To introduce your children to Shakespeare’s language, there is nothing like a total immersion in English culture. Hosting an au pair and sharing your lives and family with her for a year is an engaging and rewarding experience. Here is our advice so that you can easily find your perfect au pair.
The Basics
Welcome an English, American, or Canadian student into your home as a full member of your family. She will teach your kids English while you help her learn French: a reciprocal relationship. At 30 hours per week (6 hours maximum per day) as a babysitter, the au pair cares for the children (from one year old) after school or on Wednesdays, but she is not meant to do the cleaning or ironing. In most cases, she will have free time on weekends and most evenings.
A Trustworthy Agency
Created by a former teacher and bilingual baby sitter after her return from the US in 2012, Pikaboonanny is a serious nanny and au pair agency. Her recruitment in Anglo-Saxon countries involves at least five references from each candidate to prove their experience with children and expertise with young students, to ensure the best for French families.
Pricing
The au pair is to be housed, fed, and welcomed into your family and home; she will have her own bedroom and minimum pocket money of 90 euros per week. The family also provides URSSAF fees (about 190 euros per month) and helps to transport her to her French language classes which she will take in her free time. In short, to have an au pair costs about 600 euros per month (cost of food not included) for 30 hours of babysitting per week.
Advice from Mariam Kamara, founder of Pikaboonanny
“To host an au pair, you must be open, generous and flexible. Indeed, the Anglo-Saxon culture has different reflexes and relationships with some everyday small things such as food. In England, the babysitter has everything she wants provided and can use the kitchen freely, but this is not always the case in France. I recommend that families try it for at least a year or two if they hope to make their children bilingual.
For more information: www.aupair-world.fr
