Yearly Archives: 2017

Preventing Dehydration in Hot Weather

Dehydration means that the body lacks the necessary amount of fluid. Infants and small children are more likely to become dehydrated than older children or adults, because they can lose relatively more fluid quickly.

Here are some steps to take to make sure children remain hydrated in the summer months:

  • Encourage your child to drink plenty of water. On hot days, children should drink significantly more water than usual, as they are losing more due to the heat.
  • Do not wait until your child is thirsty to give him water. By the time they feel thirsty, they are already becoming dehydrated.
  • If your child is resistant to drinking enough water, have other liquids on hand for your child to drink throughout the day.
  • Be alert to changes in behavior. A child may act confused or more irritable when they are becoming dehydrated/overheated. Get them into cooler temperatures and drinking more fluids.
  • Dress your child in lightweight clothing in the summer months, particularly if she’ll be playing outdoors in warm weather. You may also consider clothes that are well ventilated as they do not trap heat close to the body.
  • When there are heat and/or air quality advisories because the weather is dangerously hot, you should avoid taking the children outdoors. Check with your host parents for further guidance on this topic.

Remember to follow these tips for yourself too, so you stay well hydrated.

Photo: Darwin Bell (Flickr)

Au Pairs learn Water & Summer Safety

The Suffolk County Au Pair in America cluster of Au Pairs gathered at Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba’s home to learn about Water & Summer Safety.

Every quarter the au pairs learn safety or childcare.  This time it was about being safe with their host children around water.  The main conversation was about preventing drowning.  Living on Long Island, every au pair will be at the beach or a pool this summer.  Learning to swim is the first step in water safety.  Most of the au pairs in the group are experienced swimmers.

Au pairs also learned about identifying poison ivy, how to avoid it and what to do if their host child or they come in contact with it or develop the rash.  We discussed ticks and the diseases they carry.  Using sunscreen, when to apply, how to avoid sunburn and ways to treat it were also covered. 

We celebrated the au pairs who are nearing the end of their year.  They earned education certificates for completing the education requirement of the program.

2 German Au Pairs also earned Global Awareness certificates for teaching lessons on their country in their host children’s classrooms.  They both volunteered regularly during their year and were awarded with volunteer certificates.  Vanessa volunteered in her host child’s classroom teaching German board games at lunch time.  Kristina volunteered in a local animal shelter.

After lessons and awards, each au pair shared something about themselves, including their plans for when they return home.  Cindy served local strawberries since it is strawberry season here on the North Fork of Long Island.  The au pairs loved the strawberries and cream shortcake.

They had fun on the beach and visiting with each other on the beautiful sunny Sunday.

APIA Creates Chalk Drawing for Riverhead Festival

Memorial Day weekend festivities included an art chalk drawing festival in Riverhead.  The Suffolk County Cluster of Au Pair in America had a lot of fun participating!

Juliana from Columbia designed the square. Sonia from Mexico and Community Counselor Cindy Garruba colored helped create and color the design. 

Sonia and Juliana working on the chalk drawing,

Juliana included the words she feels Au Pair in America means to her:

DREAM – BELIEVE – EXPLORE – LEARN

We had a great location right in front of to Suffolk Theater!

Holiday & Vacation Reminders

“Rest and be thankful.” – William Wordsworth

Holidays and vacations are a great opportunity to rest, recharge and explore the U.S.

Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start of summer travel season. Here are some reminders about program rules regarding holidays and vacations.

Holidays

  • Host families are not required to give au pairs any specific holidays.
  • Each host family will make different arrangements on holidays, some au pairs will be off and others will be required to work.
  • Au pairs should not make plans for holidays without checking with your host family first.

Vacations

  • Au pairs earns 2 weeks of paid vacation during the course of her year.
  • Vacation time should be mutually agreed upon.
  • All vacation should be preplanned (at least 4 weeks in advance.)
  • All au pair’s friends and/or family visits/vacations should be pre-approved prior to purchasing tickets.
  • If an au pair travels with her host family, it should be discussed in advance whether this is the au pair’s vacation or if she is working.
  • If an au pair travels with the host family to work, the host family is required to pay for her transportation, lodging and meals.

Important: If an au pair is traveling outside of the U.S., she must have her DS2019 signed (travel validation) PRIOR to her departure from the US. More information about this may be found here on the Au Pair in America website.

Photo: torbakhopper (Flickr)

Sunset & Pizza Cluster Meeting

The Suffolk County Cluster of Au Pair in America gathered on May 10th to enjoy each other’s company while watching the sunset on the Long Island Sound.  West Meadow Beach in Setauket is a beautiful spot with picnic tables and playgrounds.  Many of the au pairs take their host kids there to play on the playgrounds. 

Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba, treated the group to pizza and everyone had fun on the beautiful evening.  We even saw the spectacular full moon rising. 

 

 

 

 

Everyone shared a little about themselves, their country, their time here in the USA.  Every month the au pairs have a cluster activity organized by their Community Counselor.  Sometimes the activity is an event, like a Broadway Show or a baseball game.  Other times, it is a chance to get together and talk.  Often there is information learned about childcare and safety.  The meetings always provide an opportunity for the au pairs to make more friends.

Helping Young Children Learn Language

Being an au pair is an important role in a child’s life. When you are caring for a young child 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 foreign language. If this is true of your host parents, you can try the suggestions below, in both English and your native language.

Below are a few tips to start with, for more ideas, check out Ready at Five.

  • 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 being spoken to.
  • 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)

Handling Expenses

Host parents often ask for suggestions on how best to handle common expenses that occur as au pairs are caring for the children.

Miscellaneous Expenses

There are different ways to handle the little day to day expenses that come up.  Things like when an au pair takes the kids out for ice cream or picks up a gallon of milk.  Some families keep a cookie jar fund, a little cash that they set aside weekly or monthly for these types of expenses. Others give their au pair a prepaid debit card for this purpose. Below are some suggestions for avoiding problems with expenses.

Host Families

  • It’s important to be clear about how long this money should last and what types of expenses are approved.
  • Let the au pair know whether or not you expect receipts.

Au Pairs

  • Only spend the money on approved expenses.
  • If it is something you are not sure about, ask first.
  • Put your receipts in the cookie jar in place of the money to avoid any confusion.

Gas and Fare Cards 

Host families are responsible for the au pair’s transportation costs: to and from classes, cluster meetings and when driving the kids.

It is a good idea to figure out how much gas an au pair will use for these trips and either put gas in the car or give a gas allowance.   If your au pair is riding to classes or cluster meetings with another au pair, you should offer to share the cost of gas.

Au pairs are responsible for their own transportation at all other times.  You should replace the amount of gas used for personal use.

Photo: Andrea Travillian

Big Snow Coming Tomorrow!

60 degrees and feels like Spring is coming, but a major snow storm is expected to start during the night.  Here is the predicted snow map:

SLOT1_LIPlease be prepared to stay home and do activities with the kids inside.  Click here for some great ideas to keep everyone happy and busy!

When it stops snowing, get outside and build a snowman!

 

Basketball at SCCC

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The Au Pairs from APIA Suffolk County enjoyed an afternoon of college basketball.  The men’s team at Suffolk County Community College won their game today while the au pairs cheered along.

20170129_145234_resizedIt was Tabea’s last cluster meeting.  She earned her education certificate and we all wished her well on her next journey.  She is headed home to Germany and hoping to have a visit soon from the friends she met here.

 

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