Tag Archives: au pairs

DECEMBER HOLIDAYS


Hanukkah (December 6 at sundown to December 14) ,Christmas (December 25) and Kwanza (December 26 TO January 1) are the major Holidays this month!

These holidays are a time of celebrating,giving and sharing. Our Arlington/Falls Church cluster is going to celebrate these holidays by attending a performance of the Nutcracker at the Warner Theatre and sharing some  Holiday Cheers at their community counselor’s home .

If you are looking to get into the holiday spirit,here are some crafts ideas,no matter what holiday you celebrate,but you can find more under seasonal crafts or under the seasonal calendar on the au pair resources site.

Pencil Can Gift For Mom Or Dad. Wash out a soup can or a juice can. Children can decorate can with paint, glue and noodles, buttons, yarn, etc. Let dry and wrap as a gift.

Make Wrapping Paper: Need plain brown wrapping paper or white tissue paper, paint, pan, and cookie cutters, apples or potatoes. Pour paint into pan. Dip cookie cutter shapes (or apples cut in half, or potatoes cut in half with a design cut into them) into paint and make prints on the paper.

Traditions: Tell the children how you celebrate special holidays in your country.

Holiday Cards: Need construction paper, markers, stickers, glitter, crayons, paint. Fold construction paper in half to create a card. Decorate. Help children write a message inside.

Chanukah

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Chanukah (also spelled Hanukkah), a Jewish holiday, is known as the Festival of Lights. It is a celebration of religious freedom based on historical events that occurred more than 2100 years ago. It commemorates rebellion against oppression, the first serious attempt in history for a nation to accept religious and cultural diversity.

Chanukah is celebrated for 8 days during the winter with the lighting of candles in a special lamp called a menorah or hanukiah. It is also traditional to exchange gifts or gelt (Yiddish for money), in the form of real coins or chocolate wrapped in gold foil, and to play a game of put-and-take with a four-sided top called a dreidel. The Hebrew letters on the sides of the top stand for words which mean a great miracle happened there.

The traditional legend of the miracle of Chanukah is that a single day’s supply of oil burned for eight days in the Temple in Jerusalem. Because of this Jews eat foods fried in oil on Chanukah, most often fried potato pancakes, known at latkes, and doughnuts, called sufganiyot in Hebrew.

As the essence of Chanukah is about the acceptance of cultural diversity, it is particularly appropriate for au pairs to join in the celebration. Helping children make simple gifts for each other and for their parents, or making Chanukah decorations for the house can add to everyone’s enjoyment of the holiday.

Christmas :

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Christmas or Christmas Day is a holiday observed generally on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity. The date is not known to be the actual birthday of Jesus, and may have initially been chosen to correspond with either the day exactly nine months after some early Christians believed Jesus had been conceived, the date of the winter solstice on the ancient Roman calendar, or one of various ancient winter festivals. Christmas is central to the Christmas and holiday season, and in Christianity marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days.

Although nominally a Christian holiday, Christmas is also widely celebrated by many non-Christians, and many of its popular celebratory customs have pre-Christian or secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, music, an exchange of greeting cards, church celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various decorations; including Christmas trees, lights, garlands, mistletoe, nativity scenes, and holly. In addition, several similar mythological figures, known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas and Santa Claus among other names, are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season.

Kwanzaa:images


Kwanzaa, or “First Fruits of the Harvest,” is an African-American and Pan-African holiday which celebrates and strengthens community, family and culture over a period of seven days. Kwanzaa begins December 26th. Each day, a principle of Kwanzaa is celebrated.

In order to appropriately cite these principles, the officialkwanzaawebsite.org describes these 7 Kwanzaa Principles, authored by Maulana Karenga, in this way:

Umoja or Unity: To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.

Kujichagulia or Self-Determination: To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.

Ujima or Collective Work and Responsibility: To build and maintain our community together and make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to solve them together.

Ujamaa or Cooperative Economics: To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.

Nia or Purpose: To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Kuumba or Creativity: To do always as much as we can, in any way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

Imani or Faith: To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness will victory of our struggle.

Note that the 7 Principles incorporate the words first in Swahili and then English.

