Bringing International Childcare to Delaware!

Back-to-school time is here and it’s time to start up the routine of homework, going to bed early and packing lunches!

Does your child get bored with the same old peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day??? If so, then here are some fun Ideas to spice up their lunch box and make your child the envy of all of  his/her lunch table friends!

Surprise your kids on the first day of school with this too-cool-to-trade lunch idea.

Ingredients

• 2 slices of bread (one white and the other whole wheat, roughly the same size)
• Cookie cutters, 1 large and 1 small (ours measure 3 1/4 inches for the hand and 1 1/2 inches for the heart)

Instructions

1. Set the 2 slices of bread on a cutting board. Cut out the centers of each with a large and a small cookie cutter.
2. Swap the center cutouts, so the wheat bread has a white bread design and the white has the wheat, then assemble your sandwich.

How do you turn a sandwich into a fun snack? Make it a stick-wich!

Ingredients

• bread
• cheese
• lunch meat
• grape tomatoes
• lettuce
• pickles
• olive

Introduce your kids to the art of sushi rolling with these easy sandwiches. The tortilla does double duty as a rolling mat and a tasty wrapper.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked sushi rice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 4 (10-inch) flour tortillas
• 4 sheets nori or 2 cups spinach leaves
• 1/2 cup grated carrot
• 1 cucumber; peeled, seeded and cut lengthwise into 4 spears (we used the European variety)
• 1 (8 ounce) package imitation crabmeat
• Soy sauce packets

For more fun school lunch Ideas, click on the following links:

• FUN SANDWICHES
• FUN SALADS
• FUN FRUIT SNACKS
• FUN TREATS

Au pairs from around the Wilmington / Philadelphia region came together to celebrate the end of summer at the annual Hawaiian Luau, hosted by Wilmington area LCCs Nick and Kristen Bell.

Au pairs from all over the Delaware Valley came for an evening of music, dancing, lots of international food and beautiful weather!  They did such a great job with all their dishes, and there was a ton of yummy food.  I’m proud to say that the winner of the International Food Competition was our very own Inna, who made some delicious Ukrainian dumplings (recipe to come! )

Please enjoy some pictures and video of the fun time had by all!

Our next meeting will take place on Sunday, 19 September at 4 pm.  We will meet with LCC Jenny Westphal’s group at the Cheesecake Factory at the Christiana Mall.  It will be a great opportunity to meet some other local au pairs after the busy summer arrival season and relax over some yummy treats! It will also give Jenny and I a chance to touch base and have an opportunity to chat and answer any questions or address concerns, as our last few meetings have not given us a chance for to do that.  I look forward to getting to know some of you better!

We will meet outside the restaurant, as it will be a large group.  Please arrive on time!

If you cannot make it, please let me know, so we can have an accurate count of who will be attending!

Back to School time is upon us already! Soon, those yellow buses will be out everywhere and it is important as caregivers AND as motorists that safety be a top priority. Here are some tips to remember, courtesy of the Delaware Department of Education.

Parents [and Au Pairs, too!]

• If your children’s bus stop is not near your home, walk the route to that stop with them until they are familiar with it.

• Make sure your child knows what time the bus is scheduled to arrive and make sure he or she gets to the stop early, so the child can avoid rushing. Children in a rush are less likely to follow safety practices.

Children

• Wait for the bus in a safe place. Avoid horseplay that could cause you to fall into the street.

• Never run to or from the bus.

• Do not push or shove when getting on or off the bus.

• Learn about the “danger zone.” That’s a 10-foot wide area on all sides of the bus, where the driver cannot see you. When you get off the bus, step outside of the danger zone until you can see the driver’s face.

• Only cross in front of the bus where the driver can see you.

• Never run behind the bus, or bend down to pick up an object. The bus driver may think you’ve crossed safely and start to move.

• Do not distract the bus driver so that he/she may get you safely to and from school.

Motorists

• Drivers traveling in either direction on a two-lane road must stop when a school bus activates its flashing lights and stop sign.

• Drivers traveling in the same direction as a school bus on a four-lane road must stop for a stopped school bus. Drivers travelling in the opposite direction are not required to stop.

• Delaware law requires vehicles to stop even when the bus is stopped to load/unload students on private property.

• Anyone convicted of passing a stopped school bus can be fined as much as $230 for the first offense, and as much as $575 for the second offense. The individual will also have their license suspended for between 1 and 12 months.

Here is some additional information regarding school bus and school zone laws in Maryland, from the Maryland State Highway Administration.

School Bus Laws

• If a school bus has stopped and is operating the alternately flashing red lights, all drivers meeting, or overtaking the school bus shall stop at least 20 feet from the school bus.

