Go Au Pair is the #1 Best rated Au Pair Agency for 2013.

This week Au Pair Clearinghouse announced that Go Au Pair is the #1 Best rated Au Pair Agency for 2013 year again.

A consumer information website for Host Families, AuPairClearingHouse com, rates, reviews and compares au pair agencies in the United States by conducting host family satisfaction surveys and ratings. A recent survey conducted by the Au Pair Clearinghouse showed  Go Au Pair came out on top this year as the best Au Pair agency!

Go Au Pair having above average ratings in many areas. The agency has many happy host families,  please read many reviews on citysearch.com

“I would recommend this service, and specifically Go Au Pair to anyone, and would share with you that based on my detailed research, the Go Au Pair program is approximately 1/3 the cost of nanny’s and/or daycare. Further, the real benefits of having someone live in your house, and be involved in what I would call the “small times or spaces” is invaluable. This has allowed me to maintain the best possible relationship with my young children, while they receive advanced training from young people who often have learned more than I have about childhood development methods.

Not to mention the benefits of cross-cultural education which is invaluable.”

Go Au Pair  provides exceptional customer service.  Go Au Pair team has a passion for their work, the team goes the ‘extra mile’ to prevent many issues.  Go Au Pair likes to have a feedback and listen about customer needs.

Go Au Pair provides support to Host Families from the time of the initial inquiry consistently throughout the year. Go Au Pair team wants to be sure that clients get a timely and informed response to their needs, and has the solid relationship with host families and Au Pairs.

Go Au Pair’s Au Pairs have been named  “Best in the World” by IAPA (International Au Pair Association). We have many happy Au Pairs. Recently Go Au Pair starts an inclusive Go Au Pair program to connect and support Au Pairs – Go Au Pair Sis.

Also, Go Au Pair offers some exclusive resources:

Au Pair Preview
Choose Your Au Pair’s Arrival Dates
Choose Your Own Customizable Au Pair Payment Plan
Read more here

Go Au Pair is one of the original six Au Pair agencies designated by the U.S. Department of State. Created in 1989, Go Au Pair has more than 20 years of experience helping families find quality and affordable child care.  The agency helps connect hundreds of American Host Families with Au Pairs from all over the world!

Go Au Pair currently has over 300 Au Pairs available and you can review their profiles for free. This can be a life-changing experience for your family too! 

Come join us!  Welcome to Go Au Pair family!

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2012 Au Pairs Tax Return

2012 tax returns due is on Monday, 15 April 2013. All Au Pairs are required to file U.S. individual income tax returns.

Income received by the au pair is taxable wages and if the amount exceeds the personal exemption amount($3800 for 2012) the income is subject to the withholding requirements and must be reported on a US tax return at the end of the year.

For the most recent and only official information about Au Pairs and taxes, please see the IRS website and consult your tax adviser.

Please notice that Go Au Pair agency and Local Area Representatives are not licensed tax advisers and cannot provide official tax advice.

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Au Pairs winter projects.

International Thank You Day is coming.  An Au Pair can do some projects together with the kids for the Host Family!

Here are several projects to create. Have fun with the kids during the cold winter time!

The Au Pair Sis has many craft ideas on Pinterest. If you need any fresh ideas, please check Go Au Pair blog or follow the Au Pair Sis on Pinterest. You can view many crafts on the  Crafts for Kids Board.

You can master a candy box.

The Au Pair Sis invites Au Pairs and Host Families to join her for a craft challenge. 

Visit the Craft Challenge Board to find many ideas for homemade gifts to make for all your family and friends!

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What is an Au Pair’s role in the family?

Au Pairs provide live-in child care for their Host Family in exchange for room, board and a small weekly stipend. Au Pairs are responsible for all the children in their Host Family. There is not a limit to the number of children an Au Pair may be responsible for.

Since the foundation of the Au Pair program is cultural exchange, Au Pairs are meant to become part of the family and be a big brother or sister.

Au Pairs are not maids and cannot perform any tasks not directly related to the care of the children, even if they are paid more to do so.

 Au Pairs can care for children 3 months to 18 years of age.

Child care responsibilities can include, but are not limited to:

• General supervision
• Driving
• Homework help
• Meal preparation
• Light housekeeping related to the children

Light housekeeping related to the children means Au Pairs cannot be responsible for the overall housework or cleaning for any of the adults in the home, other than themselves. Light housekeeping includes tasks such as the children’s laundry and general tidying up in the children’s areas.

Watch the movie about how to work with Au Pair

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Harmful Advice – 5 ways to damage relations with your host parents.