DRIVING TIPS

Weather is Unpredictable, Just Like the Accidents It Can Cause.

Weather and other conditions don’t have to be a factor in accidents. Keep these tips in mind when you’re driving in any weather condition, anywhere, anytime.

  • Rainy

    • Turn on your headlamps to help other drivers see you
    • Slow down and leave room for stopping
    • Avoid slamming on your brakes to help prevent skids
    • Don’t drive through standing water or flooded roads

  • Foggy

    • Use low-beam headlamps to see and help others see you
    • Give yourself plenty of time to react when it’s hard to see
    • Avoid sudden stops in case there are vehicles behind you
    • If visibility is really low, use the road edge or painted road markings as a guide

  • Sunny

    • Use your visor to help block out the sun
    • Make sure your windshield is clean inside and out
    • Use your headlamps to help other drivers see you coming
    • Use lane markings as a guide when it’s too bright to see

  • Snowy

    • Accelerate slowly to avoid spinning on snow
    • Take your time and leave room for stopping
    • Make sure your windshield wipers work and you have washer fluid
    • Don’t drive if you don’t have to

    • Icy

      • Accelerate slowly to help keep your tires from spinning on ice
      • Take your time and leave plenty of room for stopping
      • Make sure your windshield wipers work and you have washer fluid
      • Don’t drive if you don’t have to

    • Night

      • Make sure your windshield is clean inside and out to reduce glare from other vehicles
      • Check your head- and tail-lamps to make sure they are all working
      • Pay attention to signs to help anticipate turns, stops and winding roadways
      • Give yourself plenty of time to react when it’s dark and hard to see

      TIPS SPONSORED BY FORD MOTOR COMPANY

THANKSGIVING

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This year,Thanksgiving will be celebrated on Thursday,November 26!

A uniquely American holiday, Thanksgiving dates back to the first European settlers in North America.
After much hardship, illness and hard work, the Pilgrims were finally able to celebrate a successful harvest which they shared with their Native American friends who had helped them through their difficult beginning in America.
Today this day is set aside to feast and to give thanks-something we can all share, as we too celebrate our cross-cultural friendships.

Some activities to share with the children :

Maple-Nut-Berry Popcorn Balls ( for children ages 3 and older): Add some chopped walnuts and raspberries, blueberries or blackberries. Add enough melted butter to lightly coat popcorn. Stir. Pour maple syrup over the warm popcorn and stir until all the corn, nuts and berries are covered. Shape the sticky corn into balls and place on a plate to refrigerate until the syrup hardens.

Thanksgiving cards and place cards: Fold a piece of paper in half, place a leaf on the inside and close the card. Use a crayon to rub lightly across the front of the card in the area where the leaf is. The shape of the leaf will appear on the outside. Remove the leaf. Write a name on the front for a place card, or a message inside for a Thanksgiving card. Older children might want to make more sophisticated designs using more than one leaf.

Make a chain of paper doll (adults should do the cutting): Fold a piece of paper back and forth over and over again with a width between folds of 2-3 inches. With the paper folded cut out a shape of a person, make sure that the hands and feet touch the fold, but don’t cut through the fold. When you unfold the paper there will be a line of people holding hands. Children ages 3-10 can color the figures to look like Pilgrims(men wore big white collars, belts with buckles, and buckles on their shoes, pants to their knees; women wore white hats and aprons over solid color dresses) or Native Americans (draw feather headdresses and brightly colored geometric patterns on their clothes).

Tree of Thanks: This Thanksgiving tree is bound to become a new holiday tradition.
Trace leaves onto autumn colored craft’s paper and cut out. Punch a hole into the stem of each paper leaf. Measure and cut a 2” length of wire or twine for each leaf. Thread it through the hole and bend the ends to make a hook for hanging. Place the tree branches in a pot or vase. Let the children or/and guests choose a leaf or two and ask them to jot down things that they are thankful for.

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HOMEWORK

 

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Au Pairs will often help their host children with homework. Here are some important hints to help make it a great experience for all!

