Glacier｜Avoiding the 3 major misconceptions about foreign au pairs! Au Pair Programs are a great way to help your child grow!
As an organization specializing in cross-cultural family education services for several years, Glacier has helped 100+ Chinese families to successfully connect with quality foreign au pairs. We have found that many parents spend a lot of money on au pairs, but fall into the wrong trap due to improper methods - their children are disgusted, au pairs are anxious, and their expectations are not met. Our core value is to help you avoid these pitfalls, so that transnational family companionship can truly be a catalyst for your child's language enlightenment and cultural vision expansion!
Myth 1: Treating au pairs as “temporary teachers” and forcing them to attend classes is resisted.
Parent's FAQ: Just after picking up your au pair, you buy textbooks and arrange a class schedule for your child, but your child hates the “home classroom” and your au pair is anxious because of her lack of teaching experience.
Court Leahy Solutions:
- Role positioning guidance: make it clear to parents in advance that the au pair is a companion, not a full-time teacher, and output the “Stress-Free Companionship Handbook” (including 100+ game-based interaction methods, such as hide-and-seek, handicrafts, baking, etc., without teaching materials);
- Au pair pre-service communication: when docking au pairs, make clear the family's needs - “companionship-based, refusing to force lessons” - and train au pairs to interact with each other using playful language (e.g., when playing with building blocks, say Au pairs are also trained to interact with each other using playful language (e.g. when playing with blocks, say “build a tower”);
- Real-time adjustment support: If parents or au pairs are found to have deviated from their roles, Collegiate Counselors are available online 24 hours a day to give corrective advice and prevent conflicts from escalating.
Myth 2: Au pairs and children are left to their own devices.“
Parents' FAQs: Au pairs come in, parents don't care, resulting in initial language barrier + unfamiliarity, children avoiding au pairs, au pairs at a loss.
Court Leahy Solutions:
- Initial ice-breaking program: customized “3-day ice-breaking list” - for example, on the first day, parents lead the children to do their favorite jigsaw puzzle together, on the second day, they bake cookies together, and on the third day, they fly kites outdoors, guiding the au pair throughout the whole process. The au pair will be guided throughout the whole program to participate and get closer to the au pair;
- Daily interactive feedback: Parents are required to submit a short report of their time spent with the au pair (e.g., “The child played with the au pair for 15 minutes today.”), based on which the au pair advisor will give suggestions for optimization (e.g., “Tomorrow, we can add an English children's song session! The au pair will then give you suggestions for optimization (e.g. ”We can add an English song session tomorrow");
- Au Pair Encouragement Tips: Teach parents how to recognize their au pair's small improvements (e.g., “You played a puzzle game with your child today, and he had a great time!”) ), to boost their confidence and sense of inclusion.
Myth 3: Expecting to be “fluent in English right away”
Parent FAQ: After the au pair has been here for a week, the child is anxious when he/she doesn't speak a few words of English and feels that the money has been wasted, even forcing the child to talk.
Court Leahy Solutions:
- Adaptation cycle management: scientific expectations are given according to the age of the child (10-30 days are needed for 3-4 years old and 7-20 days for 5-6 years old), allowing parents to calm down;
- Gamification vocabulary packs: provide customized English cards (with high-frequency vocabulary words such as greetings, games, food, etc.), and design interactive gameplay (e.g., “Word Cards Battle” - read the right word and win a card, or “Find the card to win the reward” - the au pair reads the word, the parents and the child find it together, and the mother intentionally lets the child win and rewards the child with a snack/toy);
- Progressive language guidance: Teach parents to incorporate English naturally in everyday situations (e.g., “pass the spoon” when eating, “put on your shoes” when leaving the house) rather than intentionally. Grammar.
A real-life case study of Gerlach: From “resistance” to “active English”
Ms. Zhang in Beijing hired Lily, an American au pair, and initially asked her to give English lessons to her 5-year-old son, Xiaoyu, who cried and resisted, and Lily was so nervous that she lost sleep. Lily was so nervous that she couldn't sleep:
- Stop the “classroom mode” and replace it with “game accompaniment” - play “Find the Fruit” with English cards;
- Ms. Zhang leads Lily and Xiaoyu in daily crafts (e.g., saying “red clay” when making playdough);
- Give Lily weekly feedback on small improvements (e.g., “Xiaoyu said ‘hello” to you today!"). .
Two weeks later, Xiaoyu took the initiative to pull Lily to play with blocks and said “build a house” in English, and Lily became confident and cheerful.
Why Glacier?
In addition to avoiding misconceptions, we offer:
- Quality Au Pair Screening: Au Pair backgrounds are strictly scrutinized (no criminal record, love of children, cross-cultural experience) and matched to the family's needs (e.g., an au pair who loves crafts for a child who loves to paint);
- Two-way training system: Parents are trained in how to guide transnational family companionship, and au pairs are trained to understand Chinese family culture (e.g. dining etiquette, children's routine);
- 24-hour emergency support: In the event of conflicts or cultural clashes, a Kerachi counselor is always available to intervene and mediate;
- Cultural outreach activities: Au pair family gatherings (e.g. Halloween parties, Thanksgiving dinners) are organized regularly to allow children to experience multiculturalism in an immersive way.
Act now to make transnational family accompaniment truly empowering for children!
Helping you avoid au pair misconceptions, so that your children can improve their English and expand their horizons in happy company!
- Official website: www.glacieredu.com
- Hotline: +86 18610908992
- E-mail: info@glacieredu.com
Glacier is a precious gift for your child's development, as it takes the pitfalls out of cross-country family companionship!