Summer Special! Save $500!
Sign up before September 1st and you will receive $500 off the program fee!* |
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*This offer cannot be combined with other discounts. Au Pair must arrive before January 1st.
Au Pair video contest! 
We asked our au pairs to tap into their creative side and create a short video about their wonderful experience as an au pair. Watch the videos of our winner and finalists!
Wassana won a free road trip through the beautiful American Southwest courtesy of Intrepid Suntrek worth almost $1,000!
| THE WINNER: Wassana, from Thailand |
Runners up
| Carol, from Brazil | Diana, from Colombia |
Au Pair of the Year Nominee - Bianca from Germany
Bianca began her Au Pair experience with the Hall family in January 2009. In the year that she has been with the family, she has surpassed all expectations - not only providing quality childcare, but also flawlessly integrating in the Host Family. To thank and honor Bianca for all of her work and her extraordinary personality, the Hall family nominated her for the IAPA Au Pair of the Year Award. Their nomination letter, which truly shows what makes Bianca an exemplary Au Pair is below:
"Our family isn't special. Other than having three boys and one girl, we're pretty normal. We're a typical American family living in suburbia. There's never a dull moment in our house. Even with our dogs and cats. What is rather special is this tall, long blonde (right now?any moment it could change) haired woman with more piercings than fingers that scurries in and out of the house with behaving children in tow. That woman is our au pair, Bianca, and she is quite possibly the best thing to have ever happened to our family.
Bianca comes from a family where she's an only child. We thought for sure she would turn us down for an interview, as did a few previous au pairs, because of the number of children we have. Not only did she agree to have an interview with us, but she wasn't put off by the number of kids she would have to watch every day. See, we knew she was something special when we saw her picture on CHI Au Pair's website. We saw the look in the eyes of the child in the picture with Bianca and that child was genuinely happy. Eyes never lie. Bianca's eyes glimmered and the little boy's eyes beamed. When we talked to her on the phone the first time, we were all a little nervous, but we all felt an instant connection. We never expected Bianca to "pick up" on our banter, our sarcasm, and certainly didn't expect her to dish it back out to us, but she did. And we were smitten. It was love at first sight, but we hadn't "seen" her yet?just talked. When we followed up with her later that weekend and she told us she'd like to come to our family, we didn't know whether to admit her to a hospital or throw a party! When Bianca arrived in our home, she threw herself immediately into being part of the family. She took control of the household and put us in line. Kathryn, our youngest and only girl, was a screamer. If she wasn't in my or her daddy's arms, she screamed. Dogs could howl with her screams. And then Bianca took her. Kathryn cried a bit, but she stopped. She grew so accustomed to Bianca that Bianca's arms and hips were added to the list of acceptable people to hold her within a few short days. Not only that, but she developed a napping / eating schedule for the baby that even I as her mother couldn't figure out.
Bianca quickly established a work / school routine for her and the kids and pretty soon our kids were actually finishing their homework! As two working parents with four children ages 8 and under, it was difficult enough to make sure all kids schoolwork was completed, papers signed, shuttling to after-school activities, and keeping our sanity in check. Bianca turned our lives upside down with her schedules and assertiveness. The boys' homework was completed and ready for us to check when we got home. School papers to be signed were lined up on the counter according to child. She dropped the kids off and picked them from the activities that were immediately after-school so that we could accomplish a full day at work. She would get dinner prepped for the entire family so that when we got home from work we just had to cook it. She opened up so many hours in the evening for us to be able to spend time with our kids. That time is so precious to us and without Bianca we would have no idea who needed what and when.
Bianca is very mature for her age and we have never experienced a time with her when we didn't trust her. She is respectful of us and we are of her. She respects our children and they look up to her. If you ask our boys what they like most about Bianca they have a resounding answer of, "we have fun with her!" Next in line is that "she takes care of me" and "she does homework with me." As a parent it's the most comforting feeling knowing that your child is with someone you trust completely with their wellbeing. We took a chance on a young woman from another country and she took a chance on us. No one knew that the stars aligned with this match and that a new family member was created. We know that we are not a special family, but Bianca is everything to us and this nomination is the least we can do to make sure people out there realize that we received the most special au pair in the world."
