Anonymous wrote:Astar Education Institute located in Northern VA/Wash DC is the best program I have found so far for quality au pairs. They work conjunction with the au pair company named Au Pair 4 Me but there is a whole layer to this program that makes the candidates SOO much better than anything else I've found. They find nursing students and teachers from countries in Eastern Europe, China and India who have a specific degree program in mind instead of just using an au pair program to come to the US for a year or two. The Au Pairs earn a certification from Astar to become a nursing assistant at the same time they are doing the au pair program so there is twice the motivation to stay in the same area during the whole program, otherwise they will risk not completing the certification program.

Most of their candidates also have a teaching background in a classroom setting and some have even participated in a teacher exchange program in the US so they are much more familiar with living in the American culture and working with American kids. It has also made the care more conducive to growth because as teachers they understand the developmental needs and are better at thinking up creative things to do that don't include watching TV!!!

Anonymous wrote:I think 14:15 was a sock puppet for the agency. Sounded like an advertisement to me.

Anonymous wrote:Astar Education Institute located in Northern VA/Wash DC is the best program I have found so far for quality au pairs. They work conjunction with the au pair company named Au Pair 4 Me but there is a whole layer to this program that makes the candidates SOO much better than anything else I've found. They find nursing students and teachers from countries in Eastern Europe, China and India who have a specific degree program in mind instead of just using an au pair program to come to the US for a year or two. The Au Pairs earn a certification from Astar to become a nursing assistant at the same time they are doing the au pair program so there is twice the motivation to stay in the same area during the whole program, otherwise they will risk not completing the certification program.

Most of their candidates also have a teaching background in a classroom setting and some have even participated in a teacher exchange program in the US so they are much more familiar with living in the American culture and working with American kids. It has also made the care more conducive to growth because as teachers they understand the developmental needs and are better at thinking up creative things to do that don't include watching TV!!!

Anonymous wrote:I have been a host mother for many years, and have been with many agencies. I used to sign up for two or three, and go with the one where I found my au pair for that year.

1. Interexchange (also called AuPairUSA). I was with them many years ago, but they always had a pool of candidates IMHO inferior to other agencies; it was not easy to find what I was looking for (but I may be looking for someone with a different profile than you, so this is something to keep in mind.) Their pool of candidates at the time skewed very young and european, especially Eastern european. They also have a rematch policy where if you rematch after 6 months you lose a lot of money; they restrict rematches, and they also don't let you talk to the previous host family of a rematch candidate. They enforce this policy so it is not so easy to go around it. They are also small and if you do go into rematch, it is may be hard to find a good in-country candidate. However I would return to them if I found a perfect candidate, because I loved their customer service, both local representative and the front office. They have very low turnover at the front office, I think same people are there that were a decade ago, and they are truly great, and that is something. They are one of two non-profit agencies so their prices are very good and they offer generous discounts.

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Appreciate all the advice from veteran AP host families. We are considering an AP for the first time with a 1 year old and 3.5 year old. Given the observations above regarding infants, do you think we should wait a few years before taking this leap?

Thanks.