Yearly Archives: 2010

Water Safety Class

On Sunday, March 21, we had a water safety class at Kids First Swim School in Bowie.

We learned some basic rescue tips and information on keeping kids safe around all kinds of water.
Remember:

A child can drown in any amount of water (pool, ocean, bathtub or even a bucket)

You must actively supervise children at all times around water.

Teach children water safety.

When you take a child to a pool with a lifeguard you are still responsible for supervising that child.

I hope everyone has fun in the water with kids this summer!

Passover

When is Passover?

Passover in 2010 will start on Tuesday, the 30th of March and will continue for 7 days until Monday, the 5th of April.

Note that in the Jewish calander, a holiday begins on the sunset of the previous day, so observing Jews will celebrate Passover on the sunset of Monday, the 29th of March.

passover

What is Passover?

Passover is the Jewish celebration lasting seven to eight days (seven in Israel, eight outside of it) that marks the freedom of the Jews from enslavement by the Egyptians. According to the Old Testament, the Jews, led by Moses, had requested freedom from the Pharaoh of Egypt, but were denied. To punish the Egyptians, God sent the 10 plagues to Egypt to convince the Pharaoh to release the Jews. The last of these plagues, and the most devastating, was to kill the firstborn male in each Egyptian household.

Here are some websites, with Passover activity ideas for kids.

Chabad

Kaboose

Torah Tots

Family Fun

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick’s Day is observed on March 17, because that is the feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.  It has become a holiday all around the world, where everyone can share in the fun and be Irish for the day.

happystpats

Fun Ideas with the Kids

St. Patrick’s Day Recipes

  • Rainbow Cupcakes
  • Irish Soda Bread
  • Corned Beef & Cabbage

    • Fun Facts

    • The color green is also commonly associated with Ireland, also known as “the Emerald Isle.”
    • One estimate suggests that there are about 10 000 regular three-leaf clovers for every lucky four-leaf clover.
    • Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.

      Time is Running Out to Register for UCLA Extension Class

      ucla catalog_cover

      The next APIA Advantage UCLA Extension Class is set to start on March 29.  Time is running out to register. There are still spaces available, but you need to act quickly to register.

      American Studies Online is a 19-week media-rich, mostly self-paced online course of study. Designed specifically in cooperation with the American Institute For Foreign Study’s “Au Pair in America” program, UCLA Extension’s course offers successful participants 6 quarter units (4 semester units) and a certificate of completion from UCLA Extension.  This class satisfies the whole education requirement for au pairs and half of the requirement for Educare companions. View the brochure here.

      Participants will read lessons, engage in activities, write, share resources, network with one another, and even collaborate on special projects – all designed to further their understanding of US culture.

      The Community Involvement segment of the program takes the au pairs into face-to-face contact with the community. Au pairs will relate these experiences to their academic coursework in American Studies Online.

      The interdisciplinary course of study will include:
      • US History
      • Arts in the US
      • US literature
      • Career counseling
      • English language study (optional)
      • TOEFL preparation (optional)

      Each group is assigned a “Course Manager” who acts as an “online concierge” to provide high levels of service to ensure a rewarding and trouble-free educational experience.

      For course descriptions and current schedule, visit http://www.uclaextension.edu/aupairs
       For further information call (310) 206-6671 or email online@uclaextension.edu

      Au Pair in America Brings You Olympic News!

      Au Pair in America
      Olympic Update
      from Vancouver!

      “we bring the world together”

      Greetings!

      Au Pair in America brings the world together, so we thought it would be fun to bring the world to you with updates on the Olympic Games in Vancouver. Enjoy!

      Inspiring Performances in Ladies Figure Skating

      Inspiring Performances in Ladies Figure Skating

      Joannie Rochette of Canada skated an inspiring and emotional short program last night, not 48 hours after her mother passing away suddenly of a heart attack. Her score of 71.36, a personal best for the short program, put her in third place going into the ladies long program on Thursday.
      In first place, South Korean Kim Yu-Na, a heavy favorite for gold and a marketing icon in her home country, set a new scoring record for short program, with a 78.50. Mao Asada of Japan is in second, with a score of 73.78, a personal best for her as well.
      Thursday’s long program is definitely a must see!

      Nordic Combined Relay

      Nordic Combined Relay

      In very snowy conditions, Austria won the gold medal in the Nordic combined relay yesterday with a winning time of 49 minutes 31.6 seconds, beating out the US team by 5.2 seconds. Germany took home bronze, 19.5 seconds behind Austria.

      Olympic Giant Slalom

      World Champion Carlo Janka of Switzerland took the gold medal in the men’s giant slalom Tuesday, with a combined two-leg time of 2 minutes 37.83 seconds. Kjetil Jansrud and Aksel Lund Svindal, both of Norway, won silver and bronze.

      Women’s Ski Cross Makes it’s Debut

      Women's Ski Cross Makes it's Debut

      Ashleigh Mclvor of Canada made the hosting country proud by taking home gold in the Olympic debut of women’s skicross on Tuesday. Hedda Bernsten of Norway won silver, while Marion Josserand of France won bronze.

      Medal Count!

      Medal Count!

      The top five countries are as follows:

      US: 7 Gold, 9 Silver, 10 Bronze, Total: 26

      Germany: 7 Gold, 9 Silver, 7 Bronze, Total: 23

      Norway: 6 Gold, 5 Silver, 6 Bronze, Total: 17

      Russia: 3 Gold, 4 Silver, 6 Bronze, Total: 13

      Canada: 6 Gold, 4 Silver, 1 Bronze, Total: 11

      For a complete Medal Count list, click here

      Free Pancakes at IHOP February 23

      IHOP (International House of Pancakes) is giving away free short stacks of pancakes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010.  The pancake giveaway is part of their efforts to promote National Pancake Day.   Details can be found here.

      http://blogs.southtownstar.com/money/ihop-free-pancake-day-2009.jpg

      IHOP asks you to consider donating a few dollars to the Children’s Miracle Network to support sick kids.  Sounds like a win-win situation to me!

      Activity Kit Info & Links – February/March

      As promised at last night’s meeting, I am posting some photos and links that will assist you in doing a few of the projects I have given you.

      Newspaper Seedling Cups

      Click on the photo below to go to a web page with step by step photos and directions for the seedling cup I showed you at the meeting.   If you have older kids and are looking for something more to do with them, there are lots of videos on YouTube of how to make these using all kinds of different techniques including some origami folds.

      Newspaper Seedling Pot

      Newspaper Seedling Pot

      Butterfly Craft

      Click on the photo below to go to a web page with complete project instructions.

      Butterfly Craft Project (click on the photo to go to a web page with complete instructions)

      Butterfly Craft Project

      Shamrock Decoration

      Below is a picture of what the completed shamrock project might look like.  They can be decorated using paint, markers, crayons, glitter glue and stickers.

      shamrock

      Shamrock Decorations

      I hope you will use these ideas as a starting point to come up with lots of other fun projects and activities to do with the kids.