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Welcome to Camp Au Pair in America!

When kids are out of school for the summer, it doesn’t take long for them to become bored and sometimes that leads to sibling squabbles and mischief. Even though they don’t realize it, they are usually missing routine and predictability in their daily schedule. One solution is to make fun plans to keep them busy! 

Each week this summer we will share a different Camp Au Pair theme. These weekly themes are designed to give you ideas to keep your host kids occupied and engaged all summer long. They will also be learning. (But shhhh, don’t tell them that part.) Check back each Friday, for the next week’s theme. This gives you a chance to make plans and gather materials for the next week. For each theme there will be crafts, games, snacks and activities. You can just use these ideas or add your own and customize the themes to fit the ages and interests of your host children.

Here are the themes you can look forward to:

  • Nature Exploration
  • Art Experiences
  • Under the Sea
  • Science (STEM)
  • Bugs & Butterflies
  • Cars and Trucks
  • Backyard Safari
  • Dinosaurs
  • Explore the World
  • Outer Space
  • Pirate Adventures
  • Princesses & Knights

Check out Summer Fun & Summer Holidays pin boards for even more ideas.

If you get some great pictures doing these activities with your host kids, please send those to your community counselor. We love to share your accomplishments and inspire other au pairs!

Let’s make this an amazing summer!

Au Pairs Have Fun!

New Canaan and Greenwich au pairs with Au Pair in America had fun at mini golf recently, and welcomed several new girls! New au pairs are arriving weekly, providing intercultural childcare and learning about American culture.

School Bus Safety

Never pass a stopped school bus regardless of whether you are driving behind the bus or driving towards it. When the bus stops to let children get on or off, you will see flashing lights and stop signs that come out from the sides of the bus. Expect children to be in the area. Wait until the bus begins to move, and then proceed with caution as children may still be along the roadside.

New Canaan Au Pairs Volunteer!

Despite the pandemic, Au Pair in America au pairs in New Canaan found ways to help those less fortunate among us and give back to the community that has welcomed them so warmly.

In September, Staying Put in New Canaan asked for help decorating face masks to be included in food baskets being delivered as part of it’s Celebration of Generations virtual luncheon. Au pairs in New Canaan volunteered to decorate 60 of the white cotton masks. An international group from Brazil, the Czech Republic, Peru, New Zealand, Germany, Colombia, Latvia, South Africa and Poland participated.

During the month of November, the group participated in an individual Turkey Trot 5K and raised $310 which was donated to the CT Food Bank. We celebrated doing good for others while promoting healthy habits.

To add cheer to the holidays for New Canaan’s elderly residents, au pairs decorated dozens of hand made cards that were distributed along with poinsettias and cookies to Staying Put in New Canaan clients. During virtual meetings in December, the girls shared holiday traditions and recipes from their home countries, promoting the cultural exchange which is the heart of the au pair program.

 

 

DRIVING WITH KIDS IN THE CAR

Driving with kids in the car can be particularly distracting especially if there is crying, whining, or some other issue that warrants attention. It is hard to ignore children who want attention, but when you are driving you need to remain focused on DRIVING!

