Author Archives: Lissa Eaton

Why should I audit?

When it comes to the Education requirement, au pairs can be confused by the phrase “not less than six semester hours of academic credit OR its equivalent.” What that means is that au pairs do not NEED to take credit classes. In fact, some colleges or universities will not allow J-1 visa holders to register for credit classes, as they “save” these for degree seeking students.

BUT au pairs can easily take non-credit or Continuing Studies classes. And some colleges and universities may allow them to “Audit” a credit class. This means that the au pair can sit in the class and do the assignments and take the tests but she will not get a grade for any work done, only a  ”pass or fail”. The cost may or may not be less to audit a class. Each individual school will have its own policy. Au Pairs should consult with their Community Counselor to see which schools offer this option.

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Fredericksburg is fortunate to have the University of Mary Washington which is an excellent school that has a special program for au pairs to audit classes. Check out the link below for more information:

http://academics.umw.edu/registrar/registration-instructions-for-nondegree-students-and-auditors/

Reflections from an au pair

 

Hannah from Germany says in a postcard:

Brazilian au pair, Livia

“Dear Au Pair in America Team
I have to say going to America and living with my Host Family was the best decision I’ve ever made. I saw almost everything that was on my bucket list and I really feel like I have a second home now. I couldn’t have picked a better family. I love the kids and in the parents I found friends for life. Thank you for helping me have this amazing experience!“

It’s National Watermelon Day!

A Summer Craft Recipe: Watermelon Magnets!

Use these on the refrigerator or give them as gifts. Suitable for ages three and older.

  • In a bowl mix 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup salt. Add 1/2 Tablespoon of olive oil, 1/8 cup warm water and 1/4 teaspoon red food coloring. Blend well and knead 20 times. If the dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour.
  • In another bowl mix 1/3 cup flour and 2 1/2 tablespoons salt. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil, 3 teaspoons warm water and a few drops of green food coloring. Blend well and knead 20 times, adding more flour if necessary.
  • Mold the red dough into flat circles and roll the green dough into a long snake shape and wrap it around the edges of the red circles. Press the two colors together so that they stick to each other.
  • Cut each circle in half and press 5 or 6 real watermelon seeds into the red part of the dough.
  • Bake the finished watermelon slices at 200 degrees for 2 hours. Turn them over and bake for 1-2 hours more until completely dry.
  • Glue a small magnet to the back of each.

Have a toasted marshmallow today!

Toasting marshmallows at the end of a long green stick over a campfire is a summertime treat. This may not be possible at home, but you can still make S’mores, a messy, gooey, sweet summertime delight.

  • 2 graham cracker squares
  • 1 large marshmallow
  • Handful of chocolate chips, or half a chocolate bar
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • tin foil

Place the marshmallow and chocolate between the two graham crackers (like a sandwich) and wrap in tin foil. Place in a toaster oven or under the broiler for 2-3 minutes, and voila gooey treat!

It’s Harry Potters Birthday! Have a party!

504x504 Harry Potter Scar Clipart Free Clipart Images

Before embarking on a Harry Potter birthday party, start the magic by asking guests to come dressed as a character from the books. Some essential characters include: Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley (and the rest of his family), Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy, and of course, Harry Potter. Have older family members dress as professors from Hogwarts, such as Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, or even Hagrid. To start off the Harry Potter birthday party, have guests choose scenes to act out from one of the books for a fun activity that will put everyone in an enchanted state.

Harry Potter Birthday Party Tips:

  • Decorations
    Set the scene with candles, broomsticks, toy snakes, fake owls, and bats. For a magical touch, paint ping-pong balls gold, representing the Golden Snitch from the game of Quidditch. Hang them around the room with clear thread or fishing line. Display banners shaped like pennants with the house names printed on them. The house names and colors are: Hufflepuff (yellow and black), Ravenclaw (blue and bronze), Slytherin (green and silver), and Gryffindor (scarlet and gold).
  • Food and Drink
    Set up an area as the Leaky Cauldron. For Butterbeer, make root beer and ginger ale floats, pouring the soda over a scoop of ice cream in a clear cup or mug. Label food with magical names — cupcakes become “cauldron cakes” and malt balls are “chocolate frogs.” And naturally, you’ll need some jellybeans to stand in for Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. You can also put some jellybeans in a separate jar and have guests guess how many are inside.
  • Make Your Own Wand
    Have a crafts table stocked with straws and chopsticks for children to decorate and conjure up some fun. Creatively label yarn, feathers, and sequins with names like “Unicorn Hair,” “Phoenix Feathers,” and “Dragon Scales.” You’ll also need safety scissors, cardboard stars, colored markers, and glue.You can also have Harry Potter birthday party guests make their own wizard hats by making cones out of cardboard and decorating them with the same materials as the wands.
  • Magical Treasure Hunt
    Before guests arrive to the Harry Potter birthday party, hide golden eggs, a Sorcerer’s stone, plastic rings, Wizard’s gold, and other surprises around your house and/or yard. To make it challenging, hide riddles in easy-to-see places that give clues to where certain items are hidden. You or another family member can also act as a “gate keeper” for one-of-a-kind items like the Sorcerer’s Stone or a Goblet of Fire, requiring those who seek the prize to answer a riddle, give a certain amount of Wizard’s gold, or answer a trivia question. If you choose to challenge with Harry Potter trivia, make sure to have the books handy so kids can search for answers at the Harry Potter birthday party.

Are we there yet?

