Monthly Archives: February 2013

Valentines Day February 14

February 12, 2013 – 3:57 pm

A little history about Saint Valentine’s Day

On Thursday, February 14^th we celebrate Valentine’s Day in the United States by giving flowers, candy and cards to those we love. We do this in honor of Saint Valentine. You may be wondering, “Who is St. Valentine”? Time to brush up on your Valentine’s history!

Legend has it that Valentine was a priest who served during third century Rome. The Emperor at that time, Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those that were married. With this thought in mind he outlawed marriage for young men in hopes of building a stronger army. Supposedly, Valentine, decided this decree was not fair and married young couples in secret. When Emperor Claudius II found out about Valentine’s actions he had his head cut off making him a martyr of love. Another legend has it that Valentine was an imprisoned man who fell in love with his jailor’s daughter. Before he was put to death he sent the first ‘valentine’ himself when he wrote her a letter and signed it ‘Your Valentine’, words still used on cards today.

Perhaps we’ll never know the true identity and story behind the man named St. Valentine, but this much is for sure…February has been the month to celebrate love for a long time, dating back to the Middle Ages. In fact, Valentines ranks second only to Christmas in number of greeting cards sent. For some fun children’s activities including crafts, coloring pages, games, puzzles and poems go to:

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/index.htm

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/valentines-day/

Au Pairs receive hands on instruction on CPR and First Aid

February 12, 2013 – 9:56 am

Red Cross

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This past Saturday, au pairs from the Annapolis cluster met for hands on training provided by the American Red Cross. The Annapolis Evangelical Lutheran Church graciously offered their space for this event. The au pairs received instruction on First Aid and CPR. With the help of dolls these young ladies were able to put into practice what was taught during the 5 1/2 hour course. This program was designed to teach the participants how to recognize and respond appropriately to infant and pediatric emergencies such as cardiac arrest, recognize the signals of a breathing emergency, how to care for a child that is chocking, identify the signals of shock, and how to check a conscious person for life-threatening and non-life threatening conditions. This class provided participants with the knowledge and skills needed to know how to give immediate care to a suddenly injured or ill child until more advanced medical personnel arrive and take over. All participants received a certificate of training upon the completion of this class.

Super Bowl is this Sunday, February 3rd!

February 1, 2013 – 11:45 am

Check it out at http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/47/super-bowl-matchup

Your Host Family will probably be watching, even if only for half time featuring Beyonce, and for the exciting new commercials!

There is a simple explanation of American Football for au pairs on the APIA website: http://www.aupairinamerica.com/resources/life_in_the_us/football.asp
Even if football is not something you enjoy, the commercials are amazing! Advertisers pay about $30 million dollars for a 30 second commercial to be shown during the Super Bowl, so expect great commercials! People will be talking about the commercials as much as the game!
Great entertainment during halftime! This year Madonna is the featured act!

Football Fun with Kids

Before putting anything on the walls, ask your host family if it OK!!

Wall Football – Football version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey

Supplies:

· Poster board

· Brown card stock or construction paper

· White marker

· Poster tacks

· Blindfold

Instructions

For the game pieces, first create a goal post from two-inch-wide strips of poster board. (The uprights and the crossbar are each 20 inches long, and the post is 6 inches tall.) We attached ours to the wall using poster tack.
For the footballs, cut 5-inch-long shapes out of brown card stock. We found some in the scrapbook aisle of our craft store that looks like football leather. Use a white opaque paint marker to decorate and add players’ names to the footballs. Put a blob of poster tack on the back of each one.
Players line up about six feet away from the goal. One at a time, each player is blindfolded, spun around three times by another person, and set loose to try to stick their football between the uprights. (No reaching out your empty hand to feel the wall.) Play several rounds with 3 points awarded for each field goal. Highest score wins.