Rockledge Elementary had their Annual Holiday Shop on Friday, 12/6. Au Pair in America sponsored the arts & crafts activities: providing the craft supplies as well as some volunteers to assist the children. Four au pairs volunteered: Joanne from Colombia, Pamela from Brazil Ana from Costa Rica and Yuli from Mexico. In addition to being an au pair, Yuli is a professional photographer and she volunteered to take the pictures of the children with Santa.
Tag Archives: Maryland
Stopping for School Buses
With some schools back in session and many new au pairs who have recently arrived, I wanted to remind everyone about what to do in different situations with school buses. If you have questions, please ask myself or your host parents.
The rules regarding stopping for school buses are:
- It is against the law to pass a stopped school bus while its lights are flashing and its’ stop arm is extended.
- On undivided roadways, with no physical barrier or median, vehicles must stop on both sides of the roadway.
- Yellow flashing lights indicate that the bus is preparing to load or unload children. Motorists should slow down and prepare to stop their vehicles.
- Red flashing lights and extended stop arms indicate that the bus has stopped, and children are getting on or off. Motorists approaching from either direction must wait until the red lights stop flashing before proceeding.
Police, who observe a motorist failing to stop and remained stopped for a school bus, can issue the violator a citation which carries a $570.00 fine and 3 points. Drivers failing to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk can be issued a citation for $80.00, and drivers failing to exercise due caution when encountering children can be issued a citation for $70.00.
June is Zoo & Aquarium Month
Visit your local zoo or aquarium or set up a pretend zoo with play animals and blocks. Invite the host parents to visit your pretend zoo. Read One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish or If I Ran the Zoo, both by Dr. Seuss. Encourage the children to make up their own animals and draw them. Think of all the animal sounds you can and play a game guessing what animal you are. You may find that the same animal says one thing in America and something quite different in your own country!
Here are links to our local zoo & aquariums.
National Zoo – Washington, DC
National Aquarium – Washington, DC
Maryland Zoo – Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore Aquarium – Maryland
Photo: Joseph Bylund
Kids Bowl Free Summer Program
Click here to register
From the AMF website:
KIDS Bowl for Zip, Zero, Zilch!
This summer, your children 15 and under can bowl for free at your local AMF. Sound too good to be true? It’s not! Just register your children for two free games per child per day all summer long. Children love bowling; it’s fun, active, social and local and – best of all – it’s FREE! That’s how AMF does summer!
Free bowling is available until 8 pm daily. AMF Summer is going on now through September 2.
Note: Bowling shoe rentals are not included.
Six Flags for Summer Fun
We are lucky to have Six Flags America amusement park in our cluster area. Since lots of au pairs have expressed interest in going there, I wanted to share some tips on how to get the best deal on admission.
Prices and offers are subject to change. This info is correct as of 4/23/13. Check website for specifics.
Admission
Six Flags has Season Passes for $49.99+tax per person, if you buy them in packs of 4. If you can get together with some friends to take advantage of this deal. If you buy less than 4 season passes, they are $59.99+tax per person.
Single-day Admission to Six Flags is $39.99-59.99, depending on whether you buy them online or at the gate. So, it is a much better deal to get the season pass.
If you decide not to get a season pass, you should buy your Single-day Online Ticket in advance to $15-20 off the price you would pay at the gate.
Season pass and other tickets may be purchased here on the Six Flags website.
Other costs to consider
Parking – Single Day ($20) or Season Pass ($50)
Food & Drinks – Meals are approx $15
You are not allowed to bring outside food and drinks inside. To save money you can pack a lunch and keep it in the car. There is a picnic area in the parking lot where you can go out and eat lunch and then re-enter the park. Make sure to get your hand stamped on the way out in order to be able to re-enter the park that day.
Discount Tickets for Other Amusement Parks
MNCPPC offers discount admission tickets to Six Flags, Kings Dominion, Hershey Park and several other amusement parks in neighboring states. Those are available at community centers in Prince George’s County. Check the PG Parks website for details.
