Hobbes
06-30-2008, 11:01 PM
So Hogwarts has now sent 5 letters to Emma for the summer school and mission for Hogwarts.
The first lesson was preparation of her journal.
The next two lessons/instructions were in Mexico where she learned:
1. Magical Creatures: all about dolphins, swam with a dolphin, petted it. Wrote about it in her journal, drew a picture of it with labels.
2. Learned about the muggle culture of Mexico. She learned about (and recorded in her journal) the foods of Mexico, the music and the language. She drew a picture of Mexico and labeled several cities.
Today was her fourth lesson, the letter came by owl this morning and we did this afternoon.
1. She went to the oldest building in San Francisco (the Mission of Saint Francis of Assisi (http://missiontour.org/sanfrancisco/index.htm)) and learned that it was built.... by Mexicans! and Mexicans were the first European settlers of San Francisco (and gave it the name). She also learned that the Berryessas (Guy's ancestors, thus our family ancestors) were among those first settlers from Mexico! She drew in her journal (with papa's help) a map of North America and drew the route those Mexican settlers took from Mexico to San Francisco Bay and mounted a photo of the Mission.
2. We then walked the directions given to us by the letter from Hogwarts (through the mission district) and came upon an amazing Mural at "the women's building." (http://www.womensbuilding.org/public/about/mural.html) As per our instructions, Emma found out some of the names of the women painted on the building including famous Central American women and an American named "Georgia O'Keefe" (who she learned a bit about in school. She took a photo of the building's mural and and will label some of the women, specifically Georgia O'Keefe (it comes into play (http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/exhibitions/permanent-collection/landscape.aspx) in our trip to the Southwest canyonlands next week) and we learned the style of the painting was Mexican.
3. We then walked to an 'eating establishment (http://www.losjarritos.com/)" (great Mexican food btw) that we were told was run by wizards and witches. A witch there served us (we ah... approached them earlier to see if they'd play along). Emma read a 'secret pass phrase' ("A cat and a rat sat on the hot pepper" which she read very well all on her own as was required I might add) to this witch waitress and she smiled broadly and said...
"so.. you are the Hogwart's student we've been waiting for!"
She handed Emma a pouch filled with powerful, very powerful, dried habanero peppers. She explained to Emma
"These peppers are powerful magic and shouldn't be touched with your hands. Take them to London King's Cross station. They will need them for the potion"
The restaurant was Mexican and Emma learned that this area of San Francisco still has many people from Mexico and descended from people from Mexico. She recorded some of the foods that were similar to those we had in Mexico.
Emma was great about it all and really had fun doing it (though at some point she felt we learned enough about the mural because Daddy and Papa were getting really fascinated by it.
When we first got the letter, she thought it was going to be a Howler like Ron got. SHe was relieved it wasn't. You see, in her first SF lesson she was supposed to gather a shell from a snail and a shell from a clam for the potion (and the care of magical creatures lesson) and determine some differences. She has yet to bring herself to part with the shells or to write it down in the journal (though she does everything else... so she things that Hogwarts' is not happy about that. Which made me thing of an idea... there are these birthday cards you can record into... I wonder if I can fashion one to look a bit like a howler.. call it a 'screamer' or something... LOL...
Anyway, we were looking around the restaurant (lots of photos and knick knacks) and she asked me...
"Why aren't the pictures moving?"
I guess she figured if this was a witch and wizard place all the photos would be moving.
I told her I wasn't sure and she asked the witch waitress...
who caught on and said...
"Well, we have a lot of muggle guests"
that explained it! LOL
Funny thing though.... the day before yesterday Emma asked...
"when are your goi... I mean Hogwarts going to send me my next letter?"
I think she has or is catching on but is playing along because it's fun (I hope).
Our next lessons are about the canyonlands of the Southwest (where we will use Georgia O'Keefe's paintings to learn about landscape and art) when we go to Southern Utah and Zion's National Park...
and a bit about muggle religion, specifically Judaism and Mormonism and 'migrations' (We'll be seeing Fiddler on the Roof at the Shakespeare festival in Cedar City Utah and the Mormon Temple in St. George (http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/stgeorge/))
As you see, I'm trying to tie everything in (Mexico to San Francisco, San Francisco to Utah.... then Utah to Massachusetts? US to Germany, Germany to England... and themes... like the movement of peoples for Muggle Studies ...Mexican, Mormon, Jewish, German, English.... and sea creatures for Magical Creatures like dolphins, clams and snails, whales in Mass... and in Utah we'll go to Mt. Timpanogos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Timpanogos) where we will find fossils of ... .clams and snails!... though I'm kind of at a loss for what sea creatures to focus on and we can see in England and Germany :/).
Of course it's all a lot of writing and reading for Emma and I'm trying to tie it into our 'homeschool' (I'm using Reading Reflex) and where we are in that...
phew... I love this homeschool stuff, and if I had more time.....
