Tag Archives: Au Pair in America

Tell a joke today!

Create your own book of favorite jokes and riddles with your children ages 4 and up. Children love jokes and will treasure a collection to look at over and over. Write just one of two jokes on each piece of paper. If it’s a riddle, put the answer on the back of the page. Draw colorful pictures to go with the joke. Follow the directions below to turn your collection of illustrated jokes into a book.

    Step 1: Get two pieces of thin cardboard at least 5.5 x 8.5 inches (14 x 22 cm), to match the size of the paper.
    Step 2: Gather the following: ribbon, string or a stapler, crayons or markers, or if you want scissors, glue, white paper or colored construction paper.
    Step 3: Cut the cardboard into the size you want for your cover. Cut two pieces: one for the front and one for the back. Make two holes along one of the long edges, in the same spot on both pieces. Your ribbon or string will go through here to hold your pages together. (You can also staple the pages together if you want to keep it simple.)
    Step 4: To decorate the covers: Draw right on the cardboard or create decoration using glue, paper and whatever else you might have around the house (magazine pictures, material, pressed flowers, old buttons, etc.) and place them in a design on the cover.
    Step 5: When you have the items placed where you like them, then take your glue and start gluing the items down. Continue gluing until you are done. Set it aside and let it dry for a few hours.
    Step 6: Punch holes in the paper you’ve written the jokes on to match the holes in the cover.
    Step 7: Take your covers after they have dried and put the joke papers between the covers. Take your ribbon and thread it through the holes of the covers and the matching holes in the paper. Tie the ribbon into a knot or a bow. You can always add more pages later.

Audit registration at UMW is September 1st

AUDITORS

Registration for those wishing to audit classes will be held on Monday, September 1, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Lee Hall, Room 206. The fee for auditing is $30 per credit hour. You must complete the Audit Application and Registration form. Citizens over 60 are exempt from the fee, but you must complete the Senior Citizen Tuition Waiver. Au paires should bring their visa.

Audit Policy and Restrictions

The Registration Form must be signed by the instructor.

  • Undergraduate students may not audit graduate courses
  • Suggested courses for au paires:
    • 100 and 200 level Economics (ECON)
    • 100 and 200 level Geography (GEOG)
    • 100 and 200 level History (HIST)
    • 100 and 200 level Linguistics (LING)
    • 100 and 200 level Psychology (PSYC)
    • 100 and 200 level Sociology (SOCG)
    • 100 and 200 level Theatre (THEA)
  • Students seeking to learn English as a second language should contact area high schools or libraries.
  • Students may not audit any individual study or research class, typically course numbers from 481 to 499 for any discipline.
  • Students may not audit courses with labs in Biology (BIOL), Chemistry (CHEM), Geology (GEOL), Physics (PHYS) and Psychology (PSYC)
  • Part-time auditors may register for a maximum of 11 credits each semester
Arabic (ARAB)
Art History (ARTH) Requires Instructor and Dept. Chair signature
Art Studio (ARTS) Only auditable by current or retired faculty
Chemistry (CHEM) Only lecture courses with separate labs can be audited
Chinese (CHIN)
Communication (COMM) Cannot audit 205, 206, 209, 481 or 482
Education (EDUC) Requires Instructor and Dept. Chair signature
Environmental Sci. (EESC) Cannot audit 421, 460
English (ENGL) Cannot audit 101, 200, 207, 300, 301, 302, 304, 305, 306, 307, 312, 313. Any course over 400 requires Instructor signature
French (FREN) Requires Instructor and Department Chair signature
Freshmen Seminar (FSEM) No audits allowed
German (GERM) Requires Instructor and Department Chair signature
Historic Preservation (HISP) No audits allowed
History (HIST) Cannot audit 299
Italian (ITAL) Requires Instructor and Department Chair signature
Latin (LATN) Requires Instructor and Dept Chair signature
Music History & Literature (MUHL) Allowed to audit all open courses
Music Performance (MUPR) No audits allowed
Music Theory Allowed to audit all open courses
Physical Education (PHYD) No audits allowed
Sociology (SOCG) Cannot audit 331 or 352
Spanish (SPAN) Requires Instructor and Department Chair signature
Teaching English as Second Language (TESL) Can audit 411 only

Monday nights, free music on the library steps

Headquarters Library, Mondays in  August – 7-8pm

Bring a lawn chair, a blanket, and a picnic dinner and listen to a variety of entertainers every Monday night this summer. In case of rain, concerts move into the library theater.

Cesar y Limon

August 11: Limon y Cesar

Afro-Cuban Latin Jazz Duo
www.albertolimontaperez.com

Limon y Cesar’s unique style of Afro-Cuban Latin Jazz encompasses many popular and famous

Cuban arrangements with Limon on congas/bata/vocals and Cesar keyboards/vocals.

Harry Wilson

August 18: Harry Wilson Quartet

Straight-Ahead Jazz
Harry Wilson on Gravatt Entertainment

“Harry Wilson vibraphonist extraordinaire”. That’s how his fans refer to him. He has been

playing the vibraphone for over thirty years.

Mr. Wilson is influenced by the late great Lionel Hampton who, not only mastered the vibraphone,

but pioneered the “vibes” in the emerging world of jazz.

Harry’s earliest and biggest influence is the renowned Sun Ra. Harry played with Sun Ra Arkestra

throughout the United States and abroad. In those early years Harry Wilson mastered his technique

on the vibraphone and this is where he discovered his unique style.