#1In order to do your job successfully, you must know the host parent’s rules and expectations. Ask the following questions:
When is homework to be completed?
Where is homework to be done?
What supplies are available for the student?
Where shall I be when the student is doing homework?
What about music? Is that allowed while doing homework?
How much time is expected?
What about breaks?
Who will review the homework?
What if a child does not cooperate?

#2 Sharing the rules…ask for a meeting with host parents, you and children to review rules and expectations with everyone listening.

#3 Reviewing the situation…Remember to keep your host parents informed about homework issues.What is going well and what needs to be improved

GETTING STARTED EACH DAY:

#1.Take care of the basic needs: does your child need a snack or a rest? does he/she needs to touch base with mom or dad?
#2.Help your child prioritize the day’s assignments
#3.develop a schedule for the day
#4.Have the child identify what he/she can do alone, what he/she needs help with.

GUIDING THE PROCESS…Doing the homework is your child’s job. Helping if your child is having problems is your job.
Give specific praise-“that’s a great first draft”
Give constructive criticism-“your teacher will understand your ideas better if you use your best handwriting”
Be available to answer questions, read over directions together,help your child divide a challenging task into smaller pieces,be the audience as your child practices spelling or reading.

WHAT ARE THE 5 SENSES

5 senses

Children learn through their senses. Smelling, seeing, touching, hearing, tasting are all ways children take in information about the world around them.

Here is a list of suggestions of fun activities you can do with the children you care for.You can also stop at your local library and check out some books on Senses.Also,  some fun word games can be found at http://www.k-3teacherresources.com/5-senses.html.

SMELL: Smell flowers, name different things that have odors, make smell jars…Place one each of several fruits and vegetables in small cups. Cover cups with aluminum foil. Punch a small hole in the aluminum foil. Have the children smell the cups and identify the fruits and vegetables. Can also use coffee beans, spices, soap, lemon juice, chocolate, or whatever else you think of.

SIGHT: Make an indoor rainbow : fill a clear glass jar with water and set on a window sill in the bright sunlight. Place white paper on the floor to capture the rainbow.

Paint rainbow with watercolors.

Go for a nature walk. See how many things the children can see, hear, smell or touch.

Make binoculars for the nature walk: decorate two toilet paper tubes. Glue together to make binoculars. Place holes on one end of the rolls and attach yarn or string so children can wear the binoculars around their necks.

TOUCH: Make a Feely box: cut a hole in one end of a shoebox so children can slide their hand into the box. Fill the inside of the box with different items-spoons, small car, cotton ball, ball, pencil, etc… Have children slide their hand inside, fell an object and tell you what it feels like and what they think the items are without looking.

Have the children fingerpaint

Play in the sandbox

Make  texture rubbings: place ea piece of paper over different textures-sandpaper, sidewalk, coins, etc…. and have them use a crayon to rub across the paper.

Make a texture collage: finds items of different textures-cotton ball, noodle, ribbon, small sticks, grass, whatever you choose and have the children glue on paper or a paper plate

HEAR: Make sound jars: need small containers such as film canisters, covered baby food jars, or small Pringle Chips cans. Fill two containers with rice, two with beans, two with rocks, two with water, two with pennies, etc… Place lids on containers. Have children shake cans, guess the sound in one of the remaining canisters.

Listen to wind chimes or music.

Listen to a tape of sounds and guess the sounds

Make shakers: take two paper plates and decorate them with crayons, markers or paint. Place dried beans between the two plates. Staple them together and shake.

TASTE: Apple tasting: cut up different varieties of apples to taste

Make a “tasting tray            “with foods that taste sweet, sour, salty, spicy or bitter.               Bake something from your home country and have the children taste. See whether or not it tastes different.

MEMORIAL DAY

Memorial Day was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states then others followed. It is now celebrated nationwide each year on the last Monday in May.  On Memorial Day weekend people visit cemeteries to honor those who have died in military service, placing flowers and American flags on graves and in parks.

This holiday weekend is also known for family gatherings, trips to the beach and participation in parades. For many Americans memorial Day also marks the beginning of summer.  Families enjoy picnics or barbecues and open the swimming pool for the summer season.  Typical Memorial Day food includes hamburgers, fried chicken, potato salad, baked beans, grilled meats and all sorts of pies.

