Tag Archives: suffolk county babysitters

Host Family Celebrates 2nd Year With Their Au Pair

FoneFone Champaiporn has spent one year with the Kull family in the Hamptons, Long Island.  Back in November her host family said this about Fone, “We are grateful to our au pair Fone because she is a lovely and kind person. She truly cares for our children and she is interested in everything that our family does. In just a few months, she has > become an integral member of our family (much appreciated also by grandparents on both sides) and we cannot imagine being without  her!!!

Fone is a young woman from Thailand.  She graduated from Silpakorn University where her major was French and minor was English.  She loves languages and wanted to spend time in the USA really learning our culture.  Au Pair in America was the perfect way for her to combine her love of children and dream to experience America.  On April 19,2011 Fone began her second year with her host family.  Au Pairs originally come for one year, but have the option to extend for 6, 9 or 12 more months.  Fone and her host family are very happy that they had this option. 

 Fone 1 yearTo celebrate her second year with their family, Fone’s host family surprised her with some gifts.  She was truly touched and said this in response, “It was a cute surprise from my host family for my first anniversary in the USA!  It makes me love them even more! <3 ^_^

happy-anniversary-balloon-bouquet

Happy Passover!

    Passover begins at sunset on Monday, April 18, 2011. Its celebration continues through the evening of Tuesday, April 26, 2011.

    What is Passover?

    Passover, or Pesach commemorates the Israelites Exodus from Egypt. Its name refers to the passage in the Book of Exodus (12:11) when God “passed over” the houses of the Israelites during the tenth plague. Passover is one of three pilgrimage festivals, along with Sukkot and Shavuot.

    What are some Passover customs and practices?

    passover sederIt is traditional on Passover to only eat unleavened food. Many rid their entire house of hametz (food that is not kosher for Passover) or sell their leavened food to a non-Jew for the eight days of the holiday. The Passover seder is for the most part held on the first and second night of Passover, though some only participate in a seder on the first night. During the seder participants recount the story of the Exodus while drinking four cups of wine.

    What foods are traditionally eaten on Passover?

    The most common food eaten on Passover is Matzah, a cracker-like replacement for bread. During the Seder other unique foods are eaten, like haroset, a mixture of apples, nuts, wine, and spices. For the duration of the holiday, all leavened foods are prohibited.

    Passover for Families

    Have young kids? Check out these links from Kveller.com for making the holiday fun for the entire family.

    Happy New Year to all of our Thai au pairs, colleagues and friends,

    thai

     สงกรานต์

    Songkran (สงกรานต์) is the traditional Thai New Year water festival which starts on April 13 every year.  It is a national holiday in Thailand.

    The festival lasts for 4 days. Maha Songkran Day is the first day of the celebrations which marks the end of the old year. April 14, Wan Nao is the day between the ending of the old year and the beginning of the New Year when foods are prepared for the temples. The third day of Songkran, April 15, is Wan Thaloeng Sok – the day on which the New Year begins and on the last day, Wan Parg-bpee, the ancestors and elders are honored.

    Happy Songkran everyone!

     Read more about this special holiday at http://www.chiff.com/home_life/holiday/thai-songkran.htm

    Broadway in April

    NYC 006On Saturday, April 2nd the Long Island Clusters of Au Pair in America went to NYC to see the new Broadway show “Baby It’s You!”  The show is in previews and officially opens April 27th.  We all loved the show which featured songs made famous by the Shirelles.  Baby Its You 2

     

     

     

    baby its youBABY IT’S YOU! is the original Broadway musical inspired by the true story of Florence Greenberg, a suburban housewife from New Jersey, who discovered one of the greatest girl groups of all time, The Shirelles, and created Scepter Records, becoming the music industry’s first female powerhouse.

    Second Graders Experience Brazil!

    Bruna Effting from Brazil, an au pair with Au Pair in America, taught an lesson on her country to second graders at the Wenonah Elementary School in Lake Grove, NY.  Bruna is a teacher in Brazil and enjoyed being back in a classroom sharing her country with America students. 

