I take great pleasure in providing daily, ongoing, local support to both Host Families and Au Pairs in Philadelphia and suburban, Montgomery, Bucks County and close NJ
The Host Mom from Go Au Pair agency, who recently considered hosting an Au Pair, said to me: “I found the best Au Pair, she is an excellent match for us. We really love our Au Pair, she couldn’t be better. She is loving , enthusiastic, motivated and provides excellent childcare for my children and I am very happy with my choice”
But how to find the best Au Pair for the family?
I asked the host mom, who is lucky to have many great Au Pairs year after year said, “The key is a good match”.
First, my host mom suggested that Host Families should make a list of important qualities, values, and personality traits that would fit in with their family.
Second, my host mom suggested that during the interviewing process, to ask specific questions and give her scenarios to see how the Au Pair responds. A good idea is sending her Family Handbook and asking questions prior to matching.
In addition, she said that good communication skills, openness to learning new things, and having a positive attitude are a must qualities of good Au Pairs.
Also she said that once the Au Pair arrives, it is important to be patient with her while she learns the family.
And last but not least is building a good relationship with your Au Pair. Host family should make the Au Pair feel that she is a part of their family, feel comfortable and happy in the house.
Please watch the movie and find more information about the program.
Chinese Au Pairs have become the most popular choice among host families. Here are the top ten reasons to consider an Au Pair from China.
Expose kids to the Mandarin language. With a Chinese au pair, families are giving their children the opportunity to be immersed in the language and culture. Mandarin is one of the fastest growing languages taught at public schools in the United States.
Highly educated. All of Go Au Pair’s Au Pairs from China currently placed in the U.S. were either enrolled in college or already held a degree prior to their arrival. 77% have graduated from college, and 20% have had some college education.
Great with infants. Most of Chinese Au Pairs are infant qualified.
Willing to work with the group of kids and have experience working with multiple from China.
Have strong English skills. Fluency in English is a highly prized skill in the Chinese job market and that is one of the reasons Chinese Au Pairs chose to come to the USA.
Have teaching experience. Working as a teacher is a very typical career choice before becoming an Au Pair.
Willing to help with house chores, they usually eager to cook a delicious and healthy meals.
Mature. Almost all (93%) of Go Au Pair’s au pairs are over the age of 21, and come to USA to improve their English skills.
Good role models. Chinese Au Pairs are sporty, well mannered and respectful of host parents and elders.
Bright and willing to work and study hard. They are looking forward to taking college credits at American universities improve their job potential and career possibilities when they return home.
If you ask children how they love to spend their spare time, many of them would say, “play video games.” But why do children love them so much? Is video game addiction real?
Video game addiction is increasingly being recognized as a problematic and potentially harmful addictive behavior. According to some studies it would appear that the excitement of video games causes the brain to release. a an addictive chemical. For any parent who has seen the enthusiasm by which some kids play video games, this news is no surprise.
Roughly 1 in 10 children who play video games are at risk of becoming pathologically addicted to them, found a new study published in the journal Pediatrics.
In a recent study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), researchers found that kids that are pathological gamers play an average of 31 hours a week. The gamers displayed higher levels of depression and other mental health issues than those that played fewer hours. You can read more about this study at Video game addictions lead to depression and anxiety.
David Wheeler suggests for parents to involve their kids more in physical activities like walking, or going to the gym with them. The AAP recommends that elementary school age children engage in no more than one hour of screen time a day, and high schoolers no more than two.
If you have an Au Pair, you don’t have to worry anymore. The Au Pair monitors your children activities and spends time with them doing many activities together- like swimming or playing sport games, making crafts projects or drawing, playing with small children or storytelling.
Au Pairs are enthusiastic, motivated young adults with child care experience. They enjoy doing many things with host family’s children, keeping them busy with useful things, teaching them and having fun together. Here is a cookie class. Enjoy!
Did you make resolutions for the New Year?
There are different kinds of resolutions. They usually range from breaking bad habits which affect our health to helping others.
For Irina, who is in her second year of being an Au Pair for goAUPAIR agency, it is to experience the things she was afraid to do before, like sky surfer paraplane in Ocean city, and exploring new places, like Universal Studios in Florida and Chicago’s Skydeck and The Ledge and watching for the first time in her life a Broadway show in New York City.
She is planning meeting 99 new people from around the world and making an international food and farewell party with all her friends. Also Irina wants to create several movies and albums for her host familiy and friends, make a little performance “Teremok” with her children n Russian, and volunteering for many places, like Food Bank, Hospital, museum and library and many other resolutions that helping others. Irina has only six months for her resolutions before going home so she is planing to do a lot for her host family, friends and community.
Irina’s Host Family nominated her for the IAPA Au Pair of the Year Award 2011. WE WISH HER GOOD LUCK IN GETTING THE TITLE “THE BEST AU PAIR OF THE YEAR 2011 IN THE WORLD!”
