Monthly Archives: February 2015

Meet an au pair

Photo

Patrycja says: “I’ve been in US for 3 months and 10 days now. I love it! I enjoy every day. I’ve already made friends with so many people! And my English has improved … I help every new Au Pair who comes here to start to live in Washington DC. My host family is great! I have nothing to complain about! We talk a lot, have dinner together and …. My host mother is taking me and my host kid to MIAMI!!! I’m so happy …. I already traveled so much … And the best is yet to come. Thank you so much Au Pair in America!!”

Celebrate Tiffany glass!

Louis Tiffany

Born in 1848 Tiffany (whose father started the Tiffany jewelry store) was a very fine painter but is best known for his work in stained glass.

Make your own “stained glass” by following these easy instructions. This is a perfect use for broken crayons. Spread out newspaper and make crayon shavings (a small pencil sharpener is perfect for this). Cover the ironing board with newspaper and sprinkle the crayon shavings on a square of wax paper. Cover with another square of wax paper and more newspaper. Press the paper with a warm iron until the wax of the crayons is melted. These look beautiful hung in the window! Make a frame out of construction paper if you wish.

from corningfingerlakes.com

It’s Random Acts of Kindness Day!

random-acts-of-kindness-ideas

Today is Random Acts of Kindness Day.  So… perform a few random acts of kindness- hold the door open for a stranger, let someone go ahead of you in line at the store, pay the coffee for the person behind you at Starbucks, give a compliment–the ideas are endless.  See if you can “pay it forward” and make today a great day!  Here are a few great ideas for the kids:

  • Go to a children’s zoo or a park where feeding animals is allowed. Offer a bag of food to another family to feed the animals.
  • Bake cookies together, and take them to a neighbor .
  • Pitch in and clean up the yard of a neighbor who is ill, has had surgery recently, or has had a family emergency.
  • Walk to a nearby park and pick up trash, then have a picnic there.
  • Bake a treat and take it to a police or firefighter station.
  • Arrange to plant flowers or a tree at a school or park on a Saturday morning.
  • Have each member of your family choose someone outside the family who has made a positive difference in his or her life.
  • Write short thank-you notes, and mail the letters together.
  • Discuss the best things about the area where you live, the best places to shop and have fun, etc. Have someone take notes. Then type up the ideas to give to new neighbors who move in.
  • Leave a bouquet of flowers on a neighbor’s front step anonymously.
  • Make some small gifts or write kindness wishes and drawings on bright greeting cards. Deliver them in person to residents of a nursing home, children’s home, or senior facility.
  • Collect stories from family members about kind acts both given and received, and create a family scrapbook. If you have photos, include them with the stories. As years go by and as your children grow, all of you can review the many ways that kindness has touched your family’s life.
  • Tape a lunch bag to each family member’s door. For a week, put a daily treat or note inside for them to find when they wake up in the morning.

It’s National Engineers Week!

File:Booster-Layout.jpg

Everyday we use things that have been created by engineers. Sports equipment, high tech clothing, cars, planes and even plastic bottles were all designed by engineers.

Children in middle and high school can explore this fascinating topic at http://www.eweek.org/

See how long a list of things you can make that wouldn’t be in our world without engineers.

It’s President’s Day!

Today is President’s Daypresidents-day-coloring-page
School is closed today! President’s Day 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?

Happy Birthday Galileo!

Born in 1564 this Italian physicist and astronomer is famous for his experiments dropping objects from the leaning tower of Pisa. You can conduct your own simple falling object experiments using two items that are different in weight – a piece of paper, feather or cotton ball dropped at the same time as a crayon or a stone – or whatever you can think of. Try different combinations with the children and record the results. Be sure not to drop anything breakable or where another person might be standing.

Check out this video that shows the experiment  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOdLFKPYNuc

Another snow day?

snow day by tony crider

Looking for ideas to keep the kids busy on this snow day?

Here is a simple snow day game plan…

  1. Play in the snow
  2. Come inside and warm up with hot chocolate (don’t forget the marshmallows)
  3. Do some Snowflake Crafts
  4. Play board games or legos together
  5. Ever heard of Snow Ice Cream?
  6. Look for more fun things to do on the APIA Pinterest Boards
  7. Bake cookies together or make some other fun recipe
  8. Play in the snow again
  9. Warm up inside taking turns on the Make a Snowflake Website
  10. Make a blanket fort

Stay warm & have fun!

Photo: Tony Crider (Flickr)

Valentine’s Day history

Every February we celebrate Valentine’s Day by giving flowers, candy and cards to those we love. We do this in honor of Saint Valentine. You may be wondering, “Who is St. Valentine”? Time to brush up on your Valentine’s history!

Legend has it that Valentine was a priest who served during third century Rome. The Emperor at that time, Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those that were married. With this thought in mind he outlawed marriage for young men in hopes of building a stronger army. Supposedly, Valentine, decided this decree was not fair and married young couples in secret. When Emperor Claudius II found out about Valentine’s actions he had his head cut off making him a martyr of love.

Another legend has it that Valentine was an imprisoned man who fell in love with his jailor’s daughter. Before he was put to death he sent the first ‘valentine’ himself when he wrote her a letter and signed it ‘Your Valentine’, words still used on cards today.

Perhaps we’ll never know the true identity and story behind the man named St. Valentine, but this much is for sure…February has been the month to celebrate love for a long time, dating clear back to the Middle Ages. In fact, Valentines ranks second only to Christmas in number of greeting cards sent.

For some fun children’s activities including crafts, coloring pages, games, puzzles and poems goto:

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/index.htm

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/valentines-day/

Meet an au pair

Latvian Au Pair, Zane

Paola’s Au Pair Year

“A year ago when I arrived in the USA, everything was so strange, so different, I never thought I would get used to it that fast, I never thought time was going to go by that fast.

So many things were in my head, so many plans and things to do in one year, which I thought was not enough, now I know that it was more than enough.

I had time to get to know my host family and think of them as my own family. Time to meet people, friends that are now like my family, friends that I know I’ll see again and that I’ll never forget. Vacation time, Orlando with my real family, the best trip with them. The cruise with my new sister, the best trip I’ve ever been on. Time to party like I’ve never partied before. Time to study, to shop, to make small trips.

Being in another country makes you learn about other cultures and traditions, but this program made me meet so many people from so many different countries and let me learn a bit about their culture and traditions.

During this year I changed a lot. I improved my English, I grew up as a person, now I think before I talk or act, I’m more responsible, I help others more than I used to, I appreciate everything I have, I love my family even more because you never know when you’re going to lose them. I smile a lot, and I think the most important thing is that I live my life as much as I can.

My year is over and even though I knew this was coming I can’t believe that day is here…

Just like when I came here, I have a lot of things going round in my head, will I see all the people I met here again and will my host kids remember me in years to come?

I have made some plans for my future, but this time I’m not going to worry so much about that, I’m just going to let destiny work – I’m going to work really hard to get what I want and to achieve all my goals.

A year with no regrets, a year I’ll never forget…

Paola