Monthly Archives: July 2025

Coursera can be a great resource for your educational requirements.

In-person classes are the BEST way to achieve your State Department Mandated Educational hours. However, if you cannot find a course that fits your schedule or is affordable, an online class could be helpful. Special consideration can be given in some situations. Talk to your community counselor before registering for any online class.

Tips for using Coursera to obtain your educational requirement

You can take any online course from a USA-accredited college, university or technical school.

Google, Academy of Sports Medicine, IBM and Meta are examples of companies and institutions that are NOT accredited in the University system and cannot be used for your educational requirements. Many private companies will call themselves a ” college”. Please verify with your LCC that the school is accredited in the University system and accepted by the State Dept.

If you are interested in a Coursera course you can search through the options of the subject you are interested in. Each course will offer a different number of hours.

You must obtain 72 hours. Scroll to see the hours the class provides. Coursera charges a small fee per month OR for the “free” classes the certificate will cost approximately 49.00.

A certificate is necessary. Make an account with Coursera to have access to your certificate.

This should be emailed as a PDF to your LCC. Please don’t include in the body of the email. No texts will be accepted.

Most Au Pair will finish the course much quicker than is designated by Coursera. The Coursera classes are self-paced. This means that you can take them any time you have time.

You must get 72 hours.

You can only take one online course per semester. If the course doesn’t offer all 72 hours, you will need to wait to take another course in the next semester after 3 months. There is a spring, summer, fall, and winter semester. If you submit two certificates dated in the same semester, only one can be used!!!!!!

Your education must be finished 6 weeks before your term ends.

BE CAREFUL TO LOOK at the name of the college. Not all on Coursera are from USA colleges. BEFORE starting a class—send the link to your LCC to confirm it will meet the requirements.

Personal Enrichment:

Don’t know what career you want to have? 67 hours https://www.coursera.org/specializations/career-discovery

Want to be more successful?

70 hours https://www.coursera.org/specializations/professional-success-skills

Marketing:

Social Media Marketing: 40 hours https://www.coursera.org/specializations/social-media-marketing

160 hours Digital Marketing: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/digital-marketing?

Business:

Business Foundations Specialization 65 hours https://www.coursera.org/specializations/wharton-business-foundations

120 hours Innovation: From Creativity to Entrepreneurship Specialization

https://www.coursera.org/specializations/innovation-creativity-entrepreneurship

Human Resources 80 hours https://www.coursera.org/specializations/human-resource-management

Spanish:

80 hours https://www.coursera.org/specializations/learn-spanish

Psychology:

82 hours Foundations of Positive Psychology https://www.coursera.org/specializations/positivepsychology?

37 hours Social Psychology https://www.coursera.org/learn/social-psychology

40 hours Abnormal Psychology https://www.coursera.org/specializations/abnormal-psychology

English Language:

160 hours Teaching English to non-English speakers. https://www.coursera.org/professional-certificates/arizona-state-university-tesol

60 hours Introduction to Teaching English Learners Specialization https://www.coursera.org/specializations/intro-to-teaching-english-learners

80 hours Advanced Grammar and Punctuation https://www.coursera.org/specializations/advanced-grammar-punctuation

120 hours Business English Communication Skills https://www.coursera.org/specializations/english-for-business?

Health and Nutrition:

24 hours- Food Sustainability and Mindful Eating. https://www.coursera.org/specializations/food-sustainability-mindful-eating-healthy-cooking

80 hours Heathy Sustainable food and products. https://www.coursera.org/specializations/healthy-sustainable-foods-products

70 hours Essentials of Global Health. https://www.coursera.org/learn/essentials-global-health

20 hours Feeding the World https://www.coursera.org/learn/feedingtheworld

53 hours Engineering Health intro to Yoga and physiology https://www.coursera.org/learn/engineering-health-yoga-physiology?

80 hours Integrative Health and Medicine. https://www.coursera.org/specializations/integrative-health-and-medicine

Music 40 hours each course. Can only take one per semester!! https://www.coursera.org/specializations/songwriting#courses https://www.coursera.org/specializations/music-business https://www.coursera.org/specializations/musicianship-specialization

Camp Au Pair – Art Experiences

This week’s Camp Au Pair theme is Art Experiences.

Crafts, recipes, activities, and games related to art can all be found here on the Camp Au Pair – Art Experiences pinboard.

Culture Sharing – Share any specific forms of art that are popular in your home country (mosaics, origami, murals, fabric dying, etc.) Are there any famous artists from your country that you could share their works with your host kids?

Field Trips can be a great way for kids to learn and have new experiences. Get permission from your host parents before any outings. Check the websites before you go to be sure you understand the hours, costs, and whether advance tickets/reservations are required.

Online Art Fun – Here is a great website with lots of art activities including ones for older kids.

Webcams – You can do a google search for art websites with webcams. Here are a few to get you started:

Videos – Look for fun videos on YouTube about drawing and all kinds of art.

Books – Stop by your local library and look for books on famous artists and art.

Check YouTube for books on art being read aloud:

Image: teachkidsart.com

Camp Au Pair – Bugs & Butterflies

Next week’s Camp Au Pair theme will be Bugs & Butterflies.

More than 100 crafts, recipes, and activities related to all kinds of bugs, insects, butterflies, and spiders can be found here on the Camp Au Pair – Bugs & Butterflies  pinboard.

Field Trips can be an excellent way for kids to learn and have new experiences. Get permission from your host parents before any outings. Check the websites before you go to be sure you understand the hours, costs, and whether advance tickets/reservations are required.

  • Butterfly exhibits
  • Flower Gardens
  • Natural History Museums
  • Parks with Nature Areas
  • Zoo

Games – There are more bug and butterfly-themed games than you might expect. 

