Thursday, October 23, 2008

October Happenings

[caption id="attachment_175" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Photo :: Property of HH"]Property of HH[/caption]

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

3 comments:

  1. Oh, I hope everyone is well soon! Sounds like Madam Pomfrey has had her work cut out for her!

    Thank you for more excellent ideas! I'm trying to decide what to do tomorrow. My problem has been having too many ideas and narrowing them down to what's realistic. Also, too many other activities competing for time and attention. Fortunately, the Home Study program has been very flexible and understanding. It helps that most of the kids are way ahead of schedule, not even being 11 yet.

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  2. Yes she's been quite busy in the hospital wing ;-)

    Having too many fun things to choose from has always been a problem for us at HH as well. That only means that you're doing it correctly!

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  3. I have already sent a personal e-mail to Amanda with a great, big THANKS (she sent us your way) but I also want to send a THANKS your way. We have been having a blast here at Hogwarts Home Study for the last 3 weeks. My darling 2 daughters, husband and I made our wands on Friday along with some witch jewelry. Both girls have been running around in their witch robes. Our fairy witch, Dalphina, has send us some great art and cooking projects for the next two weeks (Fairy Confetti Cookies anyone??-from an Usborne book). Looking forward to making the crystal wands-thanks Professor Snape. Tried to open the sugar skulls recipe but got error message. Perhaps need to do some magic to get it to open. Looking forward to more ideas and love hearing about what you are doing.

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