How Important is Cultural Exchange to You?

If you Google, "cultural exchange", there are an amazing number of current news articles that come up.  Cultural exchange is important to parents in the United States and the news reflects that interest.  In fact, there is an entire bureau in the State Department titled the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

A prevalent reason many families choose an au pair for childcare is the cultural exchange.  Even if families first begin to think about an au pair because of the flexibility and affordability, they are often won over to the program because of the cultural influx into their household.  I have started many host family interviews with the question, "How important is cultural exchange to your family".  Often, the parents will look at one another, shrug their shoulders, and say, "Well, it is important".  I can tell they have not given it much thought.  As we progress in our discussion, I tend to give little examples of how an au pair has shared her culture with a current host family.

For example, I have a Serbian au pair that cooked Serbian food for her host family for a week to celebrate a holiday from her home country that we do not celebrate in the United States.  I have another au pair that makes little toys for her host children out of paper, similar to the toys she played with as a child.  There are many examples of au pairs sharing their culture.

As we continue with the host family interview, the host family realizes how excited they are to have another culture in their house.

Here are some ideas that you or your au pair can do with your children to increase the cultural exchange of having an au pair.

• Toys:  Choose toys and offer activities that reflect a variety of cultural backgrounds
• Language:  Talk about language.  Some languages have more than one word for what English speakers think of as a single entity.  Ask your au pair if there are any examples in her language.
• Body language:  For English speakers, nodding the head signifies "yes".  In some cultures, nodding means "no".  Ask your au pair what body language in her country is different from body language in the U.S.
• Folklore:  Each family has its own folklore, a set of beliefs, myths, tales, and practices.  Ask your au pair about their special holiday games or food from their childhood; whether they know any dances, songs or language from "the old days" and if they know of any special "family rules."  (For instance, one family sets the rule that you can only eat one piece of popcorn at a time out of the bowl.)
• Books:  Read books that feature other cultures.  For a great book lists organized by age groups, visit Kids Activities.
• Watch Foreign Films:  the Oscar Nominations for Foreign Language Films are out and although not appropriate for children, it is interesting as a host parent to see what foreign countries are nominated.  For foreign films that are appropriate for children, PBS has some suggestions.
• Music:  Ask your au pair about the music she or he listened to as a child.  See if you can download any of them for your children.  If not, the Putumayo Kids record label produces upbeat, culturally authentic music including folk, Celtic, reggae, Latin and African music.