  1. Be prepared. Before you put the kids in the car, make sure you have items that they may need easily on hand or within reach. For babies, plan to feed them before you depart– eating in the car may not be the best practice due to your limited ability to react to choking or spills. For older kids, put snacks, drinks and toys within easy reach. In all cases, make sure that any heavier items such as video games or larger books have a place to be stored (such as in the seatback pockets) so that they won’t become potential projectiles in the event of a crash.
  2. Make them wait. As unpleasant as it can be, tell the kids that you cannot help because you are driving and that they will need to wait until you can pull over or until you get to your destination. You may have to listen to a tantrum, but at least the child is restrained in a seat and cannot hurt anyone.
  3. Keep your eyes forward. Resist the urge to reach back or take your eyes off the road even when you’re stopped. It only takes a second for an accident to occur.
  4. Pull over. If you cannot deal with screaming and need to tend to your child immediately, pull over to a safe spot. It’s safer to get off the highway and go into a gas station, than move to the side of the road where you could face other hazards such as the possibility of getting struck by another vehicle.
  5. Use your mirrors. If your children are in rear-facing car seats, attach a mirror to the head restraint to be able to monitor them. It’s comforting to know you can still monitor the kids if there is something wrong without turning around.
  6. Set the ground rules. Educate children on car safety. Tell them that drivers need to pay attention to the road, so that everyone is safe. If they know you can’t and won’t react, then they won’t expect it.
  7. Distract the children. Try to distract whining children by engaging them in a song or game outside of the car. Have children’s music available to play. Pointing out school buses, fire trucks, and traffic lights always seems to work and soon they forget what was bothering them in the first place.
  8. Stay off the phone. For the safety of yourself and your children (and others on the road), do not use the cell phone to talk or text. You’re carrying precious cargo and your job is to transport them safely. IT IS AGAINST THE LAW TO USE THE CELL PHONE WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING! If you need to make a call, pull over to a safe place.

THE BACKPACK— Keeping it Organized

It is very important to review each child’s backpack every day. It is one of the important links between school and home. Backpacks quickly become disorganized and notices missed if not emptied every day. Here is a suggested daily routine that you can follow, or supervise your host children as they do it, depending on their age(s):

  1. After the student arrives home, empty the backpack on a table.
    2. Find the homework. Set it out in the homework area with all the supplies needed to complete the homework.
    3. Put the lunch box in the kitchen. Empty it, discard the garbage, and see if the child actually ate the lunch that was packed. Wash out the lunch box. Let host parents know what was not eaten.
    4. Find all notices sent home with the child. Find anything that needs to be filled out by the parents. If it is your responsibility to keep track of activities, put them on the calendar now. If not, make sure the parents see them.
    5. Make sure permission slips, fundraiser notices, book orders, photo notices and anything else that must be signed is done on time. Make sure these items get back in the backpack and the child turns them in on time. If a signed form and money is still in the back pack when the child comes home, the child forgot to give it to the teacher. Remind the child, tell the parent.
    6. All completed homework should be put in the homework folder in the backpack as soon as the homework is completed. Make sure there is a sturdy folder to put the homework in; this way the child knows where it is when he or she arrives at school, and the homework will stay neater 🙂
    7. In the morning, recheck for homework. Is it in the folder? Are all permission slips and notices requiring money in the backpack?
    8. Make lunch and put the lunch box in the backpack. If the lunch box is in the backpack there is less chance it will be left on the bus.
    9. Does the child need to bring anything else to school that day? Maybe he or she needs gym clothes, or something for show and tell. Put it in the backpack!
    10. At the end of the week, make sure all work sent home is placed out for the parents to see. Any dirty gym clothes should be taken out of the backpack and put in the laundry. The back pack and the lunch box should be wiped out and kept clean.

2020 AU PAIR GUIDE TO OBTAINING A CONNECTICUT DRIVER’S LICENSE

Currently, it can take weeks to obtain a license in CT so please give yourself time to complete the process.  Read this whole document– it’s complicated 🙁

Here is the DMV website detailing the process and the documents required.

Note: Au Pairs with German, French or Canadian licenses can transfer their licenses (treated as “out of state” transfer) at the Norwalk Department of Motor Vehicles. You only have to fill out an application and take the vision test. You do not have to do the 8-hour safety course. You will need the same documents listed below under #4.

 First obtain a Social Security Number. To apply for a restricted working social security card, you must go in person to the Social Security office at: 2 Landmark Square, Suite 105, Stamford CT 06901 (866-770-1881) with these documents:

–           Valid passport with J-1 visa stamp inside

–           DS-2019 form

–           I-94 card print out from the Customs and Border Control website

–           Proof of identification that is at least one year old (e.g. passport, driver’s license, birth certificate)                                                       

Required preparation for Connecticut driver’s license:

1)  Schedule an appointment online to take the written “rules of the road” knowledge test at the Norwalk Dept of Motor Vehicles (540 Main Ave. Norwalk CT).

