Tag Archives: au pair San Antonio

Texas State Bobcats Football Game

Last Saturday we went to the Texas State Football Game (Bobcats vs. Georgia Southern Eagles), and, although the Bobcats did end up losing (final score 28-25), we still managed to have a great time 🙂

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Left to right: Annerien from South Africa, Johanna from Colombia, and Elena from Costa Rica.

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This was Elena’s first football game.

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Countries represented: France, Germany, UK, Colombia, South Africa, Costa Rica, and Brazil 🙂

After the game, we all drove back to San Antonio together (and then decided to order pizza for dinner as we weren’t done catching up yet). All in all, a very successful day 🙂

 

And the winner is….

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M & S posing next to their pumpkin 🙂

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Jack O’Lantern peppers!! What a great idea 🙂

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Johanna from Colombia showing off her finished product!      
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How creative!! 🙂  

 

Thanks to all of you who contributed responses (pictures) to our pumpkin contest! We had a really hard time choosing the winning entry. In the end, we went with: 

AGNES from Austria (as well as her two helpers) and her pumpkin + Jack O’Lantern peppers! Well done!! 🙂

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Why Choose an Au Pair?

 

Flexible and Dependable Care: 
No two weeks are the same with most households. Hosting an au pair provides the flexibility and convenience you need to simplify your life. With an au pair, you will be able to create your own child care schedule of up to 10 hours per day and up to 45 hours per week. By having your child care provider living in your home, dealing with sick days, snow days and life’s little surprises has never been easier.

A Cost-Effective Solution:
You will receive 45 hours of child care for just $361 per week, regardless of how many children you have. If you have full-time school-age children we offer a 30 hour per week Educare® for just $290 per week.

When you compare the cost to other child care solutions, including a nanny or day care, you will find an au pair can be a surprisingly cost-effective solution. Choosing our Extended Payment Plan, spreading out payments several month makes it even more affordable.

Full Service:
With exceptional child care, you should expect exceptional service. You will receive comprehensive program support including assistance with selecting your au pair, coordinating logistics, providing orientation for your family and au pair, year-round local support, medical insurance for your au pair and 24/7 emergency assistance. With a quarter century of experience, we are able to accommodate and anticipate the needs of host families. Our local, professional Community Counselors reside in your area and provide daily, ongoing, local support to you and your au pair to ensure a happy and successful experience. 

Expert Matching: 
At Au Pair in America, we offer Expert Match, a flexible and effective approach to finding the caregiver that is a perfect fit for your family. You may search for your au pair with our user-friendly online search tool, our mobile app or work with our professional placement team to find the perfect au pair for your family. Should you require additional assistance, we are ready and willing to accommodate.

Large Pool of Au Pairs: 
With Au Pair in America, you will have access to the largest pool of au pairs in the world. Applicants come from more than 60 countries on five continents and our multi-tiered screening ensures that only the most exceptional and qualified au pairs are accepted. View our au pairs available now. 

An Enriching Experience: 
With Au Pair in America, your family is getting more than just great child care. Your children will receive a global education during their most formative years, learning about the world and your au pair’s culture and customs. In addition, many parents want their children to be bilingual. The constant exposure and reinforcement provided by an au pair are the best ways to immerse children in a new language. 

Orientation and Expert Training:
Your au pair will have recent and practical child care experience, the details of which you will be able to review in their application. In addition, all of our au pairs complete a pre-departure online training segment and attend a comprehensive four-day orientation program that features: child development training, child safety training and adaptation training.

During orientation, all of our au pairs receive exclusive Red Cross® training composed of seminars and hands-on demonstration and with training exercises for infant/child CPR and safety, plus sanitization and illness prevention.

Au Pair in America has also partnered with AAA, the nation’s most trusted name in driver safety and instruction, to offer a custom classroom course specifically designed for au pairs. Exclusively for our au pairs, the AAA driving course is one of a kind, tailored to the needs of the international driver and specific to the safety needs of driving children in a car.

Program options to fit your family:
Whether your children are infants or school aged, Au Pair in America has the solution for your family. Choose from Au Pair, Extraordinaire, or EduCare to satisfy your child care needs.

Organizational Strength; 
Au Pair in America is a division of the American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS), which has provided educational and cultural exchange programs for more than 50 years. Our resources enable reliable visa processing, comprehensive insurance for au pairs and discounts for host families interested in any of AIFS’s renowned programs.

