Author Archives: Catherine McEaddy Holmes

Spring 2017 in Washington, DC

William Neuheisel

March 20th is the first official day of Spring, and the city is alive with so much to do. Take advantage of longer days and warmer temperatures to get outside and explore the city with your host kids. From cherry blossoms on the Potomac to Easter egg hunts at Hillwood or even Madame Tussauds, there truly is something for children of all ages. 

Activities from Some of Our Favorite DC Blogs:

Kidfriendly DC

Tiny Beans

Capital City Au Pairs (That’s right- don’t forget that this blog has plenty of ideas too!)

St. Patrick’s Day 2017

St. Patrick’s Day fun at our March cluster meeting (Photo: Scott Montgomery)

St. Patrick’s Day is on March 17th and has been celebrated in the US since 1737. St. Patrick is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. Traditional icons of the day are the shamrock, leprechaun, the color green and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Celebration Ideas on March 17th

  • Au Pair in America’s St. Patrick’s Day pinboard has lots of creative suggestions for crafts, baking, and other fun ideas.
  • Take your picture in front of a green fountain! The White House was designed by Irish architect James Hoban. For the past several years, the White House fountain has been dyed green on March 17th in celebration of the holiday.

Helping Young Children Learn Language

As an au pair, you have an important role in a child’s life. When you are caring for young children up to 45 hours per week, there are lots of opportunities to help them learn language. Many host parents are eager for their children to be exposed to a foreign language. If this is true of your host parents, you can try the suggestions below, in both English and your native language.

  • Read – Read to them daily, point out pictures and ask questions. Even if they can’t answer the questions, this is still modeling conversation.
  • Talk – Point out objects around them, names of their body parts, explain what you are doing and places you are going. Long before babies can speak, they benefit greatly from hearing someone speak to them.
  • Sing – You can sing childhood classics or make up your own silly songs. If you are looking for song ideas, HERE is a great website with lists of songs, lyrics and links to YouTube videos* of the songs.  Children’s music is also available at the public library and even on iTunes.
  • Words – As children move from toddlers to preschoolers begin to point out written language.
  • Writing – Toddlers and preschoolers can begin to learn pre-writing skills by drawing with crayons or doing finger paints.

*The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time for babies under 18 months of age. For children 18 months to 5 years, they recommend no more than 1 hour of high-quality content. You can play the songs on YouTube for the audio and not necessarily show the screen to the child.

Photo: Quinn Dombrowski (Flickr)

Options for Those Last Few Education Hours

How many total classroom hours do Au Pairs need to complete in their first year?

Image: Alan Cleaver (Flickr)

Image: Alan Cleaver (Flickr)

Au pairs are required earn at least six academic credits during their year by completing classes/courses at accredited US post-secondary colleges and universities. 

6 academic credits = approximately 8 CEUs = approximately 80 classroom hours 

(The absolute minimum accepted is 72 hours.)

Certain combinations of classes can leave you just a few hours short of the requirement. Here are several options for completing those last few hours. Prices listed are correct as of February 10, 2017 and are subject to change. Consult the university websites for full information.

Virginia International University Saturday Museum Classes
5 hours (.5 CEUs) for $40 (+$20 reg. fee)
Held almost every Saturday morning (10:30am) in DC. Metro-accessible locations.
Students will spend a day at a different museum each week and participate in an interactive, themed museum tour facilitated by ESL instructors.

University of Virgin Islands Experience America through Art Galleries & Museums
5 hours (.5 CEUs) for $40
Held once per month on a Saturday (10 am or 1:30pm) in DC. Metro-accessible locations.
Students self-guide through a local museum over a 3 hour period and complete an outside assignment. The assignment is creating a detailed pictorial report of the visit, due within 7 days of the course.

University of Virgin Islands Fitness Fridays
2 hours (.2 CEUs) for $20
Held once per month on a Friday evening (8 pm) in DC. Metro accessible location.
A fitness class where students will stretch, move and exercise. Register early, space is limited.

-adapted from a post by Christine Connally

Valentine’s Day Activities

Image: JWI_ValentinesOwl

Image: JWI_ValentinesOwl

Valentine’s Day is a time of love, friendship, giving, and caring. Americans use Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to tell friends and family how much they care.  Celebrated on February 14th, children usually exchange cards at school on that day or one close to the holiday. 

Au Pair in America’s Valentine’s Day Pinterest Pinboard has lots of ideas for fun crafts and activities:

APIA’s Valentine’s Day Pinterest Board

Have a happy Valentine’s Day!