Lack of traditional academics...

[Terri Lyn Layman]

No: HPFGUIDX 33793

A topic which has bothered my husband and I, for one.

We were discussing how JKR seems to have done a decent job of laying out the
groundwork for the magical coursework. However, we noticed that there was a
complete lack of traditional coursework at Hogwarts.  This would be work in
English (grammer, literature, etc.), Mathematics (where's the calc, algebra,
and trig?  There's arithromancy... but JKR neither explains the content nor
is it a required class), more traditional science than is in
potions/herbology/COMC.  What about art classes?  Music, painting, and the
like?  You can't tell me that Fat Lady just showed up like that... someone
had to have painted her.  We know there's insturments (the harp and flute by
fluffy), where are they taught how to play them?  Does Hogwarts have a pep
band (either in general or per house) that plays during Q'ditch matches?
And another course that seems to be lacking is psychology.  Wouldn't it make
sense to have a base way of evaluating the subject of your charm to see if
they would actually mentally "buy" it?

It just doesn't make sense that they would have to write reports (on
werewolves, or what happened in potions) without being taught how to write
good reports.  And the logic taught by mathematics would surely be
invaluable in making decisions on many levels.  You can't say that they got
all the requisite knowlege in maths and "english" from whatever educational
institution they were in till 5th grade (US).  You could say that they are
getting this information by inference in their various classes, but some
basic subjects like math and "english" would require a dedicated instructor.

Just one of two major gripes we've collected.
-TerriLyn