 

 

Become a Global Awareness Volunteer

What is a Global Awareness Presentation?

Global Awareness presentations are meant to introduce young children to people from other
countries and cultures. We want them to start forming positive first impressions of someone
from a different part of the world. We want them to go home at the end of the day and say, “I
met a lady from ______, and she was really cool!”
Each Global Awareness presentation is unique. Presentations vary depending on the ages of the children, the grade, and length of time available. A presentation for a pre-school class will be very different from one for a 5th grade class!

Here are some suggestions for presentations. Please feel free to use your own ideas, creativity and materials to create a presentation that is age-appropriate, meaningful and enjoyable for all. You can create a display board if you like filled with photos of your country. Or you can teach the children a song, a game, or a craft. There are so many things you can do, but remember, the most important part of Global Awareness is to HAVE FUN!!

Geography
Stand in front of the classroom map and show where your country is. Provide basic information such as:
· How long it took you to fly from your country to the U.S.
· Tell the children if the seasons are the same as those in the U.S. or opposite
· You may want to give them a map of your country to color.
Many children will want to tell you where they have been and where their ancestors are from.

Flag
Show the children the flag of the country and if age-appropriate, explain what the colors and
design represent.
· You can sing your national anthem.
· You can give the children a flag of your country to color
Most schools will be happy to make copies of the materials you want to hand out to the children.

Language
· Teach a mini-language lesson. The children enjoy learning basic vocabulary such as
counting, animals, foods, greetings and school-related words. How do you say,
‘school,’ ‘teacher,’ ‘class,’ ‘computer,’ backpack,’ ‘book?’

Animals– Bring in pictures of animals from your country.

Currency -Bring in money from your country. The children enjoy seeing and handling this.

Folk tales/nursery rhymes-share stories from your country.

Food/recipes-bring food from your country. But be sure to ask the teacher for permission to
bring food to the classroom. Beware of allergies!

Holidays/celebrations/customs– share holiday traditions with the children. Most teachers
enjoy a presentation with this information during the U.S. Dec. holiday season.

Native costume/dress-the children love to see what your native costume looks like. Bring it to class to show them.

Games/activities – play a game that is popular with children in your country

Music-teach the children a song or dance from your country.

Sports– What sports are popular in your country? Who are the sports heroes? What sports do
children in your country enjoy?

Remember, these are only a few ideas. Feel free to create your own presentation.
We will also send you materials to give to the children.
The children will be very excited for you to visit their classroom! 🙂
Please contact me for more information!

Glow in the Dark Mini Golf

For this month’s cluster meeting we visited Monster Mini Golf (a themed glow in the dark 18 hole miniature golf course off NW Military Hwy). For many of the Au Pairs, this was their first time playing mini golf (they all did great!!) and it was a wonderful day of golf, conversation, and fun!

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From left to right: Johanna from Colombia, Nut from Thailand, Caroline from Sweden, Annerien from South Africa, Elena from Costa Rica (in pink), and then Zuzana and Hana from Czech Republic.

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Ivet & Hana, Elena & Zuzana, and Saaynaam & Nut

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The girls showing of their Painted Plate projects 🙂

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IMG_4832We stopped for some Subway after the game

Simple Ways to Shake Up Snack Time!!

Whether it is your week for share-a-snack at school, or you are looking to tide over tiny tummies until dinner—snack attacks can leave you starved for ideas. If your crew craves something more creative than a bag of goldfish, satisfy small stomachs with a playful presentation. Here are eight simple solutions that take snacks from drab to fab—and might even introduce some new flavors to the mix.

Stick It To ‘Em

To view recipes, please visit:

http://redtri.com/eat-up-simple-ways-to-shake-up-snack-time/?utm_source=LB&utm_medium=morestoriesmissed&utm_campaign=inboundMorestoriesmissed

School Bus Stop Laws

With some schools getting back in session and 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 your counselor or your host parents.

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 signal 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.

NB: It isn’t necessary to stop when passing a school bus on a different road or when on a controlled-access highway where the bus is stopped in a loading zone and pedestrians aren’t permitted to cross.

