Westport Au Pair In America Host Families and Au Pairs gathered together at Compo Beach Sunday September 20th to meet each other, make some new friends and learn from one another. It was a great way to end the summer and begin the new school year!
Category Archives: Host Family Tips
Thanksgiving Activities
Visit the following web sites for fun Thanksgiving activities to do with your host children. Click here to find crafts, coloring sheets, spelling worksheets, math puzzles, nametags and more.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/thanksgiving/
http://www.parenting.com/gallery/thanksgiving-crafts-ideas
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikespohr/23-clever-crafts-to-keep-the-kids-busy-on-thanksgiving
Au Pair Award Nominations
I am excited to announce the opening of the 2014 IAPA Au Pair of the Year award! The International Au Pair Association (IAPA) hosts this award every year as a way to celebrate au pairs around the world and enhance the public’s awareness of this enriching cultural exchange opportunity. We know there are amazing young women in our cluster who are deserving of the title “Au Pair of the Year”. Host families should visit http://aupairinamerica.com/aupairoftheyear/2013.asp. for more information.
Submitting a nomination is easy- host families simply must email their nomination essay to aupairoftheyear@aifs.com no later than Friday, January 10th. Photos and videos are welcome in addition to the essay. Go Westport!
November Calendar
November 3 – Daylight Savings Time Ends-In most parts of the country you’ll get an extra hour of sleep – set your clock back one hour.
November 5 – Election Day – Schools are closed in Westport. Looking for something to do with your host children? Take them on a hike at Lake Mohegan in Fairfield or Earthplace, the Westport Nature Center. If it is raining, try the Westport Library or YMCA. Ever been to My Three Sons in Norwalk? It is a video arcade, with bounce house and laser tag. Do you have older children? Take them to the Museum of Natural History in NYC or the Yale Art Museum in New Haven. Chanukah comes early this year. It is the same day as Thanksgiving so today might be a good day to get the kids to decorate the house for Chanukah or make Chanukah cards for their relatives and friends.
November 11 – Veteran’s Day
A day to honor American veterans of all wars, Veterans Day is a federal holiday
November 28 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.
November 29– 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 people 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 this unique day!
Fun Things to do with your Host Children:
Dinosaurs are fascinating but no more so than to preschool and young school age children. Check your local library for fact and fantasy about these prehistoric creatures. Take out some dinosaur books or videos. Westport Library will loan them for free.
Collecting stamps is a fun and easy introduction to geography, history, art and nature. Help your children start a stamp collection by sharing stamps from your letters from home. Ask your au pair friends for stamps from their countries.
Make a Pizza – Pizza is easy and fun to make and can be a nutritious meal for the children. Buy a ready-made crust, shredded mozzarella cheese and a jar of pizza sauce. The crust goes on a cookie sheet, then spread the sauce and sprinkle the cheese. Bake as directed for the crust.
Healthy Eating…Summer is Almost Here!
Healthy eating–Start slow and make changes to your eating habits over time. Trying to make your diet healthy overnight isn’t realistic or smart. Changing everything at once usually leads to cheating or giving up on your new eating plan. Make small steps, like adding a fruit or vegetable to your diet every day. As your small changes become habit, you can continue to add more healthy choices to your diet.
Children should eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Many children prefer the crunch of raw food – especially popular are apples, pears, carrots, broccoli, celery and cucumbers. Use your imagination to serve cut up vegetables in an interesting way– for example, make a figure with carrot stick arms and legs, a celery body and a round of cucumber for a head.
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June 6 – National Applesauce Cake Day
Here’s a recipe for a healthy and delicious snack to make with the children
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 cup flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups applesauce
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries
Mix first sugar and shortening, then add flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Mix in applesauce and raisins/cranberries. Place in a greased and floured 9 x 13 inch baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
June 2013 Calendar
June 13-16: Welcome summer with the Yankee Doodle Fair. Great fun rides and amusements at the Westport Young Women’s League on Imperial Avenue
June 14 – Flag Day : Flying the American flag is more popular than ever. It is a symbol of the country’s values and traditions. Its 13 red and white stripes represent the original colonies and the 50 stars stand for the states. You can find a print out of the American flag and flags of many other countries in the Kids Culture Corner http://aupairinamerica.com/resources/kids/culture_corner/
June 16 – Father’s Day To honor the father in your family, work together to make a special picture or homemade gift.