2)   Study for your knowledge test. You can download the manual to study (available in English or Spanish) as well as an app with practice questions for your iPhone/iPad or Android (also in English and Spanish).

3)  Email your counselor two weeks before your written test and ask her to mail you a participation letter to prove your residency and that you are a current au pair.

4)  Take the written knowledge test and vision tests (bring your glasses if you wear them) at the Norwalk DMV:

You must bring with you documents from this list for “non-US born” applicants:

  • Passport with J-1 Visa inside
  •  Current DS-2019 form
  •   Hard copy printout of I-94 arrival form (print out here)
  • International Driver’s license
  • Home country license
  •  Social Security card
  • Letter from your Host Family stating that you are currently living with them as their au pair
  • Participation letter from your counselor postmarked within 90 days and sent to your host family’s address including the envelope addressed to you to prove that you are living at your host family’s address. Please contact your counselor at least one week before your written test date so that she can mail you the letter.
  • Recent bank statement or credit card bill addressed to you at your host family’s home to further prove residency (postmarked within 90 days old), in the envelope
  • $40.00 application fee

5)   Take the required 8-hour Safe Driver course at a driving school and get a CS-1 completion certificate required for taking the road test.  All driving schools offer this. There are two in New Canaan:

–           Lewis School of Driving—28 Cross Street, New Canaan, (203) 972-0242 – cost $150 but mention APIA for a discount– click here for info– the class is currently online

–           Fresh Green Light – 111 Cherry Street, New Canaan,  (203) 861-1188 – cost $150 – click here for course info – currently online

6)   When you have passed your written and vision test and scheduled your 8 hour safe driving course, you can schedule your driving test online here.  You should schedule your driving test at the Bridgeport DMV – please DO NOT schedule it at the Danbury location as we have had issues with foreign licenses there. Remember, your test must take place AFTER you have completed your Safe Driving course.

7)    Take your road test– review documents and the road test here

Make sure you have with you:

  • A copy of your road test appointment confirmation page (which is emailed to you when you make your appointment online)
  • Your CS-1 Driver Education certificate proving completion of Safe Driving Class
  •  An R-229 form application for a Non-Commercial Driver’s license.  Download the form ahead of time here and fill it in to bring with you.
  • Vehicle registration, car insurance card AND a letter from your host family stating that they are giving you permission to drive their car for the road test
  • Out of country license and international driver’s license along with ALL other paperwork listed above in required documents for knowledge test
  • License fee of $84

8)    Once you pass your road test, your license will be valid for 5 ½ – 7 years depending on your date of birth.

You will receive your driver’s license through the mail to your home address.  You can track the delivery of your license here. Good luck!

July 4th

Independence Day, or July 4th, commemorates the day the American colonies declared independence from Great Britain in 1776. It is a day of celebration, relaxation and hopefully safe times with family and friends.  Often, this day is focused on BBQs and fireworks. To learn more about the historical context, read on.

Abraham Lincoln: https://www.nps.gov/liho/learn/historyculture/declaration.htm

Now, my countrymen, if you have been taught doctrines conflicting with the great landmarks of the Declaration of Independence; if you have listened to suggestions which would take away from its grandeur, and mutilate the fair symmetry of its proportions; if you have been inclined to believe that all men are not created equal in those inalienable rights enumerated by our chart of liberty, let me entreat you to come back. Return to the fountain whose waters spring close by the blood of the Revolution. Think nothing of me – take no thought for the political fate of any man whomsoever – but come back to the truths that are in the Declaration of Independence. You may do anything with me you choose, if you will but heed these sacred principles. You may not only defeat me for the Senate, but you may take me and put me to death. While pretending no indifference to earthly honors, I do claim to be actuated in this contest by something higher than an anxiety for office. I charge you to drop every paltry and insignificant thought for any man’s success. It is nothing; I am nothing; Judge Douglas is nothing. But do not destroy that immortal emblem of Humanity – the Declaration of American Independence.

