Tag Archives: new orleans live in childcare

Easy Craft Ideas for Children

NOLkidcraftDoing crafts with host children is one of the most fun things that au pair’s job entails. Here are a few ideas that will help children develop their creativity.
Play dough
Combine 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of salt. Add 1 cup of water and 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil. Mix and knead well. If too stiff, add more water, if too sticky add more flour. For colored play dough, add food coloring to the water before combining it with the other ingredients. STORE IN AN AIR TIGHT CONTAINER. If left out in the air the dough will harden.

Texture Coloring
Put different textures under drawing paper (scrap paper or the back of junk mail works just fine, you don’t need fancy drawing paper) and then color with a crayon. Try a comb, corrugated cardboard (that’s the bumpy cardboard from heavy boxes), sandpaper or different kinds of fabric. Or cut shapes out of light weight cardboard (old cereal or cracker boxes), put them under the drawing paper and rub the crayon over the top to make designs.
 
Crayon Etching
Completely cover the paper with heavy crayon markings of different colors. Then color over all the colors with one other color (black works best). Make a picture or a design with a toothpick or other pointed but not sharp object, it will scrape away the top color to show the colors underneath.
 
Paper bag masks
Use a large brown paper grocery bag for a mask by cutting out holes for the eyes (try it on the child to get them in the right place) and then coloring the face in fun ways with crayons. You can make different characters – a monster, a king or queen, animals etc. Cutting holes for the shoulders can also be helpful.
 
Space helmet
Cut an empty plastic gallon milk container into a helmet shape. Pretend you are on a trip into space.

Spreading the Word About APIA – Seminar for Au Pairs

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For more than 25 years, Au Pair in America has been the leading provider for intercultural live-in child care in the U.S. Since 1986, more than 90,000 of our au pairs have provided the highest quality care to American host families.

APIA au pairs who have been in the USA for at least two months are invited to attend a seminar to learn how to spread the word about APIA and encourage American families to experience all the benefits of excellent dependable childcare with a cultural flair.

The webinars will take place this Thursday, August 7th and Friday, August 8th.

To register please use the link below:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/886641042 – August 7th 11am

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/929907450 – August 8th 2pm

Happy Fourth of July!

NOLflagKnown as the Fourth of July and Independence Day, July 4th has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but the tradition of Independence Day celebrations goes back to the 18th century and the American Revolution (1775-83). In June 1776, representatives of the 13 colonies then fighting in the revolutionary struggle weighed a resolution that would declare their independence from Great Britain. On July 2nd, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later its delegates adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. From 1776 until the present day, July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence, with typical festivities ranging from fireworks, parades and concerts to more casual family gatherings and barbecues.

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Welcoming New Friends

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Summer months are the busiest arrival times for au pairs. Hundreds of APIA au pairs from many different countries arrive in Tarrytown, NY for a three-day orientation (and an introductory tour of NYC!!) before fanning out across the USA to join their host families for a fun and exciting year together.

For our Louisiana cluster it’s a busy time too – welcoming new friends, getting to know host families, sharing au pair advice, planning great times together.

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NOLSarahMelisaOld friends, Sarah from France and Melisa from Costa Rica.

NOLAliciaDorisNew arrivals, Alicia and Doris, both from France.

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Seasoned au pair, Kasia from Poland and a newbie, Anali from Peru.

Ana from Colombia Shares Her APIA Advantage Experience

All au pairs participating in the State Department approved au pair programs are required to complete 6 credits hours of academic work during a year-long match.

Au pairs who participate in Au Pair in America program can satisfy this educational requirement by taking APIA Advantage course offered online by UCLA. https://www.uclaextension.edu/aupairs/Pages/default.aspx

Part of the UCLA course consists of Community Involvement segment. Many au pairs find it especially interesting and enjoyable. Here Ana from Colombia shares her experience with APIA Advantage – American Studies Online.

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Global Awareness and Volunteer work

I had the opportunity to share my culture and Language with a great class of children at The Chapel Church in Baton Rouge, LA.  The kids belong to 3rd to 5th grade. They learned about my country, geographic information, customs, food and interesting facts. Also they learned some Spanish words and greetings. They had a lot of questions for me and I answered gladly. It is great to know that the kids in USA are very interested in different cultures.

I have been volunteering with this class since the beginning of May and I will stay with them for the summer term and maybe more time. This opportunity has gave me to me the chance to get involve with The Chapel community, other teachers and leaders who have supported my staying here in USA.

Cultural and Historical activities

Reef Bay Trail: This is one of the best hiking trails in the world, located in St. John USVI, it contains a great historical richness. The trail goes crossing the Reef Bay Valley in the island and during the way you can find ruins and old buildings from the colonization age. Sugar plantains, old houses, workers houses and Petroglyphs made by the ancients natives in the island, time before the colonizers arrived to the Americas.

Cemetery Tour New Orleans: New Orleans cemeteries have a great history and architecture, the thumbs belongs to very important and historically recognized families in the state.

Mardi Gras 2014: The famous festival in New Orleans and Baton Rouge shows in a fun way the history of the kings in Louisiana. Music, customs and food all at the same time at the same place.