Outdoors – Kids today do not spend enough time outdoors. Take the kids in the backyard or another nature area (approved by your host parents) and do some activities related to this theme:

  • Allow them to search for bugs and butterflies.
  • Observe lightning bugs (also known as fireflies) in the evening. Here is a map showing what people call these little guys in different parts of the country.
  • After it rains, look for earthworms. Not bugs or butterflies, but very interesting creatures you can find in your own backyard.

NOTE: If you are outdoors with the children, be sure to check for ticks when you come back inside. Here is a blog post explaining the health risk ticks can pose and how to find and remove them safely.

Webcams – You can do a Google search for websites with webcams that allow you to observe bugs. Here are some to get you started.

Books – Make a trip to the library and/or check your kids’ bookshelf for books on bugs and butterflies. You may find some classics like The Very Hungry Caterpillar or The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle. You can also find books being read aloud on YouTube videos like this one.

Movies – There are lots of movies with insect themes.

  • The Ant Bully
  • Antz
  • A Bugs Life
  • The Bee Movie
  • Charlotte’s Web
  • James & the Giant Peach
  • Maya the Bee 
  • Miniscule: Valley of the Lost Ants
  • Wings of Life (documentary)

Videos – You can find many great videos of butterflies and insects on YouTube. Check out these videos for kids about bees and ants. All about Insects covers lots of tiny creatures who crawl and fly. Here are a few videos to get you started.

Image: minieco.co.uk

Back to School Planning

Back to school time is here. This can mean changes to the au pair schedule and possibly to the duties.  It is very important to communicate these changes to avoid problems.

Here is a list of topics to consider discussing:

  • Au pair’s work schedule
  • The children’s school and activity schedules
  • Where the children get dropped off and picked up and who will be doing this
  • What to do if a child is staying home sick, late to school, does not get off the bus (if they are supposed to)
  • Driving laws regarding stopping for school buses
  • How to tell if school has been canceled or delayed for bad weather
  • Add the au pair to your list of people allowed to pick up the kids from school and explain the process
  • What to pack for lunch
  • The routine after school (do they have free time before starting homework, what to give for a snack, any chores, where do they put their backpacks & lunchboxes)
  • How to communicate about what’s going on at school. Your Kids in Care logbook from Au Pair in America can be a great two-way communication tool for keeping track of schedules, afterschool activities and day to day info that needs to be transferred between host parents and au pair.
  • If your au pair will be the one going through the children’s backpack and helping with homework, consider designating an area for putting things that need to be read and/or signed by parents.

Here are some Printable Fill-in-the-Blank School Notes for parents. You can print these out and have them ready for times when the kids are absent, late, have an early dismissal or you need to give permission for something.

Check out Au Pair in America’s Pinterest School Tips and Ideas pinboard for things like organization ideas, back to school traditions, printable lunch box notes, and fun lunch recipes.

 

Camp Au Pair – Cars & Trucks

Next week’s Camp Au Pair theme will be Cars & Trucks.

Crafts, recipes, activities, and games related to all kinds of vehicles can all be found here on the Camp Au Pair – Cars & Trucks pinboard.

Field Trips can be an excellent way for kids to learn and have new experiences. Get permission from your host parents before any outings. Here are a few field trips that go with this theme:

  • Go kart track (even if they aren’t old enough to drive, watching the cars is fun.)
  • Look for construction areas where the kids can observe big machines in action. Kids should observe from the car or a safe area.
  • Keep an eye out for the trash truck and let them watch the truck in action.
  • Go to a drive-through car wash and/or let the kids make their own car wash at home.

Virtual Field Trips

  • Watch vehicles being assembled with virtual auto plant tours from Toyota & BMW.

Videos – Mighty Machines & Amazing Big Trucks are kid-friendly video channels showing machinery and big trucks in action. Look for fun videos on YouTube about cars and trucks.

Movies – Here are some movies that fit the cars and trucks theme.

  • Bumble Bee
  • Bob the Builder Mega Machines
  • Cars, Cars 2 & 3
  • Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
  • Go Karts
  • Speed Racer
  • The Love Bug
  • Turbo 

Books – Check your kids’ bookshelf for books on cars & trucks. You can also find many read aloud book videos on YouTube. Cool Cars , Little Blue Truck, The Garbage Trucks Are Coming Today, and With Any Luck, I’ll Drive a Truck  are a few fun ones to get you started.

Image: funlearningforkids.com

Southern Traditions for Fourth of July Celebrations!

 

Happy Fourth of July!

No other holiday can provide such a uniquely American experience. Being in the USA on Fourth of July can be wonderful and exciting anywhere in the USA. Search out experiences that you can remember long after this Fourth of July is over.

Here in the south, experience The Fourth with our southern traditions!!

Here are a couple of things you will want to accomplish:

Follow the Peachtree Road Racepeachtree race

Eat Watermelon outside and don’t worry if it drips down your arm!eating watermelon

See fireworks. Google closest Fourth of July fireworks to me. There will be HUGE fireworks in every city. Google, “Fourth of July fireworks” near me.”

fireworks

Hold a sparkler.

sparkler

Have a picnic with lots of friends.

picnic

Sit on a porch decorated with red, white and blue bunting and drink lemonade.

house with bunting

Grill something good to eat in the backyard!

https://www.loveandlemons.com/grilled-corn-on-the-cob

the Ask an American what the Fourth of July means to them.

natiospridethankyousoldiers2

Fourth of July celebrates our pride in the USA and our respect for the men and women who have fought and given of themselves to protect what we value most, our freedom.

Enjoy the Fourth of July!