Monthly Archives: October 2012

November 2012 Calendar

November 2 – Day of the Dead / el día de los muertos– This is a Mexican holiday marked by celebrations, special foods, reunions and visits to cemeteries.   It is also known as All Soul’s Day. https://blogs.aupairinamerica.com/cha/wp-content/uploads/sites/67/2012/10/candyskull.jpg

November 4 – Daylight Savings Time Ends-In most parts of the country you’ll get an extra hour of sleep – set your clock back one hour. https://blogs.aupairinamerica.com/cha/wp-content/uploads/sites/67/2012/02/Deadline-Clock-300×1981.jpg

November 6 – Election Day https://blogs.aupairinamerica.com/cha/wp-content/uploads/sites/67/2012/06/abraham-lincoln.jpg

November 11 – Veteran’s Day A day to honor American veterans of all wars. Veterans Day is a federal holiday.

November 22 Thanksgiving – Thanksgiving dates back to the first European settlers in North America. After hardship, illness and hard work the Pilgrims celebrated a successful harvest that they shared with their Native American friends. This national holiday is a day to feast and give thanks. https://blogs.aupairinamerica.com/cha/wp-content/uploads/sites/67/2012/06/thanksgiving-turkey1.jpg

November 23– Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving and is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many employees have the day off, which increases the number of potential shoppers. Merchants and the media use the term Black Friday to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers are in the black i.e., turning a profit for the year.  Sales are everywhere–set your alarm and hit the stores before the sun comes up to get an authentic experience of this unique day! https://blogs.aupairinamerica.com/cha/wp-content/uploads/sites/67/2012/06/money-clipart1.gif

Child Focus

Homework – Now that the school year is well under way, your host children may have more homework than before.  Tips to help everyone get homework done can be found here http://aupairinamerica.com/resources/activities/homework_support.asp

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Driving – Keeping children happy in the car can be challenging. One helpful approach is to engage them in car games in the safety of their car seat or seat belt.

I Spy:  Very young children can play”” I Spy with my little eye”” and they say the color of the thing they are looking at and everyone else in the car needs to guess what it is.  For example, “”I spy my with my little eye something red”” and people guess that the child is looking at a red car or red mailbox.

Alphabet Game- ages 3 and up – Children who can identify letters and can easily see out the window of the car can play this game. One child starts with A and has to find a word on a sign visible from the car with the letter A. The next child has to identify the B, and so on.  Older children can play the Geography Game.  One person starts by saying aloud a country, city or state and the next person must take the last letter to begin his country, city or state.  For example: 1st person says New York and the next person can say Kansas and the next person can say Seattle.

Fun Things to Do Next Weekend:

Saturday October 27 at 8 p.m.  Haunted Hayride in Shelton.  Join other au pairs for an evening at the Fairview Tree Farm where ghosts, goblins and other Halloween frights await you in the woods .  www.fairviewtreefarm.com

Sunday October 28:  Westport Playhouse will be hosting Community Day.  Purchase tickets for the play Raisin in the Sun for $15. Phone: 203-227-4177 www.westportplayhouse.org

Monday October 29:  Have your little ones dress up in their Halloween costumes, meet in front of the YMCA at 3 p.m. and have them join the parade down Main Street.  The parade will end at Town Hall, where there will be music and refreshments .  If it rains, just go to Town Hall for an afternoon of Halloween fun.

October Calendar

October 8- Columbus Day – Today commemorates the landing of Christopher Columbus in the “New World.”

October 24 – Game One of the Baseball World Series – In baseball the World Series is the championship games of Major League Baseball in North America, played in October after the end of the regular season between the pennant winners of the American and  National Leagues. The Series winner is determined through a best-of-seven playoff, meaning that the first team to win four games wins the series. The World Series has been an annual event since 1903.  It is played at the baseball stadiums of the two teams in the series.  Baseball is so popular that it is sometimes called the “national pastime.” The word “ballgame” in the United States almost always refers to a game of baseball, and “ballpark” to a baseball field.  The rules of baseball can be found here http://aupairinamerica.com/resources/life_in_the_us/baseball.asp

October 24 – United Nations Day – This is the anniversary of the creation of the United Nations in 1947, committed peace and development, based on the principles of justice, human dignity and the well-being of all people. Teach your children something about your country today – a song, a story, game, a new food or a national tradition.

October 31-Halloween This is the day children dress up in costumes and, in many communities, go door-to-door to ask for candy. Safety on Halloween is extremely important – don’t take our eyes off the children and don’t let them eat unwrapped candy.