    Bruna lesson included locating Brazil on the world map.

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    Then she taught the students how to say “Qual e’ sue nome?”  Portugese for ‘What is your name?”  They learned to answer “Meu nome e’ _______” or “My name is _______”, they each had a chance to answer.

    Bruna explained that seasons are opposite in Brazil and the students were surprised that the kids in Brazil go to school from February till early December.011

      The most exciting part of the lesson was about Folklore.  Bruna explained that in Brazil folk stories are very important and are explanations of how things came to be, many are about the beautiful fauna and flora of Brazil.  The children were enthralled in Bruna’s lively storytelling of “The Legend of Iguazu Falls!”

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    Her lesson was a required Global Awareness component of her UCLA college class, an online course exclusively offered to Au Pair in America au pairs.  

    Each au pair must enroll  in and attend courses at a post-secondary institution during the exchange program,  Host families on the Au Pair and Extraordinaire programs pay tuition and fees (books, etc.) up to $500  Host families establish agreeable time frames to attend classes, assist with course registration and provide transportation to and from classes.  Au pairs must complete no less than six hours of academic credit or its equivalent during the first 12-month exchange.

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    Each student wrote a sentence about what they learned about Brazil.  They then drew a picture about what they learned.  Several drew the Brazilian flag.  They learned that the green on the flag represents the forest, the yellow is for the gold that was discovered in Brazil, the blue for the sky, the white stars represent the 27 states in Brazil.   Bruna and the students attached their work to a poster board and they kept it for the classroom.  

    What is Global Awareness? www.globalawareness.com 

    Global Awareness is an educational program designed to promote multi-cultural understanding and appreciation in elementary and middle school classrooms.  Global Awareness is sponsored by the American Institute of Foreign Study www.aifs.com, Founded in 1964, the American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS) is one of the oldest, largest and most respected cultural exchange organizations in the world.  Au Pair in America is a division of AIFS.  www.aupairinamerica.com

    St. Patrick’s Day Parades in Suffolk County

    62nd Annual Friends of St. Patrick Parade

    Rocky Point, NY st pat

    Sunday, March 11 at 1:00 PM.

    Location
    Route 25A Rocky Point, NY
    Parade starts steps off at Harrison Avenue in Miller Place travels east on Route 25A to Broadway in Rocky Point, then north to Gracie’s Restaurant (Broadway and Prince Road), viewing stand at corner of Broadway and Route 25A.   2.5-mile-long parade route includes at least five marching bagpipe bands, fire departments from six surrounding communities, Stony Brook University marching band, cheerleaders and mascot Wolfie, Peconic Warpipes Bagpipe and Drums, Longwood and Rocky Point high school bands, Irish step dancers, 25 floats and nearly 50,000 spectators.
     

    Sunday, March 11

    Long Island’s oldest and largest parade of its kind, the 77th Annual Huntington St. Patrick’s Day Parade starts at 2 p.m., north of the Huntington Station along New York Avenue, then turns west onto Main Street, and ends at Saint Patrick’s Church.

     

    Annual Westhampton St Patrick’s Day Parade   

    Sunday, March 11 Noon
    Westhampton Beach, NY
    Phone: 631-560-6392
    Website: http://whbstpats.com
     Steps off at intersection of Mill Road and Oneck Lane in Westhampton Beach, travels down Mill Road to Main Street, then west on Main Street, ends at corner of Sunset Lane and Main Street

    Parade includes six pipe bands, Samba de Escola Boom, Irish step dancers, Wells Fargo Stage Coach, Rough Riders Calvary of the Nassau-Suffolk  Horsemen’s Association, Civil War re-enactment groups, floats and the ever-popular Coneheads satirical float.

    A few more parades:

  • Huntington- Sunday March 11, 2012 @ 2pm
  • St. James- Saturday March 17, 2012 @ 1pm
  • Montauk – Sunday March 25, 2012 @ 10am – 5oth Annual Parade!