Have you ever read the Russian book by Gregory Oster Harmful Advice for Naughty Children and Their Parents?  The book “teaches” kids to do bad things in quite humorous fashion.

There are kids who are doing the opposite to what their parents ask them to do. There are also many adults with such a spirit of contradiction.

Here are some  harmful advice for an Au Pair. All these tips are real scenarios that I took from my experience working as  a Local Area Representative for Go Au Pair.  Following these is an easy way to receive a rematch with your host family.

Harmful Advice for an Au Pairs.

Harmful tip number 1
Tell your host parents that they do not know how to bring up their kids and that they are doing everything wrong.  Only YOU know how to do that because you have a Master degree in early childhood education. Tell them that their kids are spoiled. Be honest and do not think before you speak, criticize them endlessly.

Harmful tip number 2
Don’t  take responsibility for your actions. Never admit that you made a mistake and do not try to correct the situation.  It is not your fault. Let yourself shine! Wherever you are, whatever you do, YOU are the best!  Give your host parents a chance once again to be sure. Always show that you’re smarter and more knowledgeable than others.

Harmful tip number 3
Forget about gratitude. Do not say “thank you” and ask “How are you?” to your host family. It’s just a waste of your time. The host family must to be nice and polite to YOU. Be strict, when your host parents present you a bar of chocolate, let them know that this one is not your favorite and advice them ask you what kind of chocolate you prefer next time. Mention that your Au Pair friend host parents are the best hosts since they bought her a new IPAD as a present.

Harmful tip number 4
Don’t follow house rules and your host parents instructions. Let your parents know that their rules are strange and don’t have any sense. Tell them that YOU do not agree with some of them and your family has never followed such as stupid rules. When you are late home at night, tell them that the curfew is nonsense, you are not a kid anymore. When they caught you constantly texting at work, explain that you are bored at work and need to be in touch with your friends.

Harmful tip number 5
Avoid communication with your host parents. Never admit if you do not understand a word or instructions. Don’t ask questions because they may find that language is a problem for you. Why should you  listen their concerns and advice? Host parents must share their  plans with YOU, but don’t discuss your plans and issues since they don’t care anyway.  Remember, it is impossible to reach a compromise with your hosts -never even try it.

I’m sure that after reading my bad advice you may have more to add.

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Spread the love.

“Before you can truly live, you must first learn to love.”
– Jennie Clemans 

Everyone needs love, especially children need to feel loved. Often host parents,  Au Pair and kids speak different love languages. Dr. Gary Chapman says knowing the child’s love language can make all of the difference in relationship.

There are 5 languages of love and usually people respond best to one or maybe two languages. The five languages of love are:

• Physical touch
• Words of affirmation
• Quality time
• Gifts
• Acts of service

Physical touch includes high fives, hugs, kisses and snuggling.

Words of affirmation include words of praise, encouragement, guidance and support.

Quality time is focused on spending time together—listening, walking and playing.

Gifts can be a powerful expression of love.

Acts of service are focused on appreciation of help.

It is important to understand and apply the language of love kids respond best to. The knowledge of the 5 Love Languages makes it easier to give and receive love.

Spread the love!

The first weeks with your Au Pair.

When a new Au Pair arrives she will  need a lot of supervising at the beginning. This is a good time to get to know the Au Pair well.  When she arrives, host parents should give her some time to rest and adjust to her new life. The Au Pair should get used to different climatic conditions, time change, new people, a new home, and the fact that she is away from her own family very likely for the first time in her life.

Host Parents should spend the first weekend reviewing Host family handbook for an au pair  together with the  Au Pair. It is important to help her to learn household routines right from the beginning and show her how you like things to be done. Host parents need to spend at least one week walking the Au Pair through their routine and explain to the Au Pair in detail about caring for the children.

Good communication is very important during this acclimatization phase.  Be patient, communicate constantly, and give lots of feedback.  The first few weeks will be an adjustment for everyone. The amount of time and training in the first month directly affects the type of relationship Host family has the entire year.

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Tax Time.

2012 Tax Day is almost here. Many Au Pairs are about finishing their tax returns. I have  posted about the tax return recently at  Au Pair’s tax return.  I also found a helpful post from another Go Au Pair‘s blog at “Taxes, Taxes, Taxes”

As a Non-Resident Alien, Au Pairs are required to pay tax on their stipend, minus an exemption, which for the 2011 tax year is $3700. If you arrived after August 20th, then you still need to file a tax return, but you shouldn’t owe anything.

