Category Archives: Blog

Yom Kippur

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 this evening and ends on Wednesday evening.  Please pass along a little information to your au pairs who are with Jewish families, it’s nice for them to know that this is such an important holiday.

Here are a couple of links with more information:

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/yom-kippur

http://judaism.about.com/od/holidays/a/yomkippur.htm

and for children http://www.akhlah.com/holidays/yomkippur/yomkippur.php

Ways of enjoying fruit and vegetables

Posted by Joan Cleary on Sep 15, 2012 No Comments

September is Good Health Month – Here are 20 ways to enjoy more fruits, veggies , whole grains and dairy.   Set the example for your host kids!  nutrition2

To get the most nutrition out of your calories, choose foods packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber and other nutrients—and lower in calories. Pick fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fat-free or low-fat dairy more often. Be aware of portion sizes. Even low-calorie foods can add up when portions are larger than you need.

1. Variety abounds when using vegetables as pizza topping. Try broccoli, spinach, green peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms and zucchini.

2. Get saucy with fruit: Puree berries, apples, peaches or pears for a thick, sweet sauce on grilled or broiled seafood or poultry, or on pancakes, French toast or waffles.

3. Mix up a breakfast smoothie made with low-fat milk, frozen strawberries and a banana.

4. Heat leftover whole-grain rice with chopped apple, nuts and cinnamon.

5. Make a veggie wrap with roasted vegetables and low-fat cheese rolled in a whole-wheat tortilla.

6. Try crunchy vegetables instead of chips with your favorite dip or low-fat salad dressing.

7. Grill colorful vegetable kabobs packed with tomatoes, green and red peppers, mushrooms and onions.

8. Banana split: Top a sliced banana with a scoop of low-fat frozen yogurt. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of chopped nuts.

9. Add color to salads with baby carrots, grape tomatoes, spinach leaves or mandarin oranges.

10. Prepare instant oatmeal with low-fat or fat-free milk in place of water. Top with dried cranberries and almonds.

11. Stuff an omelet with vegetables. Turn any omelet into a hearty meal with broccoli, squash, carrots, peppers, tomatoes or onions with low-fat sharp cheddar cheese.

12. “Sandwich” in fruits and vegetables. Add pizzazz to sandwiches with sliced pineapple, apple, peppers, cucumbers and tomato as fillings.

13. Wake up to fruit. Make a habit of adding fruit to your morning oatmeal, ready-to-eat cereal, yogurt or toaster waffle.

14. Stock up: Fill your fridge with raw vegetables and fruits —“nature’s fast food”—cleaned, fresh and ready to eat.

15. Top a baked potato with beans and salsa or broccoli and low-fat cheese.

16. Microwave a cup of tomato or vegetable soup for a quick afternoon snack.

17. “Grate” complement: Add grated, shredded or chopped vegetables such as zucchini, spinach and carrots to lasagna, meat loaf, mashed potatoes, pasta sauce and rice dishes.

18. Stuff a whole grain pita with ricotta cheese and Granny Smith apple slices. Add a dash of cinnamon.

19. Make your main dish a salad of dark, leafy greens and other colorful vegetables. Add chickpeas or edamame (fresh soybeans). Top with a low-fat dress

Happy New Year

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Rosh Hashanah is a Jewish Holiday commonly referred to as the Jewish New Year.  It is observed on the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. Rosh Hashanah is the first of the high Holidays specifically set aside to focus on repentance that concludes with the holiday of Yom Kippur.  Rosh Hashanah is the start of the civil year in the Hebrew calendar.  It is the New Year for people, animals, and legal contracts. Jewish people believe Rosh Hashanah represents either analogically or literally the creation of the World, or Universe.

On Rosh Hashanah, Jewish people all over the world gather in synagogues to celebrate the day.  The holiday is celebrated with sweet foods, like apples dipped in honey and honey cake and round Challot made with honey and raisins as a wish for a sweet year.

