Tag Archives: long island childcare

Au Pair in America & Stony Brook Holiday Festival

Au Pair in America Suffolk County Cluster enjoyed a great Host family day at the Stony Brook Holiday Festival.  APIA was a proud sponsor of the event again this year.

Lots of host families and au pairs visited.  

Children made ornaments, everyone decorated the APIA International Peace Tree.

Santa arrived on a firetruck to listen to the children’s wishes.

There were carolers, a petting zoo, and a Puppet Parade featuring local legends and spies from the Revolutionary time.

A fun filled day.  Over 60 trees are decorated and on display until January 2, 2020.  You can vote for your favorite.  APIA’s tree in number 111 to the left of the Post Office.  Happy Holidays!

Au Pairs Graduate from SCCC ESL Program!

IMG_20150515_191959 IMG_20150515_192230Suffolk County Community College has an excellent ESL program for adult students.  Many Au Pair in America au pairs choose SCCC for their required college classes.  Since there are 5 levels of English classes to graduate from the ESL program, often au pairs will extend for a second year because they want to complete the 5 levels.IMG_1354

SCCC held ESL graduation on Friday, May 15th at 7:30 PM at the Van Nostrand Auditorium on the Grant or Western Campus of the college. The ceremony was very moving with several graduates telling stories about their journey to the USA and why they came.  The au pairs all dressed up, friends, host families, and even a family from Germany came to watch their au pairs graduate.

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This Spring 6 Au Pair in America Au Pairs graduated from the ESL program.  Congratulations to Maria Tarnopolskaia, Judith Berthold, Carolin Maier, Min Wu, Nathalie Wurfel and Manuela Nascimento. As their Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba was happy to attend the ceremony and congratulated each individually with roses.

2 au pairs writings were featured in the program tonight. Shoot for the Moon Think Big IMG_6100The State Department requires each au pair attend an accredited College or University for 6 credits or 72 hours of post secondary education for each year in the USA.  Host families contribute $500 towards this education requirement.  One semester of ESL satisfies the requirement, but many au pairs attend for several semesters.  Au Pairs can stay for 2 years in America.

 

 

Happy Mother’s Day!

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Sunday, May 10th is Mother’s Day!  I want to take this opportunity to thank all the Host Moms for all they do for their Au Pairs.  I hope the day is extra special and that you each have time to enjoy the day with your families!

“Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother.” Zora Neale Hurston

MOTHER’S DAY AROUND THE WORLD
A special day in the honor of mothers, Mothers Day is celebrated in several countries around the world though on different dates. In a large number of countries including US, Mothers Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in the month of May, but in many other countries Mothers Day is celebrated in an entirely different time of the year. But what ever may be the date of Mother’s Day around the world, the spirit is the same everywhere. Everywhere in the world mothers are respected for their extreme devotion towards their kids. And on Mother’s Day children pay their humblest tribute to their mothers and thank them for giving them birth and providing them with the best of care and upbringing.

 

 

 

Au Pair Visits Pre-School Class

ALICE BROWN EARLY LEARNING CENTER -Ms. Caligiuri’s pre-k class had a visit from Andrea Vargas Guerrero.  Andrea is an Au Pair with Au Pair in America in Huntington, Long Island. Ms. Caligiuri wrote this about Andrea’s visit: andrea picsThis morning, Charlotte’s Au Pair, Andrea, visited the class to speak with the Pre-K 3 children about her home country Colombia! Andrea explained to the children about the several differences between the United States and Colombia. Colombia is a Much Smaller Country Than America Andrea showed the children on a map how small Colombia is when compared to the United States. The Colombian Flag VS. The American Flag Andrea also spoke about the Colombian flag and how different it is from the American flag. Breckin: The flag of America is red, white, and blue. Mason: And there are stars and the stars are for each of the states. Andrea showed the children what the Colombia flag looks like. Andrea: The Colombian flag has three colors…yellow, blue and red. She then gave each child their own sticker of the Colombian flag.                                                                                                                      At the end of Andrea’s visit, she taught the children how to count up to ten in Spanish. She showed a book of numbers, and while the children said each number in English, Andrea said it in Spanish. After going through the whole book, Andrea played a game with the children, where she said a number in Spanish and the children were asked to jump that number.    Thank You Visiting Our Class Andrea!!!!!

A Spring Sunday Walk Across the Brooklyn Bridge

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On Sunday, April 27th Long Island Au Pairs from Au Pair in America walked from Borough Hall in Brooklyn to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge.  Lots of people were walking around the city and across the bridge on the beautiful Sunday afternoon.

