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Host is looking for help immediately
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