Here is a link to children’s games and activities to celebrate the holiday.  It includes information, art projects, crafts, stories and recipes:

http://www.chabad.org/kids/article_cdo/aid/354744/jewish/Rosh-Hashanah.htm

Rosh Hashanah will is celebrated for two days, Monday September 17th and Tuesday September 18th.  The two day holiday will begin at sundown on Sunday evening.  We wish all of our Jewish counselors, staff, host families, au pairs, and friends a very Happy Holiday.

Back To School

Most of the school aged kids in our cluster are either back in school or will be returning soon.  This will mean changes to the au pair schedule and possibly to the duties.  It is very important to communicate these changes to avoid problems.

I suggest you discuss the following with your host family

  • Au pair’s work schedule
  • The children’s school and activity schedules
  • Where the children get dropped off and picked up and who will be doing this
  • What to do if a child is staying home sick, late to school, does not get off the bus (if they are supposed to)
  • How to tell if school has been cancelled or delayed for bad weather
  • What to pack for lunch
  • The routine after school (do they have free time before starting homework, what to give for snack, any chores, where do they put their backpacks & lunchboxes)
  • How to communicate about what’s going on at school.

Back to school with crayons

Labor Day

LABOR DAY HISTORY AND ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN

A New York City carpenter named Peter McGuire is credited for coming up the idea for Labor Day. In 1872, after working many long hours under poor conditions, McGuire rallied 100,000 workers to go on strike. The workers marched through the streets of New York City, demanding a better work environment.  McGuire spent a decade fighting for worker’s rights. In 1882, he proposed the idea to create a special holiday for workers. On Tuesday, September 5, 1882, more than 10,000 workers hit the streets of New York City for the first ever Labor Day parade. Two years later the celebration was moved to the first Monday in September. And in 1894, Congress passed a law making Labor Day a national holiday. Au pairs and host families can find labor day activities includes crafts, word searches and coloring pages here http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/labor-day/ 

Labor Day Comments

Presentation at Whole Foods Market (Friendship Heights, MD) about healthy eating

 Sally Lukash, Healthy Eating Specialist, at Whole Foods Market in Friendship Heights met with 27 au pairs. She took them around the store,  talked about healthy eating, prepared samples of healthy snacks for children.  Au pairs received recipes, tried fruit smoothies and had a great time. Hopefully, we will have another meeting there again.

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Facebook, Internet, Twitter

fb twitter youtubeJust a reminder about how important it is to respect your host family’s privacy and not share personal details and information.  This applies to all kinds of situations, including: personal conversations, email and social websites.

For your own safety, it is a good idea to be careful what personal information you share about yourself as well. You should not be giving out information like your telephone number and address to people you don’t know.

Once you post something on the internet (even if you later delete it), it can show up elsewhere.  Unless you have specific permission from the host family, you should not post pictures of them, their children or their home on the internet.

If you have a blog or website where you post in your native language, remember there is translation software.  So, even if you say it in your native language, be sure it is not something you will regret.

Holidays and Vacations

With Memorial Day just passed and Fourth of July coming soon, I wanted to remind everyone about program rules on holidays and vacations.

Holidays

  • Host families are NOT REQUIRED to give au pairs any specific holidays.
  • Each host family will make different arrangements on holidays, some au pairs will be off and others will be required to work.
  • Au pairs should NOT make plans for holidays without checking with your host family FIRST.

luggage maliasVacation

  • Au pair earns 2 weeks of paid vacation during the course of her year.
  • The host family can pick a week and the au pair can pick a week, if an agreement is not reached.
  • All vacation should be preplanned (at least 4 weeks in advance.)
  • All au pair’s friends and/or family visits/vacations should be pre-approved prior to purchasing a ticket.
  • If an au pair travels with their host family, it should be discussed UP FRONT whether this is the au pair’s vacation or if she is working.
  • If an au pair travels with the host family to work, the host family is required to pay for her transportation, lodging and meals.

Important: An au pair MUST have her DS2019 signed PRIOR to her departure from the US. More info. about this can be found on the right side of this page under “Travel Links for Au Pairs.”