Experience Au Pair Child Care
Your experience begins when your Au Pair arrives. Day after day, you receive so much more than standard child care services and learn what sets Au Pair care apart from other forms of child care.
Life during the experience
Your Au Pair can transform your family’s life. First and foremost, you have a flexible and reliable care provider; yet, your Au Pair does much more than provide morning, daytime, before/after school and evening help. Your Au Pair often goes
beyond general supervision performing other activities pertaining to your children and child care, such as:
- Driving
- Clean up after snack time
- Bath time
- Prepare, clean up children’s meals
- Homework help
- Driving to, pickup from school, after school sports, dance, other activities
- Teaching, tutoring
- Cultural sharing, language instruction
- Game time
- Kids laundry, ironing
- Arts and crafts time
- Musical support
- Making kids bed, tidying up room
- Outside play time
- Reading time at home, at the local library
- Getting ready for school in the morning, packing lunches, backpacks
- Visit zoos, museums, parks, more
- Sick day help, doctor visits
- Potty training help
- Nap time
- Teach good behavior
- Swimming, skiing
- Play dates
- Birthdays, holidays
- And more!
All of these child care services are completed during the
flexible Au Pair work schedule you create. Schedules cannot exceed the Au Pair work limit of 10 hours per day and 45 hours per week (30 hours per week for EduCare). Additionally, your Au Pair’s schedule includes 1 1/2 days off each week, one complete weekend off each month and two weeks of paid vacation that you mutually agree upon with your Au Pair. Your Au Pair’s schedule can differ day by day and you can alter the schedule over time as your needs change during the course of your experience.
Although your Au Pair might offer, keep in mind Au Pairs cannot do the following:
- Grocery shop for the family
- Walk the dog or care of other animals
- Provide care for neighbor’s children
- Cook for the entire family
- Do the entire family’s laundry
- Clean areas of the home other than children’s living and playing areas
- Administer medicine
- Any tasks not directly related to the care of the children
In exchange for flexible child care services, which go beyond basic supervision, you provide your Au Pair with room, board and a
small stipend. However, child care services are only a small part of the total Au Pair experience.
The most extraordinary part of the Au Pair experience is the invaluable cultural exchange opportunity your family receives. As a globally aware parent, you appreciate this international young person who is your teammate in providing personalized care to your children and becomes a lifelong friend of the family. With Au Pair child care, you create awareness among your children and give them a greater appreciation of the cultural differences that exist around the world. This priceless impact makes Au Pair child care extraordinary.
Life with your family has a lasting effect on your Au Pair. Speaking with you, your children and your friends enhances your Au Pair’s English, unlocking potential career opportunities. When you welcome and accept your Au Pair, your family dispels stereo types about America and changes an international young person’s perspective. Through caring for your children, your Au Pair becomes a big brother or a big sister and while living in your home learns what it is like
to be part of an American family.
Your Au Pair is also immersed in U.S. culture by
attending classes at an accredited post secondary school. Attending educational courses helps your Au Pair make friends with other young adults in your community and furthers their education. Au Pairs are required to attend at least six credit hours or an equivalent (12 hours for EduCare Au Pairs), while they are in the U.S. Host Families are required to
pay a contribution towards the schooling. For your convenience, your Host Family portal contains a list of schools in your area your Au Pair can attend.
Your
Local Area Representative facilitates cultural experiences for your Au Pair through social events held with other Au Pairs from the local area. During these events, your Au Pair makes new friends while enjoying and exploring your local area. These events may include:
- Local tours and attractions
- Performing arts
- Sleepovers
- Dinners
- Weekend trips
- Local outdoor activities
- Museums, Zoos
- Sporting events
- Water parks, Amusement parks
- Holiday events
- Movies, Bowling
- Coffee hour
- Game nights
- Cultural sharing nights
Your Local Area Representative also facilitates cultural experiences for you and your family through the family day event held with other Host Families from your local area. During the family day event you meet other families using Au Pair child care, meet other Au Pairs from around the world and discuss ways to make the most of your Au Pair experience.
Your dedicated support team
Au Pair child care comes equipped with a support team dedicated to you and your Au Pair. Our staff at Headquarters and your Local Area Representative assist you in all three steps of Au Pair child care – especially throughout your experience. During the
Au Pair and Host Family Orientation, your Local Area Representative helps you establish expectations, orient your Au Pair to the local area and lay the foundation for a successful experience. Your Local Area Representative answers your questions, monitors your progress, and is your go-to resource for everything local. Communication between you, your Au Pair, your Local Area Representative and Headquarters is important and you can expect regular contact.
The possibilities are endless
You and your Au Pair are teammates during the experience. Your partnership is successful through open communications, managed expectations, and feedback to which you both contribute. Go Au Pair’s support team assists you, but ultimately it’s the cooperation between you and your Au Pair, which results in a win-win situation. The possibilities for your Au Pair care experience are endless when you dedicate yourself to the relationship.