Our Cluster Harlem Shake Video
After our laser tag cluster meeting in February, we decided to make our own Harlem Shake video.
Thank you to The Castle Laser Tag for providing a great location for our video.
Holiday Lights Displays in the Maryland/DC Area
Here is a list from About.com of local places with beautiful Christmas light displays:
ZooLights at the National Zoo
Rock Creek Park. Washington, DC. November 23-December 9, Friday, Saturday and Sunday only. Open nightly December 14–January 1 (except Dec. 24, 25 and 31). The National Zoo presents a seasonal display of thousands of sparkling animated lights, winter-themed crafts, ice sculpting demonstrations, choral groups, and storytellers. See Photos of ZooLights
Festival of Lights at the Mormon Temple
9900 Stoneybrook Dr., Kensington, Maryland. (301) 587-0144. November 30, 2012 – January 1, 2013. Dusk to 10 p.m. nightly. Nativity scene is open each evening from 6 to 9 p.m. Live musical performances begin at 7 and 8 p.m. See Photos of the Mormon Temple Festival of Lights
Winter Festival of Lights at Watkins Regional Park
301 Watkins Park Drive, Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Friday, November 23, 2012 through Tuesday, January 1, 2013. HOURS: 5-9:30 p.m. daily. $5 per car; $10 for multi-visit passes for cars and vans (good for three visits). The festival is FREE on December 25. You may bring canned food items to donate to local food banks for the holidays. Winter Festival of Lights is Prince George’s County, Maryland’s spectacular drive-through Christmas light display featuring more than a million twinkling lights. See Photos of Winter Festival of Lights at Watkins Regional Park
Symphony of Lights in Columbia
Symphony Woods, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland. (410) 740-7840. November 19, 2012 – January 6, 2013. Hours: Open 7 days a week from 6-10 p.m., including holidays except CLOSED December 31st for the Midnight at 7 event. $20 per car. Symphony of Lights is a spectacular drive-through display of more than 75 animated and stationary holiday lights. All proceeds from the Symphony of Lights benefit the services of Howard County General Hospital. See Photos of the Columbia Symphony of Lights
Lights on the Bay at Sandy Point State Park
Route 50, Annapolis, Maryland. (410) 481-3161. November 19, 2012 through January 1, 2013, 5-10 p.m., 5-10 p.m. An annual scenic drive through holiday lights show sponsored by the Anne Arundel Medical Center. Drive along the shore of the Chesapeake Bay and see more than 60 animated and stationary displays illuminating the roadway. $14 per car. See Photos of Lights on the Bay
Great Day at the Bowie International Festival
I want to thank the au pairs who gave their time on Saturday, October 5 to provide children’s activities at the Bowie International Festival. Here are some photos.
Maryland’s Child Passenger Safety Law
Maryland’s Child Passenger Safety Law
(Effective October 1, 2012)
• Every child under 8 years old must ride in an appropriate child restraint* unless the child is 4 feet, 9 inches or taller.
• Every child from 8 to 16 years old who is not secured in a child restraint must be secured in a vehicle seat belt.
Protect your children as they ride!
Children under 13 years old should ride in the back seat. The back seat is the safest.
Back to School Tips
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 (if applicable):
- 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
- Add the au pair to your list of people allowed to pick up the kids from school
- 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. (Kids in Care Log Books are available upon request from APIA)
At our August Coffee Meeting, I gave out Back to School Kits which included Printable Fill-in-the-Blank School Notes for parents. You may print these out and use them for times when the kids are absent, late, have early dismissal or you need to give permission for something.
If the au pair will be the one going through the children’s back pack and helping with homework, I suggest you designate an area for putting things that need to be read and/or signed by parents.
Reminder: It is illegal in the State of Maryland for a child under the age of 8 to be left alone in the home or car. Please make sure that your drop off routine does not include leaving children under 8 at home or in the car while dropping off another child. Even if a host parent gives permission to do this, it is not allowed, because it is against the law.