• Motorists may not proceed until the school bus either turns off the flashing red lights or resumes motion. This law does not apply to motorists on a divided highway, if the school bus is on the opposite side of a divided highway from the motorist. A divided highway means a highway that is divided into two or more roadways by an intervening space or barrier, such as a concrete or grassy median.

• School bus drivers may report a violation of the above code section.

• Only a vehicle registered as a Class M vehicle, that is used to transport children between one or more schools or licensed child care centers or to and from designated areas and is designed for carrying 15 passengers or less must have seat belts and or child safety seats for each of the occupants as required by Maryland’s child safety seat laws.

Current School Zone Laws

• In general, the Code sets certain speed limit maximums, depending upon on the particular roadway, which is applicable to both public and private school zones.

• 30 mph in business districts and on undivided highways in residential districts.

• 50 mph on undivided highways, other than in residential districts.

• 55 mph on divided highways.

However, the Code also provides either the State Highway Administration or a local authority the ability to establish a school zone around any school and set maximum speed limits for that particular school zone.

• School zones must be designated by signs and may include flashing lights.

• Signs designating a school zone indicate the maximum speed limit applicable.

• A sign may also be posted indicating that fines for speeding in the school zone are doubled.

• In a school zone where a crossing guard is posted, the maximum may not exceed 35 mph during the hours posted on the sign.

In Maryland, fines for driving violations can be up to $500; if you speed or otherwise violate driving rules in a school zone, your fine will be doubled and could be up to $1000.

The summer may be almost over, but some families (like mine!) may still squeeze a vacation or road trip in before school starts.  Some families may also head out to visit distant family or friends year-round, so here are some tips for helping to keep the kids busy on long car trips!

At the end of last year, Cultural Care promised to donate one book to St. Mary’s elementary school library in New Orleans for every family who repeated or joined our program in December. St. Mary’s, one of our Kids First partners, is still working to rebuild their elementary school library after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

Recently, Caitlin Corcoran, Director of Cultural Care’s Au Pair Training School, visited the school to present the school librarian, Michelle Hudson, and some of St. Mary’s first-graders with 16 sample books from Barefoot Books. Caitlin also presented a “check” they will cash in for 439 additional books of their choosing, to be delivered before the start of fall 2010 classes.

You can’t imagine how excited the children were to start reading their new Barefoot Books. (They were also pretty excited about the giant check…all of them wanted to read it aloud.) Thanks to Barefoot Books for partnering with Kids First in donating multi-cultural literature to the students of St. Mary’s!

Would you like to share with the world how great your au pair or host family is?  Would you like to be inspired by some of the great stories our program participants have to share?  If so, then I encourage you to visit our latest showcase site, “I Love My Au Pair.”

These are all submissions by current families or au pairs who want to share how the au pair program has benefited them.  The videos are divided into categories, such as Cultural Exchange, Single Parents and Multiples.

If you would like to share your story, it’s easy to do!  Just upload your video to YouTube or burn it to a disc and submit it here.

Despite the hot and humid weather, local au pairs ventured to Rockwood Park & Museum in Wilmington for the annual Delaware Shakespeare Festival.  This year’s production was Macbeth.  Although Shakespearean English can be a bit difficult to follow, I hope everyone enjoyed the opportunity to see a play written by one of the most renowned playwrights of the English language and enjoy some time outdoors.

This was also Nina’s last meeting, as her year is coming to an end and she is heading back home to Germany. We will miss you, Nina and wish you good luck!!!

Here are some pictures to enjoy.  Photography was not allowed during the performance itself.

Our next meeting is August 28th at 7 pm, when we will attend the end-of-summer Hawaiian luau with other regional au pairs.

Delaware Technical & Community College is offering both Basic & Advanced Defensive Driving as well as CPR & First Aid / AED courses at both its Stanton/Wilmington and Terry (Dover) campuses in the fall.  These courses are only one or two sessions, so they would not be considered a part of the educational component, but could be valuable or of interest to some families or au pairs.

These courses are offered through the Corporate & Community Programs of the Continuing Education Department.

Information for Stanton/Wilmington

Information for Defensive Driving - Terry Campus (Dover)

Information for Heartsaver AED course - Terry Campus (Dover)

For further information regarding these courses, please contact the appropriate campus directly!

The results of our bi-annual customer satisfaction survey are in!  Of all the families who participated in the survey, 98% are happy with their choice of Cultural Care Au Pair for their childcare needs.  The survey allows families to give feedback on all aspects of their experience with Cultural Care Au Pair, including the matching process, their LCC’s performance and their overall impressions with us as an organization.

We have made several changes to our company based on customer feedback.  We have introduced a more flexible payment plan, our Repeat Rewards program for our repeat customers, our 3 Ways to Match system, our online community forum and lots more!

You can view the survey results, the questions asked and the improvements we’ve made by visiting our new showcase website.