Monthly Archives: August 2017

Federal and School Holidays

As you may be aware, the public school children will be off several days in September, October and November. These are regular workdays for an au pair, unless your host parents tell you otherwise. As with any “school holiday” start making plans for activities with the kids now.

Many public schools are out additional days for teacher development and the end of the grading period. As with any holiday, it is up to the host family’s schedule whether you will have the holiday off. Please check with your host families before you assume you have this day off. Do not make any travel plans until you have received confirmation that you will not work on this day.

Host parents, please check your schedule to make sure that you are factoring in these hours and make adjustments as needed to stay within the State Department regulations not exceeding 10 hours per day or 45 hours per week.

Stopping For School Buses

With schools starting soon and many new au pairs who have recently arrived, we wanted to remind everyone about what to do in different situations with school buses. If you have questions, please ask us 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. Drivers failing to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk and drivers failing to exercise due caution when encountering children can be issued a citation.

Back To School Tips

school

Kids in our cluster will be returning to school soon. This will mean changes to the au pair schedule and possibly to the duties.  It is very important to communicate these changes to avoid problems.

I suggest you discuss the following (if applicable):

  • Au pair’s work schedule
  • The children’s school and activity schedules
  • Where the children get dropped off and picked up and who will be doing this
  • What to do if a child is staying home sick, late to school, does not get off the bus (if they are supposed to)
  • How to tell if school has been cancelled or delayed for bad weather
  • Add the au pair to your list of people allowed to pick up the kids from school
  • What to pack for lunch
  • The routine after school (do they have free time before starting homework, what to give for snack, any chores, where do they put their backpacks & lunchboxes)
  • How to communicate about what’s going on at school. (Kids in Care Log Books are available upon request from APIA)

Here are some Printable Fill-in-the-Blank School Notes for parents. You may print these out and use them for times when the kids are absent, late, have early dismissal or you need to give permission for something.

If the au pair will be the one going through the children’s back pack and helping with homework, I suggest you designate an area for putting things that need to be read and/or signed by parents.Jens Rost backpacks

Reminder: It is illegal to leave a child alone in the car. Please make sure that your drop off routine does not include leaving children at home or in the car while dropping off another child.  Even if a host parent gives permission to do this, it is not allowed, because it is against the law.

Total Solar Eclipse – August 21st 2017

A total solar eclipse (the first since 1979) is slated to happen TODAY on August 21 and will be visible across all of North America. A partial solar eclipse will last between two and three hours, with the whole continent experiencing the phenomenon

The path of the total eclipse follows just a tiny sliver 67 miles wide as it runs from coast to coast. If you’re outside the zone, you will only see a partial eclipse. The “path of totality,” in which the moon’s shadow sweeps across the Earth’s surface, will cross parts of the following states: Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.  The total eclipse begins in Oregon at 10:16 a.m. PDT. It will end near Charleston, S.C., at 2:48 p.m. EDT.

In any given location, the total eclipse will last about 2 or 3 minutes. It will take about an hour and a half for the eclipse to move across the entire country. the only safe way to look directly at partially eclipsed or uneclipsed Sun are via special-purpose solar filters, including “eclipse glasses” or hand-held solar viewers. If you don’t already have glasses it is probably too late although some local libraries and town halls are giving out free glasses.   Check your local town websites for information.  Here are some important safety tips.

·         The Sun or eclipse should not be viewed with an unfiltered camera, telescope, binocular or telescope, for fear of “serious injury” to your eyes

·         Normal sunglasses do NOT provide protection

·         If planning to take photos of the eclipse or view it through a telescope or binoculars, you’ll need a solar filter (note that a polarizing filter is not good enough). This will protect both your eyes and the lenses in your device.

·         Be careful when driving during the eclipse, people may pull over or there may be delays ~  so allow extra time for your journey

·         Make sure children who are not wearing the proper eclipse safety glasses either stay inside or do not look at the sun

 

Don’t worry if you miss it, it will be highlighted on the news and on social media as it occurs throughout the day!

 

Education Requirements

Au pairs should complete a minimum of  6 credits, 72 hours of classroom time, 7.2 CEUs or a combination of the above to meet the education requirements. Classes must be taken at an accredited post secondary institution.

Host family will pay $500 education allowance plus parking pass, metro transportation costs and/or gas to and from school. An Au Pair should budget approximately $200 of their personal funds to complete the J-1 visa education requirement.

girl-studying

Please click in RESOURCES on this blog to check our Education Options for accredited schools in our cluster area. If you want to take a class at a school not listed here on my blog, please check with me first to make sure it is accredited. Otherwise, it would not count toward your education requirements.

The APIA Advantage UCLA Course is the only State Dept. approved class with an online component. No other online classes are accepted.

An Au Pair MUST complete the education requirement at least 45 days before the end of her year to be eligible for a second year extension and/or to receive an APIA completion certificate.

An au pair is required to submit a copy of the class certificate, transcript or letter from the college stating number of credits, course name, and dates of the class to Adriana.

Note: Au pairs should only take one weekend course for their education requirement. Using only weekend courses to meet your education requirement could result in the denial of your extension application (should you decide to extend.)