EDUCARE - Affordable Childcare for your School Aged Children!
Starting in Winter 2009, CHI Au Pair USA will offer an affordable new Au Pair program called Educare! The cost saving Educare program is designed specifically for families with school aged children who need fewer hours of care per week. The average cost of an Educare Au Pair is only $295 a week for a 52 week program! This includes program fees, weekly stipend and education costs! Rest assured that the Educare program will give you the same excellent caring childcare and support as our traditional Au Pair program.
Program Details:
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The Educare program is designed for families with children ages five and up
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Educare Au Pairs can work up to 30 hours a week
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Weekly stipend for an Educare Au Pair is only $146.81
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Educare Au Pairs must complete 12 college credits while in the US
For more information about CHI Au Pair USA's exciting new Educare program
please send an inquiry to chiaupairops@chinet.org
or call 1-800-432-4643, ext. 176 today!
More Information: Educare.pdf
The Ripple Effect Of Hosting
Have you ever considered hosting a student or an au pair from another country? Someone who will live in your home as a member of your family? Are you aware that this experience will probably change your life and your child's life forever?
Before Tom and I began to host, we found ourselves reluctant. We had two little girls, 4 and 7. We treasured our privacy. We lived in a small house with no extra money. Our curiosity got the better of us and we decided to try hosting in spite of our reluctance. We selected a girl from Japan who seemed to have quite good English. Our children were beside themselves with joy. Suddenly they had a big sister who would play with them. Since her English was not as good as we thought, the girls found they could take care of her like a little sister. On the second day, she began to play cards with them. It was a universal language. Our Japanese girl, Chiharu, who was 23, began to blend with our family. In just three short weeks, she found loving understanding from my children who had never known a person from another country. My husband, yes, Tom Areton, was staying up with our "new daughter" until 1AM asking her all manner of questions about Japan like "How do the Japanese pay their bills?" or "What does your father do for a living?" Our sweet student tried valiantly to answer him. We discovered that the Japanese live very differently from the Americans. This was such a delightful discovery that we found ourselves fascinated. Our children too were utterly intrigued by her unique values. One of them said, "Your mom and dad don't hug or give each other a kiss in front of you in Japan?" Her mother and father showed affection in front of the family. Needless to say, we were all hooked and we were all in love. She had quickly become a family treasure. Our loving relationship has lasted for many years after she returned home.
Thirty two years later we are still hosting students, now from all over the world. I had a third daughter six years after we first started hosting and she grew up with two to three Japanese children, a whole family from Brooklyn who now lived in Japan and hardly spoke English, three Slovak girls, and a Mongolian who went to high school here. There were many other short-term visitors from many countries. Even today, as I write these lines, we are hosting a young Slovak family downstairs in our au pair quarters. It is their 4th year with us and they now have a little two year old girl! Even more amazing, because of our experience with Chiharu and some others, we decided to start CHI.
CHI's 200,000 hosting families, some of whom have had almost a hundred students coming through their welcoming homes, can also attest to international friendships that go on for decades. We know the ripple effect hosting a foreign person can have on our lives. Some of our children have become diplomats. Some work in the travel business. A few have married people from others countries. Many have taken opportunities to travel. A great many visit their students abroad, attend their weddings, and welcome them back on their return visits. Most importantly, families who host begin to see the world through "different" eyes. By becoming more tolerant and understanding of other cultures and by cherishing their world-wide friendships, they become better citizens of our own country.
CHI has many programs that bring young students to our shores. Our Au Pair program allows young people to live with a family, attend classes, and care for the children while the mother is working. Group Homestays bring high school students in the spring and summer for up to 4 weeks. These students study English conversation and interact with their host families in the evenings and on weekends. Some students attend our high schools for 1 or 2 semesters. These young people literally become members of their new American families and of their high schools. Overseas University students come as Interns, training in American businesses. Even some of these stay with a family when they first arrive in order to learn about how we live.
And what happened to our 23 year old Chiharu we hosted 32 years ago? She became an English teacher, married another Japanese student from the same homestay group who became a neurosurgeon and they have two daughters, both studying medicine.
Happy End, indeed!
CHI is now on Facebook!
CHI is now on Facebook! If you are too ? visit the main CHI page or the CHI Au Pair USA page.