Children can be a part of Memorial Day too.  Here are some links to children’s activities:

http://sunniebunniezz.com/puzzles/memdykws.htm

http://sunniebunniezz.com/puzzles/memdymcr.htm

http://www.usmemorialday.org/activities/flag/index.htm

“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!”  ~Maya Angelou

Let’s celebrate St Patrick’s Day!

March 17 is St Patrick’s Day!images

The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales about AD 385. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick’s Day ever since. St. Patrick is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick’s Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday. It has been celebrated in the US since 1737. One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. And this stems from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.

For fun ideas for celebrating with children ,go to:

https://www.pinterest.com/aupairinamerica/st-patrick-s-day-shenanigans/

How to survive in this Winter Wonderland!

A is for Art- try drawing, painting. gluing or modeling with clay

B is for Baking-make a special dessert for dinner

C is for Cocoa-mix some up to warm up, cool slightly to serve

D is for Dance-put on a lively tape

E is for  Exercise- try to do something active everyday

F is for  Friends-invite some over

G is for Greenhouse-stop to smell the flowers

H is for House-make one from a large appliance box

I is for Ice skating-find a public indoor or out rink

J is for Jigsaw puzzle- try making your own from magazine pictures

K is for Kazoo- make your own marching band instruments and have a parade

L is for Library- borrow some book to read- look for The Snowy Day by Keats

M is for Movie-make or watch one

N is for Necklace- make one with noodles, or fruit loops with licorice

O is for Ocean- put out beach towels wear a bathing suit and pretend to be there

P is for Puppets-make them with old socks and paper bags

Q is for Quiet time-everyone need one daily

R is for Reading aloud- do this everyday

S is for Seeds & Suet-feed and watch the birds and see how many you already know

T is for Tent-make one from blanket and chairs

U is for Unplugged-do a day without TV

V is for  Variety- try something new every day

W is for Walk-take one in any weather

X is for X marks the spot-hide a treat and create a treasure hunt with a map

Y is for Year- make a calendar or scrapbook

Z is for Zoo-visit the animals or make your own zoo with stuffed animals and blocks

A Jewish Holiday Celebration:Hanukkah

Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, Feast of Dedication, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire of the 2nd century BC. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar.

This year Hanukkah begins in the evening of December 16th and ends in the evening of December 24th.

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The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a unique candelabrum, the nine-branched menorah or hanukiah, one additional light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. The typical menorah consists of eight branches with an additional visually distinct branch. The extra light is called a shamash  and is given a distinct location, usually above or below the rest. The purpose of the shamash is to have a light available for practical use, as using the Hanukkah lights themselves for purposes other than publicizing and meditating upon Hanukkah is forbidden.

Other Hanukkah festivities include playing dreidel and eating oil based foods such as doughnuts and latkes.

Hanukkah became more widely celebrated beginning from the 1970s, when Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson called for public awareness of the festival and encouraged the lighting of public menorahs.

Every year on the White House Ellipse in Washington DC,there is a Lighting Ceremony.It is a free event but tickets are required.This year it will be held on December 16th at 4:00pm (http://nationalmenorah.org/)

 

Courtesy of Wikipedia

The Advent Calendar

What a great way to count down til Christmas! Many of you are familiar with the Advent calendar but for those of you who are not,here is the Wikipedia definition:
An Advent calendar is a special calendar used to count or celebrate the days in anticipation of Christmas. The days usually overlap with the Christian season of Advent, which can be as early as November 27 and as late as December 3. Many take the form of a large rectangular card with “windows” of which there are usually 24: one for each day of December leading up to Christmas Day. The doors are opened starting with the first one. Consecutive doors are opened every day leading up to Christmas. The calendar windows open to reveal an image, poem, a portion of a story (such as the story of the Nativity of Jesus) or a small gift, such as a toy or a chocolate item. Some calendars are strictly religious, whereas others are secular in content.

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Why not make your own Advent Calendar with your kids and fill each window or pocket with an activity your host child/children would enjoy.You can find some ideas under Resources for Current Au Pairs