Monthly Archives: August 2013

UCLA American Studies Course

uclaA class for au pairs and Educare companions who want to master a university level class and take home a certificate from a major U.S. university.

Registration is now open for “American Studies,” offered online through the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).

Your host family pays the tuition of $500. You receive a reading assignment each week, and you have one or two assignments to do online. Some assignments will test your creative thinking. Some assignments will send you to the internet to do some independent research.

Note that a Global Awareness presentation, volunteer work in the community, and participating in local events are all part of this class (and you will earn 6 credits by completing both the online and community requirements). Ambitious? Yes – most definitely.

If you are curious about the events that have shaped culture and history in the U.S., if you would like a taste of the part women have played in U.S. history, if you want to get involved in the community where you live, if you are mentally adventurous – this is the class for you!

Read more about the class HERE.

The next course runs from September 23, 2013 – February 3, 2014.
Register today at www.uclaextension.edu/aupairs.

Stopping for School Buses

With some schools back in session and many new au pairs who have recently arrived, I wanted to remind everyone about what to do in different situations with school buses. If you have questions, please ask myself or your host parents.

school-bus-stop

The rules regarding stopping for school buses are:

  • It is against the law to pass a stopped school bus while its lights are flashing and its’ stop arm is extended.
  • On undivided roadways, with no physical barrier or median, vehicles must stop on both sides of the roadway.
  • Yellow flashing lights indicate that the bus is preparing to load or unload children. Motorists should slow down and prepare to stop their vehicles.
  • Red flashing lights and extended stop arms indicate that the bus has stopped, and children are getting on or off. Motorists approaching from either direction must wait until the red lights stop flashing before proceeding.

Police, who observe a motorist failing to stop and remained stopped for a school bus, can issue the violator a citation which carries a $570.00 fine and 3 points. Drivers failing to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk can be issued a citation for $80.00, and drivers failing to exercise due caution when encountering children can be issued a citation for $70.00.