Teaching wizards (was Re: Jobs)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 109316

starlandcolleen wrote:
> > <snip> on another thread, somebody pointed 
> > out that J.K.R. confirmed in an interview that wizard kids do not
> > have go to muggle school before Hogwarts. Are their basic skills,
> > i.e. reading, home-taught? Perhaps there are tutors for this? Any
> > thoughts?
> 
Mandy replied:
> Hmm.  I go with the teaching at home theory because they are all so 
> far apart they couldn't get together on a daily basis but maybe they 
> do some kind of short courses for lots of students, a bit like
summer schools.  It could be that tutors go to the house to teach but
how do families with little money afford this?  It might be something
that is provided for nothing and funded by the MoM. I would favour the 
> teaching at home option and believe that different levels in ability 
> are indicative of the quality of teaching they have received from 
> their parents.  Tutors would only be available to visit for certain 
> subjects and for a certain amount of time during any given week, as 
> with home taught muggles who have private tutors and irregular tutor 
> groups.  
> 
> I also think there are apprenticeships rather than colleges and 
> Unis. We must remember that the students stay at school for an extra 
> two years if they choose to, and I think in this time they not only 
> take lessons applicable to the type of job they want to do, but also 
> have practical tasks to help them to get tp grips with the jobs they 
> will be going for.  We haven't really seen yet what happens during 
> these next two years.  I think there will be more focussed work 
> instead of it being general teaching.
> 
> We only have to look at Percy to realise that he went straight from 
> Hogwarts into the MoM.  Of course he could have attended a very
brief summer school before Harry arrived at the Weasleys, we don't
know that he didn't.

Carol responds:
JKR says in an interview that there are no wizard colleges or
universities, so you're correct there, but of course aurors (and maybe
other professions) require additional training. (I'm betting that
Percy went straight into his very junior-level position, with nothing
more than a bit of on-the-job training.) A seventeen-year-old is
considered an adult (no prolonged adolescence for them), and a student
with even one OWL, IIRC, is considered a fully qualified wizard.
(Percy had twelve OWLs, and probably half a dozen NEWTs as well.)

Regarding pre-Hogwarts education, I'm guessing that Molly homeschooled
her kids, but rich witchlings and wizardlings (e.g., Draco) may have
had private tutors. Maybe that's how Lupin earned a living before PoA.
Otherwise the peeling letters on his suitcase reading "Professor R.J.
Lupin" are difficult if not impossible to explain. It makes sense to
me, anyway.

Carol