Frederick Douglass –Frederick Douglass was a fiery orator and his speeches were often published in various abolitionist (anti-slavery) newspapers. His well-known speech presented in Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852, is often studied in literature classes today. Douglass moved to Rochester in 1847, when he became the publisher of The North Star, an abolitionist weekly. There were approximately 500 attendees who heard him speak, each paying twelve and a half cents.

 The links below include transcripts of the speech, a live version read by James Earl Jones and a virtual free class on it being offered over the next few days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0baE_CtU08

https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/

https://stbarts.org/event/1829422-2020-07-01-frederick-douglass-fourth-of-july-oration/

President Harry S. Truman , July 4 1951:

The principles of the Declaration of Independence are the right principles. They are sound enough to guide us through this crisis as they have guided us through other crises of the past. Freedom can overcome tyranny in the 20th century as surely as it overcame the tyrants of the 18th century. There is a text inscribed on the Liberty Bell, the bell that rang out a hundred and seventy-five years ago to announce the signing of the Declaration of Independence. When the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly ordered that bell for the statehouse in Philadelphia, they directed that it should bear certain words, “well-shaped in large letters.” You remember what those words were: “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” We should write these words again today. We should write them in everything we do in this country—”well-shaped in large letters”—by every deed and act, so that the whole world can read them.

Emma Lazarus, “The New Colossus” (1883) – Written to raise funds for the base of the Statue of Liberty, this famous poem is engraved on it for all to see. The lines “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” speak volumes to the nation of immigrants. Emma Lazarus was an American author of poetry, prose, and translations, as well as an activist for Jewish causes. She wrote the sonnet “The New Colossus” in 1883. Its lines appear inscribed on a bronze plaque, installed in 1903, on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. https://poets.org/poem/new-colossus?gclid=CjwKCAjwi_b3BRAGEiwAemPNU5p8KNMlkalKwZA7Dl3rY8BZMLinfQVoU6N1Tv_6_mV62I7P7IAaVhoCIbYQAvD_BwE

Claude McKay, “America” (1921) – A love sonnet written by a leader of the Harlem Rennaissance, “America” portrays the poet’s adoration for the country while, at the same time, confronting the troubles he has seen in his community. https://shenandoahliterary.org/blog/2014/03/america-by-claude-mckay-1921/

With freedom comes responsibility.                                                                                                        Eleanor Roosevelt

THE IMPORTANCE OF HAND WASHING

Kids don’t always listen when adults tell them to wash their hands before eating, after using the bathroom, or when they come inside from playing. But it’s a message worth repeating — hand washing is by far the best way to prevent germs from spreading and to keep from getting sick.

First Line of Defense Against Germs

Germs can spread many ways, including:

  • touching dirty hands
  • changing dirty diapers
  • through contaminated water and food
  • through droplets in the air released during a cough or sneeze
  • on contaminated surfaces
  • through contact with a sick person’s body fluids

When kids come into contact with germs, they can unknowingly become infected simply by touching their eyes, nose, or mouth. And once they’re infected, it’s usually just a matter of time before the whole family comes down with the same illness. Good hand washing is the first line of defense against the spread of many illnesses — from the common cold to more serious infections.

Washing Hands Correctly

Here’s how to scrub those germs away. Teach this routine to your kids — or better yet, wash your hands together often so they learn how important this good habit is:

  1. Wash your hands in warm water. Make sure the water isn’t too hot for little hands.
  2. Use soap and lather up for about 20 seconds. Make sure you get in between the fingers and under the nails where germs like to hang out. And don’t forget the wrists!
  3. Rinse and dry well with a clean towel.

To minimize the germs passed around your family, make regular hand washing a rule for everyone, especially:

  • before eating and cooking
  • after using the bathroom
  • after cleaning around the house
  • after touching animals, including family pets
  • before and after visiting or taking care of any sick friends or relatives
  • after blowing one’s nose, coughing, or sneezing
  • after being outside (playing, gardening, walking the dog, etc.)

Don’t underestimate the power of hand washing! The few seconds you spend at the sink could save you trips to the doctor’s office.