38carrots Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 I can't believe there's no "Standard Book of Spelling" available! Or there is? I'm trying to find a fun (and somewhat educational? But mostly fun) list of books for the "1st year at Hogwarts." I need good candidates for: 1. The Standard Book of Spells (something fun to do with spelling?? Or is this too boring?) 2. A history of Magic (I'm thinking something like history of the natural world? But give me more ideas!) 3. Magical Theory (??? No clue) 4. A beginner's Guide to Transfiguration (no idea?) 5. One Thousdand Magical Herbs (What is a good book on herbs for an 11 year old?) 6. Magical Draft and Potions (Something else on herbal remedies? Or aromatherapy?) 7. Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them (animals?) 8. The dark forces, a guide to self protection. (no idea??) Please suggest general ideas for subjects, and any specific books as well. I would like this not to be tedious, but rather fun. For fun reading, not for a "school course." This boy has only just read the first book of the series and loved it. He likes to make potions by mixing food colouring and such. He's turning 11 in 3 weeks, and I only came up with this idea now, so I need to hurry up! Thank you for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Lulu* Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 Fantastic beasts is an actual book, Amazon carries it. There is a book called Wicked Plants that might work. Maybe a beginning level of Latin study for the spells? There is a yahoo group set up that is full of ideas for Hogwarts Correspondence Classes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 The dark forces makes me think of martial arts and DV prevention. Inspired by the youtube vids we were just watching look up carving a rose, transfiguration could totally be a woodcarving kit. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strawberries Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 DD discovered Harry Potter this year. I got her this book for "Herbology." http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Herb-Book-Children-Ages/dp/1885003366 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38carrots Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share Posted December 6, 2015 Fantastic beasts is an actual book, Amazon carries it. There is a book called Wicked Plants that might work. Maybe a beginning level of Latin study for the spells? There is a yahoo group set up that is full of ideas for Hogwarts Correspondence Classes Thanks! I just ordered the Fantastic Beasts. Will look into something Latin. Maybe something humours, rather than an actual textbook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38carrots Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share Posted December 6, 2015 The dark forces makes me think of martial arts and DV prevention. Inspired by the youtube vids we were just watching look up carving a rose, transfiguration could totally be a woodcarving kit. He does martial arts. And he just got a woodcarving kit as his "pre-Christmas gift" as it was on sale and he really wanted it. Otherwise it would have been perfect! What is DV? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38carrots Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share Posted December 6, 2015 DD discovered Harry Potter this year. I got her this book for "Herbology." http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Herb-Book-Children-Ages/dp/1885003366 I love this book! We actually do have it! But it was given to DD as a gift at some point, so it won't work as a gift for him, unfortunately. I have this vision of a neat pile of books, wrapped in brown paper, just for him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 He can enroll in "Hogwarts is Here," a fan site that has books, assignments (graded) - much fun. Free, but donations encouraged. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 I got my kids this a year or two ago: http://smile.amazon.com/Hogwarts-Library-Harry-Potter/dp/0545615402/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1449371983&sr=8-2&keywords=fantastic+beasts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 Here's some books from the Harry Potter Library. He can use this book for home ec. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 Here's a book on owls (coloring). You could also study ornithology. And maybe something like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38carrots Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share Posted December 6, 2015 Here's a book on owls (coloring). You could also study ornithology. And maybe something like this. Oh!!! Love the book on owls! Thank you! Great idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 (edited) He does martial arts. And he just got a woodcarving kit as his "pre-Christmas gift" as it was on sale and he really wanted it. Otherwise it would have been perfect! One of the vids we watched featured carving done using a mini drill instead of chisels. Maybe see about one of them? What is DV? Real life dark arts. Not fun. There are books on healthy relationships around. Not fun enough for a Christmas present though. How about candle making supplies. It's dark if there's no light. :lol: Edited December 6, 2015 by Rosie_0801 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 And here is a journal he can use for writing assignments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 how about a crazy english book for standard book of spells . . . . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJoy Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 What about an origami book for transfiguration? 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJoy Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 Maybe a fountain pen/calligraphy book/fancy paper because of all the writing the kids did? Was it History of Magic with long boring reports? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberia Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 (edited) Very cool idea! Make sure you send him a Hogwarts acceptance letter and a train ticket, too. You can find some online or make up your own. I did this for dad's 11th birthday. Eta: I also gave her some chocolate coins and a wand. Edited December 6, 2015 by Tiberia 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 Very cool idea! Make sure you send him a Hogwarts acceptance letter and a train ticket, too. You can find some online or make up your own. I did this for dad's 11th birthday. Eta: I also gave her some chocolate coins and a wand. Damn. My son just turned 11 and I didn't think of this. To the OP, there is also The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. i don't know whether or not that could be useful. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberia Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 Damn. My son just turned 11 and I didn't think of this. To the OP, there is also The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. i don't know whether or not that could be useful. It's not too late! Tell him Hedwig got hung up in bad weather or that evil relatives kept destroying the acceptance letters. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 (edited) For the defence against dark forces one, I would substitute The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook. (Has directions for delivering a baby, though, so if you are the sort of family who hasn,t watched the kitty have kittens, you might want to wait. You can view the table of contents from amazon to doublecheck suitability. My boys loved it at that age but your family might be different.) I love the origami idea for transfigurations. Potions could be chemistry or cooking. Books about herbal remedies need to come with supervision and warnings because there are common garden plants that are potent medicines. Foxglove, for instance, is a heart medicine. You could look for ones that focus on making your own cosmetics. That might be safer. Or just explain that herbs are real medicine and good to learn about but not good to experiment with. The Stokes guides are great for animals. Or books like the Gnome book. Nan Edited December 7, 2015 by Nan in Mass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddlemomma Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 (edited) In reply to your herbs/plants request, I might be able to help you. DD wanted to learn about medicinal herbs/plants this year. It's been a wonderful learning experience. So much so, that DD, DH, and I will be taking actual classes (6 of them) offered by a practicing Herbalist of 47 years this coming spring. DD has stated she wants to apprentice with this herbalist. Here are the main books we've been using: Medicinal Herbs: A Beginners Guide (Fantastic, simple, and to the point!) Healing Plants of the Bible (Another great book, but feel free to ditch it if you're looking for secular sources) Herbal Antibiotics (This is a HEAVY tome. We're just pulling selections out of this one. It's more of a medical book.) Druid's Book of Sacred Tree Medicine (This book is broken up into 2 sections: Info about the trees - including medicinal properties and then magical spells using those trees. We're skipping the magical spells portion & just reading about the trees. Wicked Plants In doing this study, we are experimenting with our own remedies which we've made. We've also dried some plants/herbs to use later. DD is also composing her own medicinal plant book and preparing a PowerPoint presentation to be presented to us at the end of the year. Edited to add: Oops! Didn't register that it wasn't for a school course...maybe some of my suggestions, like Wicked Plants, would work anyway? Sorry. I'll look around for some other suggestions... Edited December 7, 2015 by Saddlemomma2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in NY Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 I am not reading through all the responses because I am supposed to be concentrating on chemistry with my ds (bad mommy!) and instead I am scrolling through the board.... I used to belong to a Yahoo group that had an amazing number of member created files to run a summer correspondence course for your kids. It was so. much. fun! I think it still exists.... maybe HogwartsSummerCorrespondenceSchool ? It would definitely be worth joining and perusing the files. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Jessica* Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 Thanks! I just ordered the Fantastic Beasts. Will look into something Latin. Maybe something humours, rather than an actual textbook.Minimus is a fun Latin that would seem more gift-like than other Latin programs I can think of.http://www.amazon.com/Minimus-Pupils-Book-Starting-Latin/dp/0521659604 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddlemomma Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 (edited) Here's what I found: Math = The Magic of Math; Fractal 3D Magic; The Math Book; Everything Math Puzzle's Book Dark Forces (Science) = Dark Energy: Answers to Physics & Spiritual Questions; Dark Side of the Universe; Unraveling the Universe's Mysteries Spelling: Word Magic Scramble; The Letter Thief; Writing: Adventures in Fantasy (This is what I'll be using for my 8th grader next year in conjunction w/reading Tolkien. It's for grades 5-9) Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them Hogwart's Library Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook Harry Potter Creature's Coloring Book Unofficial Harry Potter Spell Book (not sure about this one. As a Christian, I wouldn't buy it, but it may be okay for you. You may be able to compare the spells with some herbal remedies and have your dc write up the herbal instructions like the spells are written in this book) Transfiguration: HP: Magical Places from the films (this books tells how the sets were built and locations transformed to bring Harry Potter to life. I like the origami idea too.) The Philosophy & Mythology of Harry Potter (I'm using the book, Philosophy of Tolkien, as our logic/Philosophy studies with DD next year in conjunction with our Tolkien studies.) HP Cookbook - A Magical Christmas Menu - free on Kindle HP & Imagination: The Way Between two Worlds Edited to add: Found one for history too: HP & History Edited December 7, 2015 by Saddlemomma2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarawatsonim Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 (edited) Fyi if you are interested in an acceptance letter or wand they have many different ones on Etsy for reasonable prices. I had my dd's acceptance letter sitting and waiting for her propped up against her Hedwig stuffy for when she woke up on her 11th birthday a couple of weeks ago. The wands on Etsy range from quite inexpensive to pricey and come in both resin and wood. I second the Hogwarts is here site, it is excellent. The Harry Potter colouring books in the adult colouring book section on Amazon are really quite beautiful. I think they have 4 or 5 different books now. Edited December 8, 2015 by sarawatsonim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Queen homeschool has a high school level herbology course that can be adapted to an 11 year old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangerine Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Dawkins (a rather polarizing figure to say the least) has a children's book called The Magic of Reality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 I second Minimus. I was going to suggest that, too, but couldn,t remember the title. : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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