For all math lovers and non math lovers. Check out this incredible new math museum in NYC called Mo Math:
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news%2Flifestyle&id=8919349
For all math lovers and non math lovers. Check out this incredible new math museum in NYC called Mo Math:
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news%2Flifestyle&id=8919349
This year we celebrated with our Boston cluster together the upcoming Holidays at our December cluster meeting at the counselors home.
We enjoyed a potluck dinner where each aupair brought a prepared home made dish of their home country to share with us. This was a very special international buffet and we all had a blast to try so many delicious dishes and desserts.
To experience a typical American tradition we did a gift exchange : Yankee swap
For our agenda of the meeting we had “Help Children Cope with Stress: Tips for the Holiday Season” and “Ideas for Christmas and Chanukah Activities with Kids”.
All pictures to view are at Holiday Party 2012 .
We had a wonderful evening together at Franzi’s hostparents home in Chestnut Hill. Franzi is from Germany and an Extraordinaire aupair with a special qualification for childcare. She loves the program very much and takes care of two children in schoolage and a baby. Below you see her with the middle child.
A very big thank you goes to the host family of Franzi who offered to host our Nov clustermeeting at their house. Over 30 aupair attended and the cluster created a thank you tree with leaves on branches for the hostfamily.
Check it out:
Things to do in Boston at Thanksgiving weekend.
Maple-Nut-Berry Popcorn Balls ( for children ages 3 and older): Add some chopped walnuts and raspberries, blueberries or blackberries. Add enough melted butter to lightly coat popcorn. Stir. Pour maple syrup over the warm popcorn and stir until all the corn, nuts and berries are covered. Shape the sticky corn into balls and place on a plate to refrigerate until the syrup hardens.
Thanksgiving cards and place cards: Fold a piece of paper in half, place a leaf on the inside and close the card. Use a crayon to rub lightly across the front of the card in the area where the leaf is. The shape of the leaf will appear on the outside. Remove the leaf. Write a name on the front for a place card, or a message inside for a Thanksgiving card. Older children might want to make more sophisticated designs using more than one leaf.
Make a chain of paper doll (adults should do the cutting): Fold a piece of paper back and forth over and over again with a width between folds of 2-3 inches. With the paper folded cut out a shape of a person, make sure that the hands and feet touch the fold, but don’t cut through the fold. When you unfold the paper there will be a line of people holding hands. Children ages 3-10 can color the figures to look like Pilgrims(men wore big white collars, belts with buckles, and buckles on their shoes, pants to their knees; women wore white hats and aprons over solid color dresses) or Native Americans (draw feather headdresses and brightly colored geometric patterns on their clothes).
Tree of Thanks: This Thanksgiving tree is bound to become a new holiday tradition.
Trace leaves onto autumn colored craft’s paper and cut out. Punch a hole into the stem of each paper leaf. Measure and cut a 2” length of wire or twine for each leaf. Thread it through the hole and bend the ends to make a hook for hanging. Place the tree branches in a pot or vase. Let the children or/and guests choose a leaf or two and ask them to jot down things that they are thankful for.
Our aupairs had the opportunity to watch a college football game this Saturday: Harvard vs. Columbia. They had a blast and the weather couldn’t be more perfect this weekend.
More pics are here: Harvard football game 2012
We offer our aupairs optional regional events every month for the greater Boston area to have the opportunity to experience traditional events for our New England area. Despite this we also meet in our cluster ones a month to share experiences and share news and discuss childcare topics.
For our October cluster meeting we enjoyed a free Zumba class at the Healthwork gym in Chestnut Hill. Liza Elmstrom a former aupair from Sweden some years ago who is now a fitness trainer at the Healthwork gym introduced our cluster group to a fun class with great music.
A wonderful way to get connected and have fun together. We welcomed our new aupair Corina from Croatia who just arrived to our Boston cluster in October.
For more pictures go to: Zumba at Healthwork
Halloween can be a lot of fun but it is also a time when safety should come first. Here are some tips we recommend so that everyone can enjoy this time and be safe. With the holiday season fast approaching is a good idea to talk to each other ahead of time about American traditions.
And, you might also suggest the houses they visit have some sort of Halloween decoration on the porch.
Yom Kippur also known as the Day of Atonement is the most solemn and important of the Jewish holidays. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jewish people traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services.
Yom Kippur is considered one of the holiest of Jewish holidays and it is observed by many secular Jews who may not observe other holidays. Many secular Jews fast and attend synagogue on Yom Kippur, where the number of worshippers attending is often double or triple the normal attendance.
This year Yom Kippur begins at sundown Sept 25 and ends on Wednesday evening.
Wishing all of our Jewish host families, au pairs and friends a peaceful Yom Kippur
Last Saturday, eight Boston area au pair clusters met at Carver Hill Orchard in Stow, MA for our annual host family/au pair picnic. Host families and au pairs enjoyed apple cider and cider donuts provided by the counselors and the kids participated in fall themed art projects. Families and au pairs also went apple picking and enjoyed a hayride through the orchard.
As per State Department regulation, as an au pair agency, we need to offer our host families an informational host family workshop each year during which host families can also meet each other and get to know the cluster better.
We always like to offer this apple picking venue since it offers the cultural experience that is so much part of our au pair program. Host families had a choice of informational handouts relating to the host family – au pair relationship and cultural differences.
To see all pictures please go to: Apple Picking 2012