Please read the HOW TO REGISTER, HOW IT WORKS and CREDIT AND TIMING sections carefully. Then let us know if you have any questions.
Please note: these are self-paced. You decide when to begin. Some au pairs finish in 4-7 days. Other au pairs take 2 or 3 or even 4 weeks to finish. You email back and forth with the instructor. There are no specific times to be online. This seems to work best for au pair schedules.
The following six courses are offered by our faculty for $250 each, 36-hours (equivalent to 3 credits).
AP 201 Au Pair Personal Development: There are four parts to this course: Career Ready, Creative Writing, Personal Fitness, and Educational Psychology of Motivation. All four parts are required for this course.
- CAREER READY: this part will help you think about your future career and what you would like to do. If you have no idea or a very specific idea of what you would like to do, this class will provide you with tips and tricks for planning ahead and being successful. Learn what steps you can take next in your career, how to create a work journal to track your accomplishments and best way to update your resume/vita to increase likelihood it is seen.
- CREATIVE WRITING: this part will help you express yourself in your own voice with tips and helpful hints to bring life to your writing. You’ll read a few excerpts and answer questions related to the creative writing process. You’ll then have an assignment where you write your own creative writing piece using the tools you have learned. It is completely up to you what to write about. Not too difficult and fun at the same time!
- PERSONAL FITNESS: This is not a yoga class, but you will learn that yoga is a group of physical, mental and spiritual practices that helps align the body and the mind. In this course you will discover the origins of yoga, the many health benefits and the most basic poses to get you started. Don’t be intimidated by complex yoga poses because yoga is for everyone. You can build your own program.
- EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY OF MOTIVATION: Motivation is the drive that gives individuals action to do something. In this course you will learn the Educational Psychology basic principles of motivation. Get ready to learn why you have made certain choices with your life.
AP 202 Au Pair Introduction to Permaculture: A look at Ecological Sustainability from Renewable Energy Sources to Waste Reduction Techniques to Natural Systems Preservation.
AP 203 Development of Personal Skills: there are four parts to this course: Personal Financial Management, Media Literacy, The Biology of Stress and Personal Wellness. All four parts are required for this course.
- PERSONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: This part of the class will help you analyze your personal spending habits and develop practical budgeting goals and techniques to prepare yourself for a successful financial future. Do you have a goal to save money for? This can help.
- MEDIA LITERACY: In the world today a large amount of media such as books, movies, television, apps, games and more take up more and more of our time. This part of the class will help you examine the media world we all live in and understand your place in it. You will also learn about tools for helping children become more medial literate.
- THE BIOLOGY OF STRESS: this part of the class will review your personal reactions to stress, why humans have evolved to experience stress and how stress impacts the brain, our physical health and our mental well-being.
- PERSONAL WELLNESS: In this part of the course you will learn how to set health and wellness goals and make a plan to hold yourself accountable. You will look at food labels of your everyday foods and understand what is in them. Finally, you will set up a myfitnesspal account and keep track of your calories and nutrients intake and then compare to what you though you were consuming. By doing this, you will have a better understanding of your food data and be able to control types of food and how much food goes into your meal plan.
AP 204 Personal Advancement: There are four parts to this course: Finding Job Interview Success; Deconstructing and Understanding Personality Styles; Leadership Styles; Discovering, Uncovering and Appreciating the Music of Our World. All four parts are required for this course.
- FINDING JOB INTERVIEW SUCCESS: Job interviews can be stressful, scary experiences. You will learn tested methods you can use to increase your chance for success to receive a job offer in your next job interview. You will receive specific tips and tricks you can use before a job interview, how to answer job interview questions in a more natural way and take steps to become a more competitive job interview candidate.
- DECONSTRUCTING AND UNDERSTANDING PERSONALITY STYLES: In this part of the class, you will take a step back and look at yourself deep from within to learn more about who you are, while at the same time, learn about others. In doing so, you will be able to understand how to work better with friends and colleagues and how to communicate better with them. By breaking down different aspects of who you are, you will be able to grow personally and professionally.
- LEADERSHIP STYLES: Anyone can become a leader. This part of the course will teach you different leadership styles and help you become a better leader. Learn how to cultivate your own leadership style!
- DISCOVERING AND APPRECIATING THE MUSIC OF OUR WORLD: This part of the course will navigate through musical history, starting with research of the Gregorian era (Gregorian chant. Then you will explore a genre of music of your choice and research it, followed up by a self-reflection of why music is important to the world and to you.
AP 205 Americana: There are four parts to this course: Music of Contemporary USA, American National Parks, American Feast (food of the USA), and United States’ Western Expansion. All four parts are required for this course.
- MUSIC OF CONTEMPORARY USA: Americana music is a diverse genre of music. In this course, you will research what Americana music is and how it came to be. You will also uncover some examples of artists and songs that define Americana music, and review at least 10 of these songs. Who knows, you may uncover an artist you come to enjoy!
- AMERICAN NATIONAL PARKS: Ready, Set, Explore! Explore the history and beauty of United States National Parks. This part of the course will spark your adventure to travel to new locations and embrace the wonders of mother nature.
- AMERICAN FEAST: Fire up your taste buds and embrace the American cuisine. You will learn about unique flavors that express American culture along with the history behind the infamous dishes. Share with us, your most favorite recipe from your culture.
- UNITED STATES WESTERN EXPANSION: Journey through the events and ordeals that shaped America’s Western Expansion. From Sacagawea to the Oregon Trail to the California Gold Rush, come explore the good, the bad and the ugly of this period in American History.
AP 207 Flex Course: Select any 4 parts from the 5 online courses above.
The following course is offered by our faculty for $600, 72-hours (equivalent to 6 credits).
AP 209: Pursuing Professional & Life Goals: A retrospective on preparing
for success in life and the world. The course includes the following topics, all of which are required to be completed. They are taught by six instructors.
- Being Career Ready
- Preparing for Job Interview Success
- Personal Finances Management
- Stress Recognition and Control
- Creative Writing
- Psychology of Motivation
- Understanding Personality Styles
- Leadership Styles
HOW IT WORKS: An email with introductory information and explaining the process will be sent to au pairs registered. This will include information from the instructors, how to reach them, links to materials to review and some activities that require au pairs to email back to the instructors. The au pair does not have to be online at a specific time. The au pair finishes the course, usually within a week or two but if you need more time – take it. We recommend that as you finish one of the parts of the course that you email your assignment to that instructor. That is better than waiting to the end to send them all.
CREDIT and TIMING: The online course will be worth 36-hours which is equivalent to 3 credits. Those who register for an online course will be emailed the materials and can take one – four weeks to complete the online portion. If they need more time they can take more time. When everything is completed and au pairs have emailed all the work in, and the instructors have signed off, a certificate will be emailed to the au pair. The Certificate could take two days to email to you. Most au pairs are taking about two week but could take longer if they need the time. We all have different language skills and various childcare schedules.
We also have three 12-hour courses available. Email silverbayaupaircourses@gmail.com and ask for information about them if interested.
HOW TO REGISTER: Click here to register online or fill out the registration form (12-hour form or 36-hour form) and indicate which of the courses you want to take and email it to us. If you do not have a printer then email the information asked on the form in the body of an email. That will get you registered so we can email you the course. Most au pairs include on the form a credit card or debit card information as payment. If paying by check or money order, postal mail the form or information with a check for $250 per course (for the 36-hours courses) or $120 per course (for the 12-hour courses). Directions are on the bottom of the form about where to mail it. You can also email the form and call the credit card information to us. You will get a receipt. A day or two after you register you will get a confirmation indicating the amount paid.
