Are You READY????

Oh boys and girls, Monday marks the start of Summer School.  Now, most kids would say, "Blech, school?  In the summer?  No way," but not you!  You will be bright and shiny and happy when I see you on Monday and I cannot wait.  Hogwarts, American Girls, and Book Cooks will be the best ever, I know it!  So make sure you have everything sorted out before you show up at Marengo, wouldn't want to miss one second of the fun, would you? 

Parents, be on the lookout for the newsletter for all the important info. 

Enrollment is Open!

If you haven't already, be sure to enroll in SPEF Summer School!  Enrollment opened for South Pasadena residents on April 12, and should be open for non-residents by the 26th.  I am teaching Hogwarts Year I (per. 1), Hogwarts Year II (per. 2), American Girls (per. 3), and Book Cooks (per. 4 & 5), but I really encourage everyone to look at the other offerings to find what appeals to you. 

Check my links on the left to go to the SPEF website for more information.  Or, stop by the SPEF office located at the SPUSD District Office to pick up a schedule of classes. 

A note about books:  If you are planning on enrolling in Hogwarts, you will need a US copy of the book (published by Scholastic).  If you don't already own one, paperbacks are currently on sale at Borders, buy one get one 50% off.  Borders Harry Potter Sale  The books are also available at Amazon.  In the American Girls class, 4 books will be read whole-group:  Meet Felicity, Meet Samantha, Meet Molly and Meet Kit.  It is not necessary to have copies of these books, but you can easily find them online (see Amazon link) or in-store if you want to read along each week.  Since we read a different book or story every day in Book Cooks, students do not need to bring copies to class.  Many of these books should be widely available at your local library as well, so be sure to bring what you need to class on June 28!

Harry Potter: The Exhibition

If you will be in the Toronto area this spring/summer, think about dropping in to see the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Ontario Science Center.  The previous stop was in Chicago, but no dates have been announced for the Los Angeles area as of yet. 

Ontario Science Center
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
April 9, 2010-August 22, 2010

From the website:
"In this amazing exhibition, guests will get an up close and personal look at the artistry and craftsmanship that went into creating the iconic props and costumes that appeared throughout the Harry Potter films. These authentic artifacts will be displayed in elaborate settings inspired by locations from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry including the Gryffindor common room, Hagrid’s hut and the Great Hall. "
 
Harry Potter: The Exhibition

Summer School 2010!

Hey Everyone!

That time is nearly upon us again, SPEF Summer School is back this June! Oh, and incidentally, so am I. :) I again plan to teach Hogwarts School of Wizardry (Years I and II) as well as Book Cooks. Hogwarts is getting cleaned by the house elves from top to bottom in preparation for your arrival from the Hogwarts Express, either by boat or thestral. I'm fine-tuning some new stories and recipes to add the 2010 Book Cooks menu, but don't worry, we'll still be making a lot of old favorites. I am also excited to be introducing an All-American Girl class, based on the popular book series. Students (boys are more than welcome!) will go back in time with a different American Girl every week, learning history while also doing some fun activities, culminating with a Friday tea party or picnic. You will not want to miss this!

Of course, please be sure to check out the other classes being offered by the great staff and if you're 5th grade and up, the middle and high schools will no doubt have an awesome lineup as well. Registration opens this April and I hope to see your shiny, happy faces on June 28!

Thank You!

Thank you for a great summer school kiddos! Hope you have a great last day.

All of the photos have been uploaded, so click on the link to the left for the flickr galleries and download your favorites for free.

Day Fifteen

Well, our little wizards were hard at work today! Many of them were working on their character acrostic poems. I read a few doozies! Owl Mail continues to be very popular, with students getting very interesting responses to their letters.

What's that on the right, you ask? Ah, that's the lemon-y frosting we made for the tea biscuits. With real lemon zest! You see, after Red escaped from the BBW (Big Bad Wolf), she and Grandma shared tea and biscuits with Mr. Woodcutter.

Week Three!

Sorry to have been so behind on my blogging! It's been a busy week for everyone, so just a quick wrap-up before we head into the final week.

The first years at Hogwarts wrote letters and sent them by owl for the first time, looked into the Mirror of Erised to see their dearest desires, and made synthetic troll boogers. Some of the first years helped Sydney D. to celebrate her 7th birthday! By the way, a certain professor we all know and love was spotted watching Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in the same theatre as Sydney D. and Ian M. on Friday!

Second years had an equally thrilling week in Care of Magical Creatures. We just completed a Dragonology unit. Each student wrote a letter to Dr. Drake requesting to adopt a dragon egg. Once the requests were approved, Dr. Drake sent the eggs to me to be distributed. Students enchanted each egg to become the type of dragon they hope to raise. Will it be a Hungarian Horntail? A Norwegian Ridgeback? A Chinese Fireball? Only time will tell, as it takes 3 years on hot coals to hatch a dragon egg!

Finally, Book Cooks have been slaving away over hot griddles and burners to learn delicious dishes to share with their families! We enjoyed recipes such as: Green Eggs and Ham from the Dr. Seuss classic, Mudburgers from James and the Giant Peach, Hoecakes from George Washington's Breakfast, Stone Soup, and Fried Rice from Everybody Cooks Rice.