October Happenings

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October has been a dreadful month for HH. One of our families is on their second round of Pertussis, which has brought all classes to a halt. Not to worry about the family though; they are all on the upside of the pestilence.

We've still been able to do our at-home activities at least. The kids were sent Owls, asking that they read about dragons & jewels in The Dragonology Handbook. They were each sent a few jewels to bury in their yard (or at the campsite for one student) after. My son & I took it a bit farther, & researched the gems mentioned in the Handbook. He took it farther still, & went rummaging in my jewelry cabinet, to see if i had anything we'd read about (I don't.) This could be followed up by a visit to the Gem Room, at the Natural History Museum, or even a jewelry shop. Personally, I would look for an antique shop that has a lot of jewelry before a modern jewelry shop; because the old, ornate pieces could better inspire the kids to make up stories about dragons of long ago.

Our next at-home lesson is to be Crystal Wands. Click on that hotlink, & it shall take you to the PDF for it. The White Crystal, granulated asked for is regular sugar, & Gillywater is what we call tap water in any lesson requiring it. Print the Owl as-is, or alter it to suit your style. We suggest whatever font you use for Potions Owls & Lessons. If you like to live on the edge, you can add a drop of food coloring to the mixture. The other HHMamas are wild like this, but I prefer stainless Potions.

Here are some other lessons & activities you could do in October:

Dia de los Muertos: (History of Magic) learn the history of Catholicism in Mexico, (Potions) make Mexican food or sugar skulls, (Muggle Studies) attend a festival.

Hallowe'en: (Herbology) carve pumpkins & roast the seeds, (History of Magic) read about Hallowe'ens origins, study ancient Ireland, research why we now wear costumes & make your own. Don't forget to have a safe, & happy Hallowe'en!

Hopefully all HHFamilies will be well soon, & things will be back to normal here at HH for November classes. What have all of you been doing this month? We'd love to hear from you.

~Kat

We're still here!

I'm sorry for the lack of posting recently. We here at HH are scrambling like mad women to play catch-up. It would seem a week of field trips, followed by a week of camping may not have been one of our more brilliant ideas. We three are in desperate need of House Elves, & quite possibly a Time Turner.

As behind as we find ourselves, all must declare Pirate Month a glorious success! The kids had a great time, learned geography, history, went through an entire book of pirate Mad Libs, & much more. Professor Lupin was pleased to learn they saw Pirate Wizards hiding at Disneyland, the LA County Fair, & even camping!

That last one was the most fun: on an early morning walk, I (Kat) discovered a tall ship anchored just off the coast - no seriously! Later I told the kids about it, & casually wondered aloud if it could have been a small pirate ship. That was all they needed to get their imagination going. By the time we headed back to the beach, they had convinced themselves they were about to come upon actual pirates! As we got closer, my son suggested we shimmy up the sand dune on our bellies; lest we be spotted from the crow's nest. We dropped to the ground, & shimmied like any good pirate-hunter should. After spying on the 'pirates', & discussing whether they were looking for buried treasure or the poor soul they'd just made walk the plank, we went back to our camp. A truly successful piratey mission.

The wrap-up to Pirate Month had nothing to do with us. Two of the kids heard of modern-day pirates on the news! It was nice of the news to help out.

***

Our official start of term kicks off with a month devoted to studying the beginnings of Hallowe'en, & how it evolved through history. We had to postpone our first class this past week, because one of the kids was quite sick. Shan said that Madame Pomfrey had looked the child over, & assured she'd be well in no time. Once we are able to meet for a lesson, we'll let you know how it went. Until then, we would absolutely LOVE to hear how your HH is going.

~Kat.