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The Long Island Community Counselors organized the afternoon and joined the au pairs on the walk.  Cindy Garruba, Eileen Friedman and Andrea Wax enjoy spending time with the au pairs in their cluster.  Next month the clusters will be going to Bullets Over Broadway, a new Broadway musical.  Most of the au pairs will be seeing their first show on Broadway!

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Daylight Savings Time This Sunday, March 9

Spring ahead

Most of the United States begins Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and reverts to standard time on the first Sunday in November. In the U.S., each time zone switches at a different time.

Change your clocks before you go to bed on Saturday, March 8.  Put your clocks ahead ONE HOUR.  This will give us one hour more of daylight beginning on Sunday, March 9.

The Daylight Saving Time 2014 time change is fairly simple: Most anything computerized, from a cell phone to a laptop, jumps ahead on its own. Most other watches and clocks need to be reset manually.

Spring forward, Fall back!

Backyard Camp Au Pair in America Animal Safari

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Au Pair in America’s at home summer camp for kids and au pairs  ANIMAL SAFARI!

Take a look at the great ideas for fun this week:

http://pinterest.com/aupairinamerica/camp-au-pair-animal-safari/

February Cluster Meeting

DSCN0384Last weekend’s snow storm pushed our celebration of Chinese New Year a week later, but we enjoyed learning all about it and how to make Chinese Dumplings from Yujue, an au pair from China!  She taught us about the Chinese Zodiac, how the new year is celebrated in China.  Then she taught us how to make Chinese dumplings, which were delicious.DSCN0399DSCN0395

DSCN0410Cindy Garruba and Nancy Picart combined their clusters at Cindy’s house for the meeting.  Cindy led the group in filling out their tax forms, reviewing some school information for classes au pairs can take, safe driving tips from the DMV, childcare activities for fun on days when you have to stay inside, and then we learned some heart idioms in celebration of Valentine’s Day. Nancy Picart made a Valentine dessert for everyone, we handed out candy kisses to all the au pairs. DSCN0402

DSCN0407It was the last cluster meeting for Juliana from Brazil! She will be traveling around the USA for her bonus travel month, then returning to Brazil.  Cindy presented her with a certificate, a good bye gift and all the au pairs cheered her accomplishments.  Juliana has been an au pair for 2 years!  We look forward to hearing more about her trip and her success in years to come!DSCN0383

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Happy Boxing Day!

boxing dayWhat exactly is Boxing Day?

Boxing Day is celebrated on December 26th. Boxing Day, also known as the Feast of St. Stephen (after the first Christian martyr), originated in England in the middle of the nineteenth century under Queen Victoria. It originated as a holiday for members of the merchant class to give boxes containing food and fruit, clothing, and/or money to trades people and servants. The gifts were an expression of gratitude similar to the bonuses many employers offer their employees today. These gifts, usually given in boxes, gave the holiday its name, “Boxing Day.”

Today, Boxing Day is a holiday in the United Kingdom, Canada, and many other Commonwealth nations. It is a time for family and friends to gather with lots of food and fun. Outdoor sports such as soccer, horse racing and hunting are popular on this holiday. Retailers offer huge savings on many items on this day, making it the biggest shopping day of the year in Canada.

So Thankful this Year!!

happy-thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a holiday all Americans celebrate and the Au Pairs enjoy the holiday with their host families.  The Suffolk County Cluster of Au Pair in America took the time to express what they are grateful for this Thanksgiving.

2013 Au Pairs are Thankful for………………………..

Staying in America for a year and meeting new girls. I am thankful that my family and friends are healthy.

Being here in the USA and having a great family at home which helps me not getting too homesick.

Travel to the USA, being in Michigan and meeting awesome friends, awesome places, then travel to New York and finding a great host family.

My time here in the United States, the friends I’ve made and my host family has been so supportive.

All the wonderful people I have met thus far on my time in USA. My great host family and all the memories that will last me a lifetime.

All the people who love me.

My mom and my siblings, that they are there for me when I need them and that we help each other every time. I am thankful for the possibility to spend one year here in America.

My new host family, because the rematch was so hard and I feel so happy now in this host family. I can finally enjoy this new experience in America.

Having a lovely host family, the support from my family and friends at home, my strength to go through all this so far away from everything I know, all my possibilities her in the US., all the people I have gotten to know and will get to know…..

The supportive family and friends I left behind. The struggle it has taken to be here, the amazing host family I’ve come to know and the amazing friends I have made and have yet to make.

My host family – my friends and family who are at home – the opportunity to be here – my life and my health

Being here in America, for supportive, loving family and friends back home, to be able to travel and meet new people, to be blessed with such a great host family, to be healthy, etc.

Waking up every day and having the opportunity to learn something new. I am thankful for nature.