    • Mardi Gras Fun With Kids

    March 8 Mardi Gras

    Mardi Gras, French for “Fat Tuesday” marks the end of Carnival and the beginning of the Christian fasting of Lent.  The biggest Mardi Gras celebration in the US is in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Rio de Janeiro in Brazil also has a huge celebration.  Find a Brazilian au pair in your cluster and ask her to tell you all about it.

    Make Mardi Gras Pasta Necklaces

    Coloring pasta is easy to do and gives kids something bright and beautiful to work with. Once the pasta is colored and dried, necklaces can be made by stringing on yarn.

    colored pasta necklace

    Supplies for Colored Pasta:

    • Dried Pasta – any pasta works, but for stringing you will need tubed pasta. I used macaroni, penne, and wheels.
    • Food coloring
    • Rubbing alcohol
    • Plastic baggies
    • Paper towels
    • String or Yarn

    Place your dried pasta in a zip plastic baggie. Pour in 3-4 drops of your food coloring. Pour in 1 Tablespoon of Rubbing Alcohol. Now seal the bag and shake it all together. Make sure each piece of dried pasta gets coated.

    Pour your colored pasta out on paper towel lined trays. Food coloring can stain, so be careful. You’ll want it completely dry before you start to work with it again, as you don’t want any color to drip. I put mine out in the sun to dry faster.

    Get out your string or yarn and cut the length of a necklace for your child. Then tie a knot at one end, big enough that the pasta will stay there. I like to tie pasta in my knotted end so the others won’t fall off. I also like to put a little tape around the top of the string so it won’t fray as you string. 

    Have your child string on pasta, all sizes and shapes. You can introduce patterns or do counting with your child.  Once they’ve hit the end of their string, tie the two sides together for a necklace around your child’s neck.

    Make Mardi Gras Paper Plate Masks 

    PaperPlateMask5

    Supplies for Masks:

    • Paper plates
    • Color construction paperPlastic baggies
    • Markers and/or crayons
    • Glue
    • Stickers
    • Glitter
    • Craft feathers
    • Hole punch
    • String

     

    Cut a paper plate in half (you can make two masks per plate this way).

    Cut eye holes in the half plate.

    Shape the mask by cutting around the edges–scallops, points, curves or whatever suits you. Be sure to cut a curved groove between and beneath the two eye holes for the nose.

    Place a line of white glue around the eye holes and along the edges of the mask. If you want, you can also create swirls or other patterns with glue on the mask.

    Sprinkle glitter on top of the glue while it is still wet. Allow the glue to dry.

    Decorate the mask as you see fit once the glue is dry. Use markers to color the white paper plate; glue feathers, beads or cut-out construction paper shapes to the mask; or add anything else that might make the mask colorful and festive.

    Punch one small hole on each side of the mask and tie a string into the holes.

     

    Au Pair in America Partners with AAA

    AAA

    The most trusted choice for live-in childcare, Au Pair in America has partnered with AAA, the nation’s most trusted name in driver safety and instruction, to offer a custom course specifically designed for au pairs. This course differs from those offered in your community, in that AAA has taken the best of several of their courses, adapted them to be the most accessible to the au pair population, with special focus on driver and child passenger safety.  Key components of the course include:

    • Driver Safety
    • Child passenger safety (car seats, communication, expectations)
    • Communication and traffic devices
    • Vehicle Awareness (understanding what your vehicle is “telling you.”)
    • Reducing Risks while Driving (includes defensive driving techniques, phone/texting issues, and drinking and driving awareness)

    kids-car-safety-toddler

    This  AAA course designed exclusively for Au Pair In America.  Course includes a combination of lecture, group exercises, video/other media to ensure the maximum understanding to speakers of other languages or newly arrived to the US participants.

     

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    All Host Families with au pairs arriving into the USA in 2011 will receive more information about this new course and how their au pair can be enrolled!