Peter and the Wolf

Weekly Trip to the Library One of the challenges of working as a nanny is finding activities my three charges (aged 3-years-old to 13-years-old) can all enjoy at the same time. But this week I remembered my favorite childhood classic Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf with the CD of musical themes. All three of the […]

Summer Learning with The Lorax

Weekly Trip to the Library: The Lorax by Dr. Suess Over 40-years ago Dr. Seuss published The Lorax . In his search to find a real Truffula Tree a boy must find the Lorax who is a forest guardian who speaks for the trees and protects the forest. The Lorax tries to save the environment […]

Summer Learning with Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

Weekly Trip to the Library for Nannies and Au Pairs Read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. This story describes a day in which everything goes wrong for a boy named Alexander. When Alexander got up in the morning, he found gum in his hair, tripped on his skateboard, and accidentally […]

Summer Learning: Africa, Anansi the Spider and the Ashanti

Weekly Trip to the Library I care for three kids all of different ages. The three-year-old girl I care for was frightened of spiders so I borrowed the following books from the library to help her face her fear and now she loves spiders. Her 10-year-old brother is obsessed with the rain forest, while their teen brother loves […]

Activities to do After Reading “Harold and the Purple Crayon”

Weekly Trip to the Library Harold and the Purple Crayon is a timeless classic that has delighted readers of all ages for over 50-years. In the book, Harold goes on a moonlight walk and draws himself a landscape of wonder and excitement with an over sized purple crayon. Like Harold in the book, all children begin […]

Teaching Styles for Nannies

How Do You Teach the Kids in Your Care? Whether a nanny focuses on the children’s education formally or informally, each day she is teaching the children in her care about themselves and the world around them. While how involved a nanny is with a child’s formal education will vary based on several factors, such […]

Helping Kids Learn the Alphabet

Arts n’ Crafts for the Letter “A” You can help children learn the the letters of the alphabet by reinforcing letters with fun activities. Here are some letter “A” activities shared by Chris Yates of http://www.kidcraftsmagazine.com/. Thumbprint Ants – Draw an ant hill with a marker on a plain sheet of construction paper. Use a black […]

Turn Reading a Children’s Book into a Lesson Plan

Review of Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel What’s better than inspirng children’s curiosity? One way to do that is to read a children’s book to your charge then continue doing activities inspired by the book. Today, we hope our Weekly Trip to the Library for nannies and au pairs will inspire child […]

In What Direction Do Seeds Grow?

It doesn’t take much to actively engage children in fun springtime learning activities. Plants have growth hormones that respond to the Earth’s gravitational pull. This causes roots to always grow down and stems to always grow up. This is called geotropism. Here is an easy science experiment to do with the children in their home. […]