Lyric and I have been reading the Harry Potter books for few
months. We are on book five. I never had a desire to read them before, but
after we went to Universal in November I decided to see if she liked
them--she did! I wish we would have started reading them before the trip! I told Lyric after we finish the last book we need to plan a trip back to Universal!
As
Unschoolers, we don't have much planned instruction going on around
here. Things are pretty spontaneous and learning just happens. But I
decided to see if Lyric would like to attend "Wizard School" She loved
the idea, so I did a little research and found some cool books and ideas
to help with our "school." Cadence happens to have a really cool
stuffed owl from Build a Bear, so I wrote Lyric a letter and tied it to
the owl's leg. Cadence delivered it for me.
Lyric's Acceptance Letter From Hogwarts:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster:
ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
(Order of
Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump,
International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Lyric Alexandria Cox,
We are pleased to inform you
that you have been accepted at Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Please see list of necessary equipment.
Term begins on July 30th. We
await your owl by no later than July 20. Please send a formal typed
letter by owl as soon as possible.
First
year students will require a wand.
Students
may also bring an owl, a cat or a toad.
PARENTS
ARE ALSO REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN
BROOMSTICK!
Yours
sincerely,
Professor
Cox
Deputy
Headmistress
Lyric then worked really hard and typed up a reply:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Dear Professor Cox,
I would love to attend Hogwarts. Do you know where I can get an owl and a wand?
I'm 8 years old and I like to play music and read Harry Potter and other books.
Please put me in Griffindor because Harry, Ron and Hermione are in that house.
I will be looking forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Lyric Cox
P.S. I will not bring a broomstick! =^)
After she worked so hard on the reply she didn't "send" it back, so Hogwarts sent her another letter:
HOGWARTS
SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster:
ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
(Order
of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme
Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Lyric,
I was very disappointed we
did not receive your acceptance letter with return owl! Luckily, I
was able to send Claudine, one of our house elves, to retrieve it
because I knew you would not not want to pass up an opportunity to
attend Hogwarts.
Unfortunately, your family
lives to0 far from Diagon Alley for you to purchase an owl or a wand.
Your sister Cadence will be able to make contact with an owl from
Hogwarts for you to use. If you need to communicate with us just let
Cadence know and she can summons an owl.
We will be sending you an
email with directions to make your own wand. As you probably know we
wizards are not big fans of muggle communication methods, but in
recent months we have learned how to use email. You will probably
want to get some help from your father on the wand.
Unfortunately, I will not be
able to guarantee which house you will be placed once you arrive at
Hogwarts. You will be given a quiz and will attend a Sorting Hat
Ceremony and the hat will decide on your placement.
Lyric, we look forward to
your attendance at Hogwarts and know you are going to have a great
first year!
Yours
sincerely,
Professor
Cox
Deputy
Headmistress
PS
Madam Pomfrey was very happy to hear you would not be bringing a
broom. You would be shocked to know how many first years have been
sent to the hospital wing for trying to fly before they were ready!
I
sent her an email with a website to make the wand and told her she
should get her daddy to help her (that kind of thing is more his
department). But they never got around to making the wand. So, I sent
her this letter:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster:
ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
(Order of
Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump,
International Confed. of Wizards)
Lyric,
As
you can see your first assignment for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft
and Wizardry is attached to this letter. The assignment covers two
subjects: Word Wizardry and Arithmetic. Please use your arithmetic
skills to complete the puzzle. When you have completed the puzzle
please give it to your sister Cadence, as she does have the spell to
contact Hogwarts for an owl. We look forward to receiving your
completed assignment and hope you find the task somewhat challenging,
but also enjoyable!
Sincerely,
Professor
Cox
Deputy
Headmistress
PS
After completing the puzzle, it is very important that you begin work
immediately on your next task. You will be given a clue in the
puzzle for your next task.
This was the attached assignment:
(the code was in a chart, so it was was easier to tell what letter went with what number)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
_____
______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ _____
______ ______
(2+2)
(8+7) (15+10) (7+8) (10+11) (10+9) (10+10)
(5+4) (7+5) (5+7)
_____ ______ _____ ______
______ ______ _____ ______ ______ ______
(13+10) (1+0) (7+7)
(10+10) (11+9) (8+7) (4+3) (7+8) (9+11)
(14+1)
______ ______ ______
_____ _____ ______
(13+10) (5+4) (16+10)
(0+1) (9+9) (2+2)
______ _______ _______
_____ ______ ______?
(10+9) (2+1)
(7+1) (9+6) (6+9) (6+6)
If
so,
you
need a …
_______ _____ ______
______!
(13+10) (0+1) (7+7)
(2+2)
The answer: Do you still want to go to wizard school? If so, you need a wand!
It really wasn't her fault she hadn't made the wand because she was going to need help, but she loved doing the assignment.
Tonight, Owly is going to deliver this letter:
Lyric,
Your
skills on the Word Wizardry assignment were quite impressive! We
have a new challenge for you to complete. We would like for you to
come up with a puzzle for us to complete. You may use the secret
code from your last assignment or you may come up with your own.
Remember, you may use numbers, dots, symbols or anything you wish for
your secret code. You may have us use our arithmetic skills to
complete your puzzle or you can make it easy on us. Be creative and
come up with a cleaver phrase for us to decode. We know you are
quite the jokester. You may want to give us a riddle and have us use
your secret code to figure out the answer. Lyric, we know you are a
hard worker and look forward to watching you grow as a student and a
wizard. On the attached page you will find a chart you may use to
make your secret code. Fell free to make your own if you feel this
does not suit your needs.
I
would also like to inform you an important time has arrived in your
wizard education. On August 12, 2o12 you will need to attend your
sorting ceremony. Please go to the kitchen at at 11:00 a.m. where
you will be given more instructions.
Sincerely,
Professor
Cox
Deputy
Headmistress
I found this
quiz that I am going to have her take. Also, Story has agreed to be under the table and speak for the sorting hat. We gave our witch's hat to Goodwill, so I'm not sure what we will use for that? Probably just one of the girls hats. I was thinking about attaching some eyes and a mouth to it...
It is really interesting to me how my view of learning has changed over the last few years. When I was teaching, if I had done an assignment like this with my students. When I thought of or found activities for them to complete I would have thought, "They will learn a lot from this... or This activity will teach this..." But as an Unschooler I don't think about learning. I know my girls are going to learn what they need to know when they need to know it, so my only "motive" for doing something like wizard school is because I think it will be fun. I am only going to include things that I think Lyric will enjoy doing. So far we have both had fun with it!