St. Patrick’s Day: This is not an American date but they celebrate as own. All the Irish culture celebrate and shows to the world their culture.

5 de mayo: this is a Mexican day but USA has adopted it it. Mexican music and food is the celebration theme for this day.

A History Lesson at Laura Plantation

Laura Plantation in Vacherie, La is one of the many Creole plantations sitting alongside the Mississippi River outside of New Orleans.

The main building has a colorful façade reflecting Caribbean influences and compared to other plantation houses is less grand and nearly contemporary in look.  Located behind the main compound are old slave quarters displaying old time farm implements and a few pictures.

The fascinating story told at Laura focuses in equal measure on the plantation owners and slaves, giving visitors a fairly rounded picture of what life was really like on a Creole plantation in the nineteenth century.

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Following a lively and informative tour by our excellent guide, Dough, au pairs repaired to a nearby shelter to have some refreshments and enjoy the rest of the meeting.

We gave a big round of applause to Kirsty who is finishing her second very successful year with her host family and getting ready to return to England.

We also greeted two new au pairs, Desire from South Africa and Charlotte from France. Desire is a first time au pair, but Charlotte is a returning au pair who rejoined her former host family after a two-year hiatus back home in France.

We wish Desire and Charlotte a great year with their host families!

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Extension au pair:

Au pair who decides to extend her participation in the program either with her current host family or a new one. Au pair can extend for 6 months, 9 months or 1 year.

Returning au pair:

Au pair who decides to rejoin the program after a required two-year break. Au pair can match with her former host family or a new host family.

A Day at the Audubon Zoo

Last Sunday visit to the Audubon Zoo was both enjoyable and educational. Au pairs got to pet a tiny, three-week old alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) and learned, among other things, that “Komodo dragons are voracious eaters. A komodo dragon can eat as much as 80% of its body weight during a single feeding.”

Although au pairs agreed they could not eat anywhere close to their body weight  at one sitting (a sigh of relief from host parents!), they were sure they could out-talk any species on earth, including African Grey Parrots.

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Host Family International Day

Despite earlier threat from the tropical storm Karen, we had fabulous weather for our Host Family International Day in City Park. The children enjoyed making Friendship Rings and playing around the oaks while host parents and au pairs chatted about their experiences with the program and cultural adaptations.

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APIA Community Service Awards

VOLUNTEER!

This year for the first time Au Pair in America awarded Community Service Awards to au pairs who had volunteered in their communities during their year as au pairs in the States. There were three national winners and 15 state winners.

The competition for the awards was tough. A great number of au pairs submitted essays describing their voluntary activities. What they’d accomplished was “holly molly, she did that?” IMPRESSIVE!

Au pairs built houses with Habitat for Humanity, took care of dogs in animal shelters, walked in March of Dimes, helped recent immigrants, cooked and served meals for the homeless, worked in Food Banks, sang in church choirs, helped in nurseries, assisted patrons in libraries, and much more.

They described their experiences as: awesome, fulfilling, educational, fun, enriching, incredible, meaningful, invigorating, “best medicine for homesickness” and INSPIRING!

Many were happily surprised that so many Americans volunteer on a regular basis. They were even happier to see how easy it is to make friends when you work together!

To read more about APIA au pairs’ volunteer experiences please visit:

http://www.aupairinamerica.com/communityservice/2013_winners.asp



SUPER BOWL!!

Hi ladies,

We’ve been talking about SUPER BOWL for a while now, and TODAY IS THE DAY!!NOLSuper Bowl 2012 NO

Yes, this year New Orleans has the honor of hosting the Super Bowl for the tenth time. No doubt you’ll be watching THE GAME with your host families, so I thought you’d like to know a few facts about it.

  • The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL) which represents professional football at the highest level in the States.
  • New Orleans hosted 9 out of 46 Super Bowls and now we’ll catch up with Miami which held it the record ten times.
  • Super Bowl is the final game of the season that starts in the late summer of the previous calendar year.
  • The game is always played on what’s called the “Super Bowl Sunday”, and for many it’s one of the the most important days in the year, on a par with the New Year Day or Thanksgiving. Yes, ma’am!
  • Tickets to Super Bowl cost between $850 and $1,250 (and much more if you buy from scalpers!)
  • Our New Orlean’s team, THE SAINTS, won Super Bowl 44 following the 2009 season. The game was played Feb. 7, 2010 in Florida and people danced in the streets of New Orleans until wee hours!!! 🙂
  • The broadcast is often the most watched television program of the year. Wiki claims that “Super Bowl XLV, played in 2011, became the most-watched American television program in history, drawing an average audience of 111 million viewers.”  (Population of the USA is a little over 300 million.)
  • Because of the tremendous viewership (not only in the States but across the globe) the TV advertisements aired during Super Bowl cost a huge amount of money to make and to place. Consequently, they’ve become an important side show and the public eagerly waits to see which company will come up with the cleverest take.
  • Finally, why the bowl in the Super Bowl? The name comes from the shape of the football stadium which is often like a bowl.

Enjoy THE GAME!