King William Paddle Trail

For this month’s cluster meeting, the au pairs got to spend time kayaking up and down the San Antonio river!!
It was a beautiful (but hot) summer day and everybody had a great time 🙂


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Love the enthusiasm 🙂

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Caroline from Sweden & Annerien from South Africa

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Annerien, Caroline with Johanna from Colombia       Hana and Iveta from Czech Republic

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Saaynaam and Nut from Thailand

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To see more pictures, please visit Texas Pack and Paddle’s Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152398965876888.1073742023.107903396887&type=1


Craving something sweet??

Carrot cake (or cupcakes)…… Need I say more???

Cake:

3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 (2 1/2 ounce) jar carrot baby food
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups finely grated carrot (about 4 ounces)
1/2 cup chopped pineapple
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting:

1/3 cup (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 Tsp butter, softened
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup flaked sweetened coconut, toasted in oven


1. Preheat oven to 325 F
2. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a food processor, until well blended. Place flour mixture in a large bowl. Combine sugar, canola oil, baby food, and eggs; stir with a whisk. Add to flour mixture; stir just until moist. Stir in grated carrot and pineapple. Spoon batter into an 8-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray.
3. Bake at 325 F for 40 minutes (or 14-17 minutes if you’re making cupcakes). Cool in pan on a wire rack, then transfer to the fridge (this keeps them moist).
4. To prepare frosting, combine cheese and butter in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at high speed until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating at low speed until smooth. Spread over cake, sprinkle with coconut.

4th of July and Ramadan!

Known  as the Fourth of July and Independence Day, July 4th has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but the tradition of Independence Day celebrations goes back to the 18th century and the American Revolution (1775-83). In June 1776, representatives of the 13 colonies then fighting in the revolutionary struggle weighed a resolution that would declare their independence from Great Britain. On July 2nd, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later its delegates adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. From 1776 until the present day, July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence, with typical festivities ranging from fireworks, parades and concerts to more casual family gatherings and barbecues.

Wishing you all a very happy holiday weekend!! 🙂


Ramadan Started!

Greeting card for holy month of Ramadan Kareem - vector clip art

Some of you may know that the Month of Ramadan started this past weekend!

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar. The Month of Ramadan is also when it is believed the Holy Quran was sent down from heaven. It is during this month that Muslims fast. It is called the Fast of Ramadan and lasts the entire month. Ramadan is a time when Muslims concentrate on their faith and spend less time on the concerns of their everyday lives. It is a time of worship and contemplation.

During the Fast of Ramadan, strict restraints are placed on the daily lives of Muslims. They are not allowed to eat or drink during the daylight hours (an hour before sunrise until sunset). At the end of the day the fast is broken with prayer and a meal called the iftar. Traditionally the fast is broken by having a glass of water and eating a date. In the evening following the iftar, it is customary for Muslims to go out visiting family and friends. The fast is resumed the next morning.

During Ramadan, it is common for Muslims to go to the Masjid (Mosque) for special prayers and studying the Quran. In addition to the five daily prayers, during Ramadan Muslims recite a special prayer called theTaraweeh prayer (Night Prayer). The length of this prayer is usually 2-3 times as long as the daily prayers. Some Muslims spend the entire night in prayer.

One day during the last ten days of the month, Muslims celebrate the Laylat-al-Qadr (the Night of Power). It is believed that on this night Muhammad first received the revelation of the Holy Quran. And according to the Quran, this is when God determines the course of the world for the following year.

When the fast ends (the first day of the month of Shawwal) it is celebrated for three days in a holiday called Id-al-Fitr (the Feast of Fast Breaking). Gifts are exchanged. Friends and family gather to pray in congregation and for large meals. In some cities, fairs are held to celebrate the end of the Fast of Ramadan.

Charity is very important in Islam, and even more so during Ramadan. Zakat, often translated as “the poor-rate”, is obligatory as one of the pillars of Islam; a fixed percentage is required to be given to the poor of the person’s savings. Sadaqa is voluntary charity in given above and beyond what is required from the obligation of Zakat. In Islam all good deeds are more handsomely rewarded in Ramadan than in any other month of the year. Consequently, many will choose this time to give a larger portion, if not all, of the Zakat for which they are obligated to give. In addition, many will also use this time to give a larger portion of Sadaqa . Also, lanterns and lights are used to make this month extra festive!

“Ramadan Kareem” (happy Ramadan)!!