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.

Upcoming Harry Potter Events

With the latest film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, coming out this week, there are a number of events wizards could attend. Here are just a few (all free):

Meet director David Heyman
Apple Store @ Third Street Promenade
July 13, 2009 (7PM)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Screening
Altadena Public Library
July 14, 2009 (6:30PM)
Refreshments and Raffle

Harry Potter/Mugglenet Event
San Marino Toy and Book
July 15, 2009 (1:30-4:30PM)

Harry Potter Reading Group
Vroman's Bookstore @ Pasadena
July 20, 2009 (3PM)
Ages 9-14 to discuss the Half-Blood Prince

Day Nine

On Friday, first years learned to brew a lovely plant-growing potion, while second years celebrated Sir Nicholas' Deathday Party with some pumpkin muffins and butterbeer (much better than what was actually being served at the party!).

The chefs of Book Cooks whipped up (literally!) a delicious chocolate buttercream frosting for their thundercakes. Ask them what the chocolate cake's secret ingredient is!

Day 7 & 8

First years have been busying themselves with their Chocolate Frog Famous Wizard cards lately, doing research on various famous wizards.

Second year students worked on their herbology by collecting samples and making magical botanical prints.

The chefs of Rm. 8 made cinnamon apples (Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss) and Strega Nona pasta (inspired by the book by Tomie de Paola).