?

[@BookZealots]

@@sciencemama yes. We are in the final stretch. He's a junior this year.

[@sciencemama]

BookZealots That is awesome - that seems like so far away for us but I’m sure it will fly by!

[@BookZealots]

@@sciencemama it really does. I'm getting to see my grandkids being homeschooled. =)

[@mamabee2151]

What didyou do to beef up the science?

[@sciencemama]

Mama Bee I didn’t really need to beef it up because my kids were on the younger side ... but we were also doing a nature study, so that got us chatting about a lot of fun things! This upcoming year I am planning on using BYL prehistory and level 1 but I’m swapping out the science for Elemental Science (Biology for the Grammar Stage). I’m hoping to get my curriculum videos up soon 🤞

[@heatherplumbear]

I know your busy, but if you get a chance, can you share your spread sheet? I use the check off method too. It makes me feel like we're making progress.🙂

[@sciencemama]

Hi! I shared it a while back ... check the file section :) Although I only developed the checklist for 4 of the continents. Let me know if you can't find them!

[@katrinagueco1310]

​@@sciencemama Hi! Thankful for sharing your recommendations & sharing your hard work, it's less overwhelming for first time homeschoolers like me this coming year. We are going to try BYL Level 0 this year and would want to continue following your recommendation on Pre-History & Level 1. You inspired me to look forward to lots of fun reading with my kiddos:) May I know where I can find the spreadsheet you used? I couldn't find the "file" section.

[@sciencemama]

Katrina Gueco I’m so glad it had been so helpful! So there is a Facebook group for BYL Level 0 - and once you are on there you can check the files. It’s a really helpful group!

[@sciencemama]

Katrina Gueco facebook.com/groups/1531586487097840/?ref=share

[@RSS1987]

Thank you for this great review! I'm thinking of starting our homeschooling journey (combined with world travel) in 3 years from now at which time my kids will be 3.5, 5, and 7. I am researching well in advance and I'm interested in this curriculum. Do you think my kids' ages are close enough that they could all use the same level?

[@sciencemama]

Hi! Yes, I think that would work well for your kids ages - especially if you add a bit for your 7 year old! It is a really fun program :) You could check out Torchlight K for some additional book ideas!

[@RSS1987]

@@sciencemama thank you!

[@kellycheatwood7609]

Loving your channel! Would you be interested in sharing your printout per continent? I would gladly share proof of purchase! If we're doing BYL 0 as our core, then Logic of English Foundations and Math WIth Confidence/RightStart Math would you still add in some sort of fun science?

[@sciencemama]

Sure, I only have Asia, S. America, Aust, and Europe - send me your email and I will send them your way :)

[@michaelagoen4603]

Didn’t work for us because our library didn’t have a lot and I spent way more than I should have on the books. Also, like you, I didn’t follow the schedule so buying and printing it seemed like a waste. Also didn’t care for the activities. I loved the idea behind it, but it didn’t work out practically. I understood the big picture of the continents but after such a long time of doing it, my kids lost the general idea and it seemed like a mash of subjects. There wasn’t a simple way to review things as you went to make sure information was retained. It could totally work for other families, we just decided it was not for us in the future.

[@sciencemama]

Bummer it didn't work out! I hope you find what works best for your family!

[@learningmadsway2859]

I can not wait to start level 0 with my daughter this fall! 😊

[@sciencemama]

It is so much fun - I'm SOO excited to start Level 1! Enjoy :)

[@learningmadsway2859]

@@sciencemama did you buy every book or get them from the library?

[@sciencemama]

Mad! About Homeschool I checked my library first - and the ones I could get there I did. I purchased all the spines and some of the other books ... almost everything used. There were a few non-spine books I bought because I thought my kids would like them - like the Apple Pie book and the a lot of the chapter books!

[@learningmadsway2859]

@@sciencemama I asked the question in the middle of watching the video, then got to the end & it answered my question. 🤦🏻‍♀️ but thank you! Using my library stresses me out because they have MAYBE 5 books. The rest I would have to use the library loan thing they do, but I'm worried I won't get books when I need them or something. I put a book on hold once & it took 3 weeks to get to my library. 😔

[@sciencemama]

Mad! About Homeschool That’s a reasonable worry - we live in a big city so our libraries are awesome! I’ve heard of people requesting the library purchase some of the books - sometimes librarians want suggestions 🤷🏼‍♀️. There were some books we just couldn’t get and I didn’t want to buy them because I didn’t think we would read them too much - so I just skipped those books and it worked just fine! You could possibly substitute some different books in if you were organized enough ahead of time.