:D
The first lesson was preparation of her journal.
The next two lessons/instructions were in Mexico where she learned:
1. Magical Creatures: all about dolphins, swam with a dolphin, petted it. Wrote about it in her journal, drew a picture of it with labels.
2. Learned about the muggle culture of Mexico. She learned about (and recorded in her journal) the foods of Mexico, the music and the language. She drew a picture of Mexico and labeled several cities.
Today was her fourth lesson, the letter came by owl this morning and we did this afternoon.
1. She went to the oldest building in San Francisco (the Mission of Saint Francis of Assisi (http://missiontour.org/sanfrancisco/index.htm)) and learned that it was built.... by Mexicans! and Mexicans were the first European settlers of San Francisco (and gave it the name). She also learned that the Berryessas (Guy's ancestors, thus our family ancestors) were among those first settlers from Mexico! She drew in her journal (with papa's help) a map of North America and drew the route those Mexican settlers took from Mexico to San Francisco Bay and mounted a photo of the Mission.
2. We then walked the directions given to us by the letter from Hogwarts (through the mission district) and came upon an amazing Mural at "the women's building." (http://www.womensbuilding.org/public/about/mural.html) As per our instructions, Emma found out some of the names of the women painted on the building including famous Central American women and an American named "Georgia O'Keefe" (who she learned a bit about in school. She took a photo of the building's mural and and will label some of the women, specifically Georgia O'Keefe (it comes into play (http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/exhibitions/permanent-collection/landscape.aspx) in our trip to the Southwest canyonlands next week) and we learned the style of the painting was Mexican.
3. We then walked to an 'eating establishment (http://www.losjarritos.com/)" (great Mexican food btw) that we were told was run by wizards and witches. A witch there served us (we ah... approached them earlier to see if they'd play along). Emma read a 'secret pass phrase' ("A cat and a rat sat on the hot pepper" which she read very well all on her own as was required I might add) to this witch waitress and she smiled broadly and said...
"so.. you are the Hogwart's student we've been waiting for!"
She handed Emma a pouch filled with powerful, very powerful, dried habanero peppers. She explained to Emma
"These peppers are powerful magic and shouldn't be touched with your hands. Take them to London King's Cross station. They will need them for the potion"
The restaurant was Mexican and Emma learned that this area of San Francisco still has many people from Mexico and descended from people from Mexico. She recorded some of the foods that were similar to those we had in Mexico.
Emma was great about it all and really had fun doing it (though at some point she felt we learned enough about the mural because Daddy and Papa were getting really fascinated by it.
When we first got the letter, she thought it was going to be a Howler like Ron got. SHe was relieved it wasn't. You see, in her first SF lesson she was supposed to gather a shell from a snail and a shell from a clam for the potion (and the care of magical creatures lesson) and determine some differences. She has yet to bring herself to part with the shells or to write it down in the journal (though she does everything else... so she things that Hogwarts' is not happy about that. Which made me thing of an idea... there are these birthday cards you can record into... I wonder if I can fashion one to look a bit like a howler.. call it a 'screamer' or something... LOL...
Anyway, we were looking around the restaurant (lots of photos and knick knacks) and she asked me...
"Why aren't the pictures moving?"
I guess she figured if this was a witch and wizard place all the photos would be moving.
I told her I wasn't sure and she asked the witch waitress...
who caught on and said...
"Well, we have a lot of muggle guests"
that explained it! LOL
Funny thing though.... the day before yesterday Emma asked...
"when are your goi... I mean Hogwarts going to send me my next letter?"
I think she has or is catching on but is playing along because it's fun (I hope).
Our next lessons are about the canyonlands of the Southwest (where we will use Georgia O'Keefe's paintings to learn about landscape and art) when we go to Southern Utah and Zion's National Park...
and a bit about muggle religion, specifically Judaism and Mormonism and 'migrations' (We'll be seeing Fiddler on the Roof at the Shakespeare festival in Cedar City Utah and the Mormon Temple in St. George (http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/stgeorge/))
As you see, I'm trying to tie everything in (Mexico to San Francisco, San Francisco to Utah.... then Utah to Massachusetts? US to Germany, Germany to England... and themes... like the movement of peoples for Muggle Studies ...Mexican, Mormon, Jewish, German, English.... and sea creatures for Magical Creatures like dolphins, clams and snails, whales in Mass... and in Utah we'll go to Mt. Timpanogos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Timpanogos) where we will find fossils of ... .clams and snails!... though I'm kind of at a loss for what sea creatures to focus on and we can see in England and Germany :/).
Of course it's all a lot of writing and reading for Emma and I'm trying to tie it into our 'homeschool' (I'm using Reading Reflex) and where we are in that...
phew... I love this homeschool stuff, and if I had more time.....
:D