Taxes (Photo credit: Tax Credits)

The main thing that influences how much tax you have to pay, is when you arrived in the USA. A January arrival Au Pair with her/his stipend 195.75 will pay an average of $600 in taxes, with the full amount due all in one tax year.

Remember that Au Pairs who do not submit a tax return may have difficulty extending or obtaining future visas.

If you have any questions, please contact a tax professional.

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Au Pair’s tax return

Dear Au Pairs, if you haven’t done your tax return already, it’s about time to complete it! You have to file your tax return until April 17, 2012.

All Au Pairs are required to file U.S. individual income tax returns.

It is the law to file a tax return and report earnings made during a calendar year. The U.S. Department of Labor has determined that the au pair stipend constitutes “wages” because an employer-employee relationship exists between the Au Pair and his/her Host Family. These wages are therefore subject to federal taxation.

Most Au Pairs who have been in the US for at least 18 weeks in a calendar year will meet the minimum requirement to pay taxes The Exemption Deduction is $3700 for 2011.

Please notice that Go Au Pair agency and Local Area Representatives are not licensed tax advisers and cannot provide official tax advice. For the most recent and only official information about Au Pair’s  taxes,  please see the IRS website and consult your tax adviser.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the government agency that collects federal income taxes. Read more about  Au Pair’s Taxes here. Please  stop at any tax service professional for more information. There are plenty of them, you can find one near you easily using H&R Block website.

Free help in preparing a return is also available nationwide from IRS-sponsored volunteers.  The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program is designed to help low-income taxpayers. For more information, go to IRS.gov and enter keyword “VITA” in the upper right corner.

If an Au Pair chooses not to file taxes it could prevent her from obtaining a visa in the future.

The readers’ favorite posts from my blog.

As you may know that Go Au Pair‘s blog reached 20.000 page views recently. This blog was started in September 2010 mostly to support Host Families and Au Pairs in Philadelphia and suburbs, Montgomery, Bucks County and close NJ .

In 2011 this blog participated in Top 100 International Exchange & Experience Blogs 2011, was chosen as a number 32 and received a button ” 100 top blogs.”

I would like to share my statistics and I hope it will be helpful for new readers.

Here are the post that were more popular during blog time.

Nomination

A New Family?

go AU PAIR Philadelphia Amateur Photo Contest “Au Pairs Having Fun”

Video game addiction, is it real?

About

From an Au Pair mom

Photo Contest

My Au Pair Year

Welcome!

Events

Host family rules

2012 Au Pair Activity Schedule

An Au Pair and the educational requirements.

An Au Pair, a long lost cousin from another country.

A Brazilian Festival in Philadelphia. Com certeza!

My happy and sad Christmas.

Asking your future Au Pair the right questions.

No doubt that nanny cost has almost doubled. Lets talk about childcare cost.

Communication between Host Parents and Au Pair.

Will hosting an Au Pair impact my marriage?

You know you’re an Au Pair in the USA when…

Cookie class

Go Au Pair in Philadelphia and close NJ. Welcome to our world!

My Au Pair work

Being a great Au Pair

Nanny costs in Philadelphia and NJ

An Au Pair for a single parent.

Bonding with the children.

My Au Pair journey begins.

Party Time!

If I don’t like my au pair

My Au Pair’s First Vacation.

How can a young Au Pair be a good caregiver?

New Au Pair Event

Which country is the best au pair from?

Maybe in distance, but never in heart.

 

These posts became popular recently.

A Brazilian Festival in Philadelphia. Com certeza!

My beautiful Brazil, Lindo maravilhosa!

Host family rules

Male Au Pairs or mannies

Au Pairs traveling outside of the USA

The Heart Cake for my Host Mother

An Au Pair and the educational requirements.

Host Family handbook for an Au Pair

I have also about 600 comments, I appreciate my blog’s readers stopping by, reading posts and leaving comments.

Most of my readers are from the USA: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, California, New York, Utah, Virginia, Delaware and other states. Also many people from United Kingdom, Colombia, Canada, Germany, Brazil, India, Russian Federation, South Africa,  Australia, Netherlands, France and 115 other countries read this blog.

I like writing a blog and as much as you enjoy reading it. I also hope that my blog is helpful and you can find many useful information here. You may noticed that  the sidebar has The Host family Library and The Au Pair Library.

As my cluster expanded very fast, I believe, this blog helped many families to get to know Go Au Pair cluster in the Philly and NJ area better and make the decision to join us as a host family.

I want to say thanks for checking out my blog  and come back soon.