As
an au pair you will find yourself with many different roles; sister, friend,
confidant, disciplinarian, and teacher. Becoming a bit of a teacher might be
new to many of you. To give you a brief glimpse into the role, we interviewed
an elementary school teacher from Wellesley, Massachusetts.
See her thoughts on working with kids, au pairs, and what you can do to help
your future host kids succeed in school!
1. Why did you decide to work with children?I decided to work with
children because I LOVE them...I love to get to know each child's unique
personality and to watch them discover the world around them. I get such joy
from being a big part of their development and growth. As a kindergarten
teacher I am usually their first “real” teacher and someone that they have been
really excited to meet for a long long time.
2.
What would your advice be to someone thinking
about a career working with children?My advice would be to get a lot of experience (babysitting or
being a teacher's aide) and, of course, a good solid education. Make sure you
are capable of extreme patience, creativity, and organization. These three
values will take you really far in the world of teaching and are a good
foundation to stand on. Actually these are great no matter what you end up
working with!
3. You started as a babysitter in high school and
then, after college, transitioned into working full-time with children. What
would you say is the biggest difference in interacting with the children? There are a quite a few differences actually! But the biggest
I would say is that as a teacher you need to require more respect than a
babysitter-it’s really important that the children view you in a different
light because you need respect in order to teach. You should always be
warm and approachable, but still respected. Set rules from the beginning and
the right expectations and, of course, be consistent! When you teach they
need to know to listen and take what you say seriously and give you their
attention. Balancing respect and approachability is not the easiest, but it is
really important in any sort of childcare work.
4. What do you see as the benefit for kids in
having an au pair?
I think that having
another adult to look up to and learn from is important in any setting. A child
can never have too many people who care about them and be their role models.
Another big benefit of an au pair is in learning how to establish relationships
with other adults outside of the family. This is not something that
everyone learns automatically and is an important life skill for anyone!
5. How can au pairs best help their host children
prepare for school?
This will depend a lot
on the ages of the children, but you can always help in teaching them time
management, organization, and responsibility. This will vary, but you can
adjust this to fit the children’s needs. These three skills are all key
in helping them learn to do things by themselves. It helps to have these skills
as a base so it is not as frightening to take the first step. Au pairs might be
a part of the children’s lives as they, for example, have their first day of
school, first field trip, or even their first test. If the kids are little,
like my kindergartener, involve them in packing their lunches, picking out
their clothes for the next day, and setting good routines at home. All of this
can help improve their self-esteem, which is such a help at school!
6.What do you think the benefits are for young
kids in being exposed to different cultures early on?
The benefits are
endless. Different cultures are something that everyone in the USA experiences
on a daily basis, but this usually starts in school. Your child will find him
or herself in school surrounded by different backgrounds and cultures-this is
life! So having already been initiated to the experience at home is worth
its weight in gold. You can teach understanding, tolerance, and respect through
simply telling the kids about where in the world you come from.
Do you have
any general questions for our kindergarten teacher? Email us at aupair.se@culturalcare.com and we
will forward them along!
