Tag Archives: cultural childcare suffolk county
Saying Good bye to Au Pairs
Every au pair must return home to her country when she completes her Au Pair in America program. APIA wants to support au pairs as they take the step ahead into the “real world”! Some au pairs are heading to University to complete a degree or earn a masters, some are heading into the career world, and some might be heading onto another world adventure.
What ever our APIA au pairs are about to do, we want to prepare them as best as possible. Au Pair in America has started a Re-entry Resume building program for our au pairs. Field Reps/ Community Counselors, Cindy Garruba and Robin Leon have developed tools for au pairs to use to build their resumes. They have taken skills au pairs learn and translated them to meaningful terms to use on their resumes.
Counselors host cluster meetings or good bye coffees for au pairs as they leave. They now can add resume building into these farewells. APIA au pairs also earn education certificates when they complete their required classes. Once they return home, they also receive the Completion Certificate. Many also earn Global Awareness certificates for sharing their culture as lessons in US classrooms, youth groups, or organized groups. They often earn ESL or TOEFL certificates, too. Many au pairs from APIA love volunteering and earn Volunteer certificates from APIA. All of these certificates build their resumes, too.
Au Pairs from Au Pair in America are always a part of the family and we send them off with a good bye luggage tag that says:
“I’m going places with Au Pair in America!”
Summer & Water Safety is Important for Au Pairs on Eastern Long Island!
On Sunday, June 10th the Suffolk County APIA au pairs met at their Community Counselor’s home for their annual Water & Summer Safety Cluster Meeting.
When the au pairs first arrived they painted beach rocks to symbolize their country flags. June 14th is Flag Day and Cindy Garruba, the Community Counselor, thought this would be a good opening activity to give au pairs an opportunity to interact with one another and be creative.
Though the weather was cloudy, some of the au pairs did spend a little time on the beach before the safety lesson.
The lesson included summer safety tips on using sunscreen, warnings on sunburn, sunstroke, poison ivy, ticks and Lyme disease, mosquitos, and basic first aid for cuts & scrapes.
Every au pair on Long Island is near a beach, many have host families with pools in their backyard. Cindy, a former lifeguard and swim instructor, discussed safety around pools and on beaches. The biggest emphasis was on preventing accidents from happening!
After all of the important information was shared and discussed, Cindy served strawberries and cream. It is Strawberry season on Long Island and many of the farms will have festivals this month. The biggest festival is in Mattituck from June 14 – 17.
The Suffolk County Cluster of Au Pair in America is ready for a fun and safe summer!
Suffolk Au Pairs Celebrate Mom’s Day
Suffolk APIA au pairs prepared an International Cookbook for their host moms for Mother’s Day. They provided their favorite recipes from their countries and pictures with their host moms.
Au Pairs from Brazil, Colombia, Croatia, France, Germany, Panama, South Africa, and Thailand contributed recipes and gave the cookbook to their Host Moms as a gift. Feeling like part of the family is an essential part of the Au Pair in America program!
Special thanks to all the au pairs who contributed and their wonderful host moms. Thank you for sharing your cultures, your homes and your friendship!
Trek America Cluster Meeting
Travel and adventure awaits young women when they come to America with Au Pair in America. Trek America offers APIA au pairs 20% off their trips throughout North America!
Trek America guide Julie Patterson, comes fresh from an incredible season on the road, full of stories and enthusiasm to get au pairs out of their comfort zone and travel the incredible North American continent!
The au pairs listened intently to all the great trips offered. Great camping and hotel trips are available. Small groups travel together and everyone has a unique experience.Community Counselors, Cindy Garruba and Kristi Halpern invite Trek America every year to one of the cluster meetings. Cindy and Kristi also presented some tips on pedestrian safety and preventing distracted driving. Every quarter all Au Pair in America counselors teach their au pairs safety or childcare tips.
Refreshments were served, too. All the au pairs had a chance to ask questions and to socialize with each other. Cluster meetings provide au pairs a chance to make new friends every month!
Next month the Long Island clusters will be see SpongeBob the Musical on Broadway!
Happy Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s day is celebrated in the United States every year on February 14th. There are many stories and legends behind who the real St. Valentine was, but most scholars agree that he was a martyr who was killed by Roman soldiers because he was marrying people in secret at a time when marriage was outlawed. Later in the Middle Ages, a great writer named Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a poem as a present to King Richard II, who was going to be married soon. In it, he mentioned St. Valentine, and over time, the idea of Valentine’s Day became associated with the idea of love.
During the Victorian times (in the 1800s), Valentine’s Day became extremely popular! Men and women spent a lot of time making beautiful Valentine’s cards with ribbon, fancy paper and even lace. In those days, people were very reserved and they did not often say what they were feeling. Valentine’s day gave them a way to express their feelings to someone they were in love with anonymously. The sender would remain a mystery until they could speak more freely.
In the last few decades, Valentine’s day has changed a lot! Today we still exchange cards, but many people buy ready-made cards instead. We also give flowers or chocolates as a gift to remind people of our friendship and love for them. Most Valentine’s gifts and cards make use of the colors red and pink, and are decorated with images of hearts or roses. Another common symbol of love on this day is Cupid, the Roman god of love. He is usually shown as a little angel with a bow and arrow. According to legend, anyone who is struck by his arrows will fall in love.
Here are some links with ideas about how you can celebrate and have fun with the children you care for over the next couple of weeks!
Click here for Valentine’s Day Cards, coloring pages, recipes, crafts, games and puzzles: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/
Check out our Au Pair in America Pinterest page for Valentine’s Day for more ideas: https://www.pinterest.com/aupairinamerica/valentines-day/
Have fun!
Photo: Nathan Cooprider