All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten

All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things I learned:

Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.

And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all – LOOK. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living. Take any of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm.

Think what a better world it would be if all – the whole world – had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess. And it is still true, no matter how old you are – when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

ACTIVE SPEAKING: Debating the Issues

Nowadays more and more parents are getting their children admitted to different early childhood education programs in hope of securing a better future for them. At the same time early education probably puts too much pressure on young children. Get divided into two groups and debate the issue of early schooling.

Group 1: You are for early schooling. You are convinced that it has numerous benefits for children’s development. First, list advantages of early education within your group, then debate the issue with the other group.

Group 2: You are against early schooling. You believe that early education deprives children of their childhood. First, list disadvantages of early education within your group, then debate the issue with the other group.

ACTIVEWRITING

Writing an e-mail.

1. Imagine that you are planning to participate in the US Au Pair Program. Read the following information about a few American host families. Choose the family you believe fits you best and explain your choice to your group mates.

2. Write an e-mail to the family you have chosen. It should include information about your background, your personal characteristics, your childcare and housekeeping experience, your interests and hobbies, and your reasons for going to the USA. Do not forget to ask the family some questions which will let you know more about them and your future responsibilities.

Family 1

We are looking forward to our fourth year with an au pair. I live with my 4-year old son, my boyfriend, and our current au pair who is from Costa Rica. Our first au pair was from Argentina, and the last 3 have been from Cost Rica. I have been divorced for 2 years. My son’s father lives about 20 minutes away and my son stays with him over every other weekend. However, our au pair is not required to sleep there at all, but rather just watch him during the day as needed.

We live in a very nice suburb of Detroit, Michigan. There are many kids in our neighborhood, and quite a few au pairs. My sister has two kids and an au pair as well. She lives right down the street. We have a good size house with lots of room for everyone to have their privacy. We are very casual, active and relaxed people, and we would like our au pair to be similar. My son is a wonderful, adorable, fun-loving child who just loves to play all the time. He has loved each of our au pairs, but especially our current au pair, who treats him with all the love and kindness with which she would treat her own child. He requires a great deal of patience, and a very warm, affectionate approach. Our au pair must love the company of young children, be creative and whimsical. We would prefer her to have a sparkle in her eye and laugh easily, as that is what my son is used to, and that is the way he is himself − he loves to connect with people, and he wants to feel loved and special. My son goes to school Monday through Friday until 12:00. Many afternoons I take him to various activities. Right now he takes swimming lessons, gymnastics twice a week, in addition to speech and occupational therapy for a mild developmental disorder that he has. Currently, our au pair’s general duties are playing with my son, since that is a great part of his therapy, feeding him and putting him to bed, so next au pair will have a similar schedule.

We love the au pair program for a few reasons. First, having live-in help makes the transitions of coming and going much easier for my son. Second, my son is starting to understand that people come from all different places, and it is so nice for him to learn about other places and cultures from people who live there. Finally, we really enjoy sharing our home and our culture with our au pair, and having another family member with whom we can laugh and play and have fun.

Miranda Jackson

Family 2

Hi, I am going to tell you about our family and why we are excited about having an au pair join us. Our family is made up of the host dad, the host mom, a son and two daughters. We have a pretty full schedule. The oldest son is in 5th grade, the middle daughter is in 3rd grade and the youngest daughter is in kindergarten at a private school. The kids stay pretty busy. We try to stay flexible for special outings and play dates. Our school is about 15-20 minutes away and we have to drive them every day. There is no bus service.

There are several reasons that we believe that an au pair is right for our family now. First, we have had au pairs in the past, and enjoyed the experience. We are looking for childcare that is flexible. We also like the fact that the au pair will be in a new and exciting environment and interested in exploring our area with our children and without them in her spare time. As our children grow older, we believe it will be fun to have a young, energetic person around to play with and learn from. We have traveled with our kids to Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean, and they are old enough to appreciate language/cultural differences.

It is important that our au pair be outgoing and energetic. She should have experience with older children like ours, and be able to be a friend to them, and help maintain a positive environment. In addition, our au pair will have to help us enforce the rules that we do have regarding television and computer time, table manners, and homework, along with treating each other with kindness and respect. We value physical exercise and creative play. Our au pair may spend a lot of time in the car. It is very important that she be an experienced and comfortable driver.

We live in a beautiful suburb of Boston, located about 15 km west of downtown Boston, and is easily accessible by public transportation. There is a very large au pair cluster here, and there are many activities, movies, shops, and restaurants close by. There are very many colleges and universities in Boston. There will be several choices for our au pair to take classes at, but the best choice is usually to take evening classes at the Harvard University Extension School. They have courses in very many topics, and they have very good teachers.

Mark and Linda Webber

Family 3

We live in a nice suburb of Washington D.C. Our home is a 3 story brick colonial with a private au pair suite in the basement. It is a culturally-diverse community with easy access to things like malls, movie theaters, groceries, library, schools, and the subway. Our neighborhood has nice walking trails, a private clubhouse with an Olympic-size pool, and a tennis court.

The host dad is a regulatory lawyer who works in the city. The host Mom is a Neonatologist (doctor for premature and sick newborns). We are blessed with two boys­ – one of them will be 7 years old in October and the other one will be 5 years old this August. Both boys attend a private school 4 miles from home. The older son will be in first grade and the younger one will be in Pre-K. We also have a very energetic black lab. We are both working parents with demanding careers. Due to the nature of our work schedules, we expect you to be flexible with your work hours. There will be days where you don't work, days where you work 4 hours or less, and days you will work 10 hours. You will never work more than 45 hours a week and we do not expect you to work on Sundays unless it is absolutely necessary and only if it was arranged well in advance. We do not believe in corporal punishment (spanking). Our boys respond well to "time outs" which is when they are sent to their rooms. They are at a stage where they continually test their boundaries and we expect you to be firm, but fair and consistent when disciplining them.

We have had a range of experiences with both domestic nannies and au pairs. We are looking for somebody who will be a perfect fit for our family. You should be caring, loving, and compassionate and must enjoy playing and interacting with the kids. Our boys have boundless energy, curiosity, enthusiasm, and are very loving. You need to be energetic, responsible, nurturing, motivated, honest, and want to integrate into our family. We expect you to share family activities like preparing, eating meals together and be part of the family. Most importantly, we are looking for someone who will view caring for our kids as more than just a job, but as an opportunity to live with a caring family who will treat you as one of their own.

Alan and Jane East

(http://aupairamerica.tripod.com/hostfamilyprofileswebsitejune07/id6.html).

Focus II. Going to School

ACTIVE LISTENING

Before Listening Activities

Activity I: Orientation