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Ideas for making those car trips memorable in the very best way:

1. WINDOW AS CANVAS If you don’t mind wiping the windows, let the kids use dry-erase markers to color pictures. Kids love to play tic-tac-toe. A baby wipe clears it up fast — makes the kids great travelers.

2. FOR VERY YOUNG ONES Pick up two clipboards at the dollar store to draw on. Tear pages out of coloring books and bring plain white paper. Let them use crayons – not as messy as markers. Also bring along some favorite lost and forgotten figurines from the bottom of the toy box. It was fun and quiet.

3. TAPES & ZIPLOCS Bring for each child lap desks for coloring, and individual snacks packed in their own Ziploc snack bags, and lots of sing-along tapes.

4. WIRED FOR PLAY Borrow a small tv/vcr and hook it up in the car so the kids can watch movies.With Red box or Blockbuster you can borrow them here and return along the way at other locations. Let them bring headphones and tapes or CDs they like. Get a couple of books on tape for the youngest kids that they really liked to listen to. The oldest can bring cards to play (like Uno, Go FIsh, a regular deck). Also pack a Frisbee, ball and gloves, and some bubbles in an easy-to-get-to place, so when stopping at a rest area you can all get a little exercise.

5. BOOKS & ACTIVITY BAGS Make a trip to the library and let each child pick out a couple of books for the ride. Pack an activity bag that straps onto the seat in front of the kids that are stocked with papers for drawing, activity books, and colored pencils (crayons melt in hot cars). Also bring a family activity bag with small magnetic games like checkers, Chinese checkers, etc.

6. MODEL MAGIC Take a couple of packages of multi-colored pipe cleaners and several packages of Crayola Model Magic which sticks to itself but not to the interior of the car or the kids’ clothes, it doesn’t blend unless the kids make it blend. Any little crumbles can just be brushed out or vacuumed away.

7. NIGHTTIME TRAVEL Even if it is a baby toy, kids have fun with ANYTHING that lights up. The dollar store has neon glow bracelets and sticks (the kind you’d purchase at an amusement park or nighttime parade) that kids can connect and make bracelets or necklaces out of. Glow-in-the-dark star stickers are fun to get out too. Have them use their mini-flashlights on them to get them to shine. They can stick them above their seat in the car (if they are big enough), or you can have them do it before it gets dark when stopping for gasoline or something quick.

8. TRAVEL JOURNALS Create travel journals in a 3-prong folder. Print off info — state bird, state flag, state capital — on the states you will be vacationing in (and also driving through) from state Web sites. Print out coloring pages from free Web sites on subjects having to do with those states (a moose for Maine, seashells for the beach). And to stop the dreaded “Are we there yet?”print out a map of our route and highlight the roads, marking off the parts as we complete them.Take all of the printables, add a few sheets of lined paper, and start each new section of the journal with “Our Trip to … Summer 2012.” Then the kids add what time we left, where we stopped, what we saw on the way, etc. They now have a collection of memories in one folder of all our trips.

9. TRAVEL BINGO Purchase auto bingo boards for sale, or just make them yourself and get the kids to help out.

10. SMALL SURPRISES Prepare small gifts along the way to keep the children occupied. Wrap them and tell the kids they will receive a gift if they are well behaved until the next stop.

11. CAR LICENSE GAME Play the car license game with them. Older kids can identify the states, and younger ones can look for the different colors, letters or numbers.

12. MAD LIBS Buy some Mad Libs. The kids will take turns filling in the answers and will love reading the funny stories

Money Questions

 

Miscellaneous Expenses

It’s important for the host family and the au pair to agree how to handle the little expenses that may come up.  Things like when an au pair takes the kids out for ice cream or picks up a gallon of milk.  Some families keep a cookie jar fund, a little cash that they set aside weekly or monthly for this kind of expenses.  Here are some suggestions for avoiding problems with that.

Host Families

  • It’s important to be clear about how long this money should last and what types of expenses are approved.
  • Let the au pair know whether or not you expect receipts.

Au Pairs

  • Only spend the money on approved expenses.
  • If it is something you are not sure about, ask first.
  • Put your receipts in the cookie jar in place of the money to avoid any confusion.

Gas and Fare Cards

Host families are responsible for the au pair’s transportation costs:

  • to and from classes and cluster meetings
  • driving the kids

It is a good idea to figure out how much gas an au pair will use for these trips and either put gas in the car or give a gas allowance.   If your au pair is riding to classes or cluster meetings with another au pair, you should offer to share the cost of gas.

Au pairs are responsible for their own transportation at all other times.  You should replace the amount of gas used for personal use.

It’s National Ice Cream Day!

July 18th is National Ice Cream Day! Celebrate by enjoying a few scoops of your favorite flavor or by making your own ice cream at home. Here is a simple recipe. You can change it up by adding a little chocolate syrup, a few chocolate chips, or using a flavoring other than vanilla.

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In a quart size zipper baggie, combine…
1 cup of whole milk or half and half
2 tablespoons of sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

In a gallon size zipper baggie…
Fill ½ way with ice cubes
Add 1/3 cup of rock salt (if you don’t have rock salt you can use table salt or kosher salt)

Seal the small baggie carefully and place the inside of the large bag. Seal the large bag and shake the bags until you can see the mixture thickening (about 5 minutes.) It will be cold to hold, so you may want to carefully pass it back and forth between yourself and a partner.  Remove the small baggie and wipe the top off (to remove salt water,) unzip and enjoy!