Did you make resolutions for 2011? A resolution is a promise. It is a promise that you make to yourself, but often for others- your family, friends and community.
Most Host Families simply often don’t have time to say thank you to their Au Pairs for all they do each and every day. And if they do express their thanks, nomination to Au Pair of the Year Award is an official and a great way of saying thank you to them! Simply nominating Au Pair for the IAPA Au Pair of the Year Award is a wonderful honor that shows the Au Pair how much the family values what she does for them.
My Au Pair became speechless when I told her that her family had nominated her to the Au Pair of the Year Award. “What did you say” she asked me. I didn’t get it, repeat, please. When I repeated it again, she still didn’t respond. “Are you serious, I can’t believe in it?” My host father has never said much. She was surprised and excited to learn that her host father nominated her for the Au Pair of the Year Award. The nomination of the Au Pair of the Year is quite special for au pairs and brings a unique lifelong feeling to both families and Au Pairs.
Thanks so much to Host Families who submitted nominations, and congratulations to Au Pairs who were nominated. You are all winners already in the eyes of your families! It is great achievement you can be proud of and remember for years to come. Regardless of whether you win the official title or not, you are the best Au Pairs already. At least for your family, so your dream came true!
Congratulations on your nomination to the IAPA Au Pair of the Year Award 2011!
Your Host Family, Friends, your Family, and goAUPAIR – we all are very proud of you!
Thank you Karla, Laura, and Irina! You are the best Au Pairs!
The New Year is a prefect time for a new start of making certain promises and taking resolutions. The New Year trivia is a time when people take certain resolutions that they swear to follow throughout the year. People wait to welcome the New Year with joy and excitement is in the air on New Year. http://www.123newyear.com/new-year-trivia/
We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called “Opportunity” and its first chapter is New Year’s Day. – Edith Lovejoy Pierce
What happened with me recently looks like a fairy-tale or a movie script with a happy ending, but it is a true story.
Two weeks ago goAUPAIR emailed me that a new Host Family applied for the Au Pair program and asked me to contact the family. I read the family profile and found that a working single mom with three eleven year old daughters is looking for a Russian speaking Au Pair. When I called and introduced myself, I immediately got the feeling that I know this mom. As soon as the mom told me that she wants a Russian Au Pair for her daughters adopted from Russia, I got the picture. Two and a half years ago I volunteered for a Pearl S. Buck International event and there I met this special mom.
At the event I immediately identified her from many families by her special relationship with her daughters – kind, caring and respectful. She told me her story and this woman amazed me by her incredible soul, kind heart and commitment to her children.
I also was surprised by her strong desire to keep a Russian heritage for her daughters. She drove from far away and brought many Russian artifacts that she keeps at home, like “Matreshki” and a lot of Russian food. She spoke a little Russian and even knew several dances and asked me to dance those with children. How could I not remember her?
To my surprise she remembered me too. I was so happy to come to their house and see her and girls again. It is the second time this family came into my life and I hope we will become true friends. Even though we live far away from each other in a huge Philadelphia suburban area, it is a small world after all. Or maybe it is a Holiday blessing that my fate presented to me.
I couldn’t stop thinking about destiny. It seems that these children had bad luck from the beginning, but one day the fortune favored them and blessed these precious girls with the best mom who turned their lives around. She really did.
I was stunned to see their progress and the difference that this woman has made in their lives. These three sisters are very friendly, loving and talented. When I asked the girls what they like to do, I was surprised by the number of activities they were involved in: from riding horses to ice skating. Unfortunately the girls little by little have forgotten the Russian language, so a Russian speaking Au Pair will help.
The family is looking forward to meeting a new member of their family- a Russian speaking Au Pair.
Many people liked the Cookie class with an Au Pair Irina , so I decided to make a special page for Irina’s class and many other Au Pair video classes that will follow it.
A new Au Pair Lala from South Africa, who recently came to Philadelphia goAUPAIR, started her Au Pair diary and promised to share her journey with us during her entire year in the USA! Many stories, pictures and movies are coming soon.
Help us Find the FINALIST!
Number 1. Hello!
Number 2. Stylish make up for nanny.
Number 3. go AU PAIR for Fun!
Number 4. Trick Or Treat!
Number 5. Fun In The Sun.
Help Us Choose the Winner and Vote for the Best Photo!
All votes must be submitted by December 25, 2010 at midnight.
If you are selected as a finalist, feel free to announce it on facebook, twitter, email your friends and family and get your friends to vote for you! Good Luck!
If you are looking for a high quality care provider consider Go Au Pair. I will help your family have a flexible, live-in childcare for less than the cost of a nanny that will also expose your children to new cultures.
SalvadorianAupair
aupairmariia
ginamef
Ophelia Diary
Polina, Local Area Rep
kiahhhxo
Lilla
taniadlange
ukrainianaupair
AuPairYuliia
Zuly Badillo
Go Au Pair Philadelphia, Bucks & Montgomery Counties and parts of NJ 
