Menu- catering

Mon co the lam truoc va de tu da’: nem, com rang??

Mon phai lam trong ngay: nem cuon, sushi

Mon lam nhanh va duoc nhieu: Thai curry

Newborn essentials

For first time moms-to-be like me, this list is very helpful:

http://www.todaysparent.com/pregnancybirth/youandnewborn/article.jsp?content=20030605_132958_3736&page=1

Number of items to buy: http://www.babies.sutterhealth.org/laboranddelivery/ld_layette.cfm

Early education- foreign language

Source: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=resources&id=4265738

Why teach a foreign language to a baby/toddler?

• Children who learned a second language after the age of 11 had two distinct areas of the brain for understanding language — one for their native language and one for their 2nd language.
• On the other hand, children who learned a 2nd language before the age of 4 had one large area of the brain which was active for both languages.
• Conclusion: children who learn language skills in their 1st several years of life are able to develop brains that are more efficient than children who learn those skills later in life.

How Can You Teach Your Child a Second Language?

• Form a social group with other families who speak the same foreign language
• Use videos, books, computer software, and/or audio tapes to expose your child to other languages.

Respond to Your Infant’s Sounds

• Responds to the baby’s new sound and repeats the sound to his/her.

Early education- Multi-sensory learning

Source: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=resources&id=4265738

Use Multi-Sensory Learning with Your Child

1. When your child shows an interest in a particular topic, try to help her learn about that topic using as many sensory systems as possible. ie: If your child is interested in learning about flowers — let him see, smell, touch, and even hear the gentle sound the flower makes brushing against his ear. Or you can allow your child to see the words, hear the words, perform some physical action related to many of the words, and see and hear images representing the meaning of those words.

Respond to Your Baby

• Carefully observe and listen to your baby, then respond to her/his interests. ie: if your baby is looking at her toes do not talk with your child about whatever you happen to be interested in at that moment. Instead, you can say: “These are your toes.”
• These types of responsiveness activities may also increase his IQ. Several studies have found a positive correlation between parents’ responsiveness and their children’s IQs.

Cause & Effect

Infants younger than 4 months of age do not have many opportunities to control their environment besides crying for food or other needs. ie: Connecting the mobile to the infant’s ankle with ribbon. This will enable your baby to control the mobile by kicking (recommended for infants between the ages of 6 weeks and 4 months). Note: observe the infant at all times during this exercise.

Categorizing

A fundamental building block for intelligence is the ability to categorize. ie: Group animals or objects that are similar in some manner (toys could be grouped by color, size, shape, material, or function, or you can show and describe how you sort clean laundry to your young infant. Simply show and tell your young baby that, “This is a sock and this is a sock. This is not a sock.”).

Early education-window of opportunity

Source: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=resources&id=4265738

Teaching Baby to Read

Over 50% of children in the U.S. public school systems are currently reading below grade level. Billions of dollars are spent each year on remedial reading programs in our public schools. Why is the system failing?

Research is clear that there is a natural window of opportunity for learning language that begins to close by age 4.

Five Tips for Early Learning

1) Talk to your baby.

2) Allow your baby to see the language.

3) Use a multi-sensory, interactive approach with your baby.

4) Describe your baby’s senses.

5) Focus on language and music, but do a variety of other stimulating activities

Having a baby in Luxembourg

It’s often said that Luxembourg is the best place to have a baby. So how does the system work?

-Almost free monthly check-ups (insurance will cover ~92% of the costs incurred). However antenatal classes are not covered by insurance. It costs approximately from 60-100 euros for antenatal classes (15-20 euros/2 hour session). The classes can be organized by Well Baby Clinic or the local midwives (info is often distributed in your doctor’s office).

-Post delivery care: You have 2 options:

• Stay in the hospital up to 5 days. Or
• Have a midwife come over your house for 10 days (if you get out of the hospital before the 5th day).

-Maternity allowances (the book “Having a baby in Luxembourg” published by Well Baby Clinic details those allowances. It costs around 5 euros and is sold in bookstores in Luxembourg such as “Chapter 1”(42, r. Astrid, Luxembourg), “Little Britain “ (1c Route d´Arlon, Capellen) and “Dania” (3, r. Astrid, Luxembourg). Stay-at-home moms receive extra money as compared to full-time and part-time working moms.

-Free 9-session preparation course: http://www.chl.lu/maternite/activites_medicales/obstetrique/activites/cours_de__preparation_a_la_naissance#6

(hint: choose: Cours de préparation à la naissance. Other courses may include some fees)

-Childcare: Reduction for sending your child to day care (info is in French): http://www.cheque-service.lu/

Most important point:

• Free: 0-3 hours/week
• 3 euros/hour: 4-24 hours/week
• 7.5 euros/hour: 25-60 hours/week

(Original content in French: Valeur du Chèque-Service :

Gratuité	Tarif chèque-service max. 3 € / h	Tarif socio-familial max. 7,50 € / h
0-3 heures par semaine	4-24 heures par semaine	25-60 heures par semaine

(to be updated later)

New to Luxembourg?

Local news (in French, English, etc): http://bonjour.news352.lu/

Find a home to rent/buy:

• http://www.athome.lu/
• http://habiter.luxweb.com

For moms-t0-be (antenatal classes, hospital visits, etc): www.wellbabyclinic.lu.

English-speaking doctors: http://luxembourg.usembassy.gov/doctors.html

English speaking clubs for women (not just for Brits and American women as the names may suggest):

• British Ladies Club Luxembourg: www.blc.lu
• American Women’s Club of Luxembourg: www.awcluxembourg.com

Language school:  Since French is the most popular language in Luxembourg, it’s a good idea to learn French (and maybe other languages if you already master French).

The best one is Centre de Langues (offers 8 different languages including French, English, German, Italian, Luxembourgish, Chinese, etc…). It’s located near the city center (next to Glacis parking lot) and the tuition is heavily subsidized by Luxembourg government.  You can also ask your commune about the language class.

Centre de Langues website: http://www.insl.lu/

Climate- some figures

10 countries most affected (and least responsible for climate change)

Source: Global Climate Risk Index 2010 (GermanWatch)

Tomato rose

Just for decoration

You will need half a tomato for this.

Thai omelet

December 03, 2009

A quick and tasty dish that I learned from a restaurant in Laos:

Ingredients: 2 eggs, 1 tomato (diced), 1/2 yellow onion (diced), a few basil leaves (chopped), salt.

Step 1: put some oil on the frying pan and quickly stir fry the yellow onion, then tomato . Add in some salt. Let’s call it mixture A. The stir fry process may take 1-2 minutes only.

Step 2: Mix the egg well with some salt, and fry it (one side). When that one side seems well-cooked, pour mixture A & chopped basils into the middle and fold the egg.