Marenje Marimba Ensemble

August 25: Marenje Marimba Ensemble

Traditional and original Zimbabwean-style tunes
www.marenjemarimba.org

The Marenje Marimba Ensemble is an 8 piece marimba ensemble, playing on handmade,

acoustic, wooden instruments.  The ensemble blends pan African songs and rhythms, Traditional

Zimbabwean marimba/mbira songs, and original compositions to create community celebrations

filled with hope and creativity.

Inside games to play

It’s difficult when the weather is too hot for kids to play outside and get all of that great kid energy out.

JuggleGirl

Here are some indoor physical activity ideas:

  • Create an indoor obstacle course in the largest, kid safe room in the house (playroom, basement, family room, etc.)  Use large cushions and toys to create places for kids to climb over and under.
  • Turn on some music (kid music or other music that is appropriate) and dance.
  • Play freeze dance. Tell the kids to dance when you turn the music on and to stop dancing when the music stops.  Let the kids take turns being the leader,  controlling the music.
  • Do the limbo dance.  Play music and challenge the kids to go under the limbo pole as it gets lower and lower.

kids_dancing

  • Make paper airplanes and see how far they can fly.  Remind the kids not to throw them at other other people.
  • Mark small squares on the floor and challenge the kids to see who can stay on their spot the longest.  Make it tougher for older kids by having them stand on one foot.
  • Play ball toss games with soft items like rolled up socks.   The younger the children the larger the container they are tossing into should be.  For very young kids, use a laundry basket.  For older kids, use something smaller like a box, basket or large plastic mixing bowl.
  • Build a fort using blanket and furniture like chairs and tables.  Or if the kids have a small play tent put that up.
  • Play sports charades.  Charades is a game where you act out something while people try to guess.  You can do this with sports actions, using no equipment, just making the actions.  For example – hitting a golf ball, pitching a baseball, serving a tennis ball, bowling, etc.)
  • Jump rope. Jumping_rope.
  • Play with a hula hoop.
  • Try juggling, top spinning, or yo-yo contests.
  • Play hide and go seek.
  • Play “keep the balloon up”. Use one balloon per child or one balloon per small group. The group may add additional balloons as they gain control and awareness. *

* Safety Note – Balloons are a choking hazard, supervise children when playing with balloons and make sure to find and throw away any pieces of popped balloons.

See America!

Awesome photos from a Trek America trekker!

If you’re wondering where to go and what to do and see whilst in the USA as an au pair,

remember to check out Trek America. Join a small, fun group on a US adventure and

experience the highlights of the USA like Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite

and more… our au pairs also receive a 20% discount so make sure you provide

your au pair details when booking your trip!

See www.trekamerica.com/aupairinamerica.com for more info ‪


What’s on your summer bucket list?

The term “bucket list” was popularized in the 2007 Jack Nicholson/Morgan Freeman movie. The idea is to make a list of things you want to do before you “kick the bucket” (which is an idiom referring to death.) Even though that sounds kind of morbid, the idea has taken off as something much more positive and people create bucket lists to log the things they want to do at some point in their life.

With that said, a Summer Bucket list is a list of things to do before this summer ends.

Click here to print your own summer bucket list

Get lots of ideas to put on your list on our APIA Summer Fun Pinterest Board.

What does an au pair cost?

Here is an NBC news article about the average cost of daycare for two children in different parts of the USA. How does the cost of an au pair compare? An au pair is less expensive than any of the costs on this image. And an au pair costs the same amount if she cares for two, three, four, or five or more children.

Child care in the U.S.

Here is the link to the original article:

http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/infographic-high-cost-child-care-u-s-n136316

Welcome summer!

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. Here are some books to choose from:

Picture books to read aloud:

  • Grandma Summer by Harley Jessup
    Initially grumpy about his trip with Grandma to her beach cottage, Ben slowly comes around as he falls under the spell of the old house, the seashore, and his grandmother.
  • Albie the Lifeguard by Louise Borden, illustrated by Elizabeth Sayles
    Albie gains the courage to go swimming at the town pool one summer.
  • Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping by Peggy Parish, illustrated by Lynn Sweat
    Amelia Bedelia, who takes everything literally, has never been camping before, and she’s trying her best to do exactly as she’s told. Her efforts make for a very funny book.

For beginning readers or to read aloud:

  • The Camp Knock Knock Mystery by Betsy Duffey, illustrated by Fiona Dunbar
    Crow and Willie have a not-entirely-friendly competition at camp over who tells the best knock-knock jokes. Willie spends the week looking for his joke book, which Crow has hidden.
  • Cool Ali by Nancy Poydar
    One hot summer day, Ali takes her sidewalk chalk and draws the things that everyone needs – a little lake for Mrs. Frye to dip her toes into, a beach umbrella, the North Wind. But what will happen when a summer storm comes?
  • Last One in Is a Rotten Egg by Leonard P. Kessler
    Freddy can’t swim in the deep water. When some big kids throw him into the pool, his friends and mother encourage him to ask the lifeguard for lessons. Freddy learns how to float, breathe, and blow bubbles in the water, and how to move his arms and legs, until he can jump into the deep water with his friends.
  • Sally Goes to the Mountains by Stephen Huneck
    Sally goes for a ride to the mountains, where there will be all kinds of new friends to meet: bears, moose, rabbits, and skunks! There will be berries to pick, sticks to fetch, and a lake to swim in. Sally can hardly wait!
  • The Summer My Father Was Ten by Pat Brisson, illustrated by Andrea Shine
    A young girl tells how every year she and her father plant a garden together, and every year he tells her the story of the summer he was 10 when he led his mates in vandalizing the garden of his lonely, old Italian neighbor but later righted the wrong.
  • Artwork from amyvolk.com