Getting Started - the "Pre-Term"

Before getting started with our Summer School, I did a lot of internet searching and book reading and planning.  I wanted to have an idea of where we were going and what we were going to do.  If you plan on doing your own Hogwarts Summer School program, I suggest googling terms such as "Hogwarts Home School" or "Hogwarts Summer School" or even "Harry Potter ideas" or "Harry Potter crafts."  Things like "Wizard science" are good too.  There are soooo many great ideas out there that it's so easy to find things you like and adapt them for your program.

Some of the sites I used when planning were:

• Hogwarts Homeschool - this does not appear to be an active site as the last post was on July 16, 2010 , but there are lots of good ideas and links here
• Hogwarts Summer Correspondence School Yahoo Group - this is still an active group, although most of the information is in the links and files.  There are separate groups for each "classroom" which makes it easy to find information, although a bit cumbersome to join all the groups.
• Hogwarts Homeschool on Facebook - this appears to be related to the Hogwarts Homeschool above, but has more recent posts and more great ideas
• Mugglenet - TONS of great ideas and Harry Potter information
• Dirt and Sunshine -  A Harry Potter party planning page with different downloads and printables

There are many other blogs, sites and more that have great ideas.  Search and be amazed!

Before you get started with Owl Posts arriving, it's probably a good idea to get an outline of what you want to do and exactly how "into" this project you are going to get.  I mean, you could go all out and make robes and get wands and all that.  Or you could just pick a few experiments and have fun.

I'm kind of in-between.  We're going all out on some things . . . such as Mr. CrazyLife making wands on his lathe.  But we're not going to do the whole robes/hats/broomstick/cauldron thing.  Enough to keep the magic going, but not enough that I'm going to go crazy (well, crazier than normal anyhow) putting it all together.

My outline for the first week of our Hogwarts journey looks a bit like this (consider it a "pre-term" or getting ready and organized period):

Day 1 - Acceptance Letters from Professor McGonagall and Sorting Hat questionaires arrive via Owl Post.  Kids fill out quizes and make an Owl Post box.  Return quizes to McGonagall via the Owl Post and wait for results.

Day 2 - Letters from the Head Boy or Head Girl of each house arrive (luckily I have four children and there are four houses - I only had to "doctor" up one quiz to make it work out!) welcoming the children to their house and giving information on house colors, symbols and passwords.  They encourgage the kids to work hard earning points by doing chores, finishing school assignments and participating in wizard games.  It tells them that their parents will be reporting points to the heads of houses.  Also included in the Owl Post this day are jars with different colored ribbons - one for each house - and "magic" colored rocks (decorative glass pebbles) to help keep track of house points.

Day 3 - A little note from Hagrid arrives via the Owl Post.  He asks each child to write him a "lit'le note" to tell him what kind of familiar animal they would like to have.  The note has to tell why they want that animal and how they would take care of it.  Return notes to Hagrid via Owl Post.

Day 4 - A return note from Hagrid, telling the children that he has considered their requests and after talking to Professor Dumbledore, he thinks he can fulfill them.  However, the animals cannot be sent out until they have earned 10 points for their house.  (this is so that I can get the children to pick up bedrooms, etc during the first week out of school without too much of a fight and it gives me time to find some stuffed animals of choice!)

Day 5 - A letter from Professor McGonagall telling them that the registration process is complete and giving them a "class schedule" listing what classes they will have and who the professors are.  It will also instruct them to make a Summer Term Binder to keep all their correspondence and assignments in.  They will have 3 days to finish the binder before the term starts and can earn extra house points for creativity on the binder.  The letter will tell them that they should be on the lookout for a post containing all the supplies they will need for the term.

Day 6 or 7 - A package containing a magic wand (day depends on when it gets finished!) and a letter from Mr. Ollivandar telling them about the magical properties of their wand - what type of wood it is made from, what the core is and how long it is.  There is also a wand registration form they must fill out and return to the Ministry of Magic.

Day 7 - Today the Owl Post will bring each child a package containing supplies for the summer term.  In addition to the wand, there will be two "Quill" pens (made from pens/pencil and fake feathers), a cauldron (or black bowl) of some sort and some copies of books they will need.

Day 8 - Summer Term begins and the first assignemnt arrives!