Cindy's Suffolk Au Pairs News Bulletin

Tonight is ESL Graduation at Suffolk Community College! 

To all the Au Pair in America Au Pairs graduating tonight, CONGRATULATIONS! 

School Registration is NOW!

Global Awareness Presentation by Bruna part of the UCLA Advantage Class course requirement.

August is lots of fun and it is easy to forget that September is quickly approaching.  On the right hand column of this blog there are links to all the education opportunities for au pairs in Suffolk County.  Make sure you register for your classes NOW!

Educare Au Pairs must take 12 credits or 160 hours of education at the college level for their year in America.  All other Au Pairs must take 6 credits or 80 hours of education at the college level for each year in America.  If you have questions, please email or call me!

Host families should assist their Au Pairs to make sure the classes fit into the schedule and works best for childcare and for your Au Pairs!

School is something that adds to the cultural exchange experience for the Au Pair and is a requirement of the Department of State for the program.

ABC’s of Winter Fun

A is for Art – try drawing, painting or gluing
B is for Baking – bake a dessert together for dinner
C is for Clay – Use non-hardening clay or play dough to shape and mold
D is for Dance – put on a lively tape
E is for Exercise – be sure to get some everyday
F is for Friends – invite some over
G is for Greenhouse – find a local greenhouse to visit to enjoy the sights and smells
H is for House – make a playhouse from a large appliance box
I is for Ice skating – take the children to a local rink
J is for Jigsaw puzzle – be sure to pick one that isn’t too difficult
K is for Kitchen science – try a safe experiment

L is for Library – borrow some new books
M is for Movie – make one with a video camera, or watch one
N is for Necklace – make one out of cereal or macaroni
O is for Origami – learn to make simple paper creations
P is for Puppets – socks make easy and fun puppets – put on a show!
Q is for Quiet Time – everyone needs some of this
R is for Reading aloud – choose a good book and a comfortable place to sit
S is for Seeds and Suet – put out food for the birds and watch them eat
T is for Tent – make one from old blankets and chairs
U is for Unplugged – do a day with no TV
V is for Variety – try something new everyday
W is for Walk – take one in any weather (be sure to dress appropriately)
X is for Xylophone – make your own with glasses, water and a metal spoon
Y is for Year – make a calendar or scrapbook to remember the year
Z is for Zoo – play zoo, pretend to be animals in the zoo, what noises do they make?

Click on the link below for a video of 2010 Au Pairs

Suffolk County Au Pairs

The Au Pair in America Au Pairs in Suffolk County enjoyed 2010 in the USA. They got together every month for meetings and fun activities. Au Pairs went to NYC often, ice skating in Bryant Park, seeing a Broadway Show, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, and competing in a Scavenger Hunt with lots of other au pairs from Au Pair in America. Au Pairs enjoyed Long Island Beaches, a Long Island Ducks Baseball game, cluster meetings at Senior Community Counselor Cindy Garruba’s home, doing Global Awareness presentations in Suffolk County classrooms and libraries, decorating a holiday tree in Stony Brook Village, and decorating HELP Suffolk Homeless Shelter’s recreation room for the holidays.

Best of all, Au Pairs enjoyed the time they spent with their new friends and their host families. Happy New Year!! May we all learn from each other and have a peaceful and prosperous New Year!

On Monday, December 20th au pairs from China, Brazil, Thailand, Guatemala and Brazil visited the HELP Suffolk Homeless Shelter’s daycare center.   They did a Global Awareness lesson called “Holidays Around the World” for the children.  The class of 3 – 5 year olds loved the passports and stickers.  There were stickers for each country with a greeting of Happy New Year or Merry Christmas in the language of the au pair.  The kids learned how to say the greetings.  Marie from Germany told the kids about the Christmas tree and how the tradition began in Germany.  Then the children decorated foam trees with colorful decorations.  We ended with a story about Santa Claus and a lively round of” O Tannebaum” (O Christmas Tree)!

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Sihui earned a Global Awareness Certificate for teaching 2 lessons on Mandarian to fifth grade classes in Joseph Edgar Elementary School, Rocky Point, Long Island, NY.  Cindy Garruba, Senior Community Counselor for Au Pair in America in Suffolk County presented the certificate to Sihui Tan at the Annual International Holiday Party for the Suffolk Au Pairs.  The au pairs were excited for Sihui and several mentioned their plans to do Global Awareness presentations in classrooms very soon!    If you would like a Global Awareness presentation in a Suffolk County classroom, please email Cindy at Cindy722@aol.com.  If you are outside Suffolk, go to the Global Awareness website at http://www.globalawareness.com/.    

APIA Suffolk Au Pairs meeting in September was standing room only!!  Cindy Garruba, Senior Community Counselor, led the au pairs discussion of getting the children they care for back into routine for the school year.  The discussion including communication between the school and home through the backpack.  The backpack is the way notices, homework, classwork, and anything the student needs goes to and from school.  Also discussed was minimizing morning madness on school days.  We also discussed the healthy way to sneeze and cough to avoid spreading germs, not in the hand, but in the sleeve!!

After the discussion, we discussed lots of upcoming fall activities including the Annual NYC Scavenger Hunt for NY APIA Au Pairs.  Dessert, conversation, and a chance to meet the newest au pairs were a highlight of this fun and informative meeting.

New to Au Pair in America?

Each June Community Counselor Cindy Garruba teaches a cluster meeting to prepare her Au Pairs for the Long Island Summer Childcare.  All of the Suffolk County Au Pair in America Au Pairs will spend time at a beach or pool with their host children.  It is important that they learn water safety and prevention of drowning.  An experienced former Red Cross Lifeguard and Swim Instructor, Cindy stresses safety tips from her years of experience growing up along the Long Island Sound Shore. 

Cindy also does training on sunscreen and sunburn prevention, basic first aid for cuts and scrapes, poison ivy identification and treatments, identification of ticks, lyme disease symptons, rashes, prevention and treatment recommendations. 

This training is essential for a safe and fun summer in Suffolk County Long Island, NY.

Smmer Safety meeting at Cindy's Beach house

Saturday, June 19 our cluster had a booth at the Southold Craft Fair.  We sold international food made by the au pairs, sold crafts we made, taught kids about their cultures, handed out Au Pair in America brochures and had a wonderful time.  All funds raised go to the Southampton Fresh Air Home Summer Camp for Disabled Children.  Thanks to all who contributed time, effort and bought our crafts, food and raffle!!