June 21- First day of summer! Long hot days make for children who need some quiet time. Relax and unwind at the end of the day with some summertime reading.
June 23: Opening day of the Levitt Pavilion – a summer of free outdoor entertainment. Visit www.levittpavilion.com for their calendar of top quality nightly entertainment under the stars
Challenged to Get Children to do Chores?
Ask your host parents how much time they think it should take your host kids to complete a certain task that you and your host kids struggle with. Then set the timer and have a race against the clock to get things done before the timer beeps. There is no reward, just a high five and a challenge to do it faster the next day. This makes it fun and exciting! Once the behavior has changed and the struggle is over, you will not need the timer as the expectation has been set and met.
Use a timer for things like
- getting dressed
- room cleaning–set the timer for five or ten minutes and challenge your host kids to clean as much of the toy room as possible before the timer beeps
- playtime before doing homework or chores
Having a hard time getting your host child to improve his behavior?
Childcare focus– Charts – Stickers or stars are put on a piece of paper to show behavioral improvements. This is called a behavior chart. It works well with chronic problems –such as completing chores and homework or for starting routines. Once a goal of quantity of stickers has been achieved, a reward is given. The reward should not be food or toys; it should be more time doing a favorite activity, such as going to the park. You should only focus on improving one behavior using the chart method at a time. It takes a lot of work and consistency to maintain an effective chart, so if you don’t know enough about charting, research it before you start.
February Calendar:
February 2 – Ground Hog Day
Traditionally, the groundhog is supposed to wake up on February 2, and come up out of his burrow. If he sees his shadow, he will return to the burrow for six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow, he remains outside and starts his year, because he knows that spring has arrived early. In the U.S., the “official” groundhog is kept in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and is called “Phil.” Though not based in science, it is a fun US tradition. The movie, starring Bill Murray is hilarious! https://blogs.aupairinamerica.com/mdf/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2012/02/groundhog-300×214.jpg
February 3- Super Bowl Sunday! The Super Bowl is the annual American Football championship and a popular time for friends to gather in front of the TV. Each year millions of people watch the game, the half-time show – or just the commercials! People will be talking about the commercials for days. To learn more about football visit the “Life in the US” section of the Au Pair in America website http://aupairinamerica.com/resources/life_in_the_us/football.asp
February 12-Mardi Gras Mardi Gras, French for “Fat Tuesday” marks the end of Carnival and the beginning of the Christian fasting of Lent. The biggest Mardi Gras celebration in the US is in New Orleans, Louisiana. Rio de Janeiro in Brazil also has a huge celebration. Ask a Brazilian au pair to tell you all about it.
February 13 Ash Wednesday – Ash Wednesday, in Christian churches, is the first day of the penitential season of Lent. On Ash Wednesday some Christians have a smudge of ashes placed on their foreheads as a sign of penitence.
February 14 – Valentine’s Day is a time of love, friendship, giving, and caring. Americans use Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to tell friends and family how much they care. Children usually exchange cards at school. Have your host children make them; it is a wonderful craft activity to do with them.
February –18 President’s Day. School is probably closed all week for February recess and President’s Day, which is a Federal holiday created to commemorate the births of former Presidents George Washington (Feb. 22) and Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12). Throughout America, Presidents’ Day is observed by big sales in the stores, closed schools and no mail delivery. Things to do with children: The United States has had more than 40 presidents. How many can the children name? Who has been president during their lifetime? Take a look at American coins and bills; who are the Presidents pictured on each coin and bill?
February 23 Purim –The Festival of Purim is one of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish calendar. There are four commandments for Purim: the reading of the story of Esther, festivity and rejoicing, sending gifts (usually food), and giving to the poor. It is customary to dress in costume for the celebration. (Note: all Jewish holidays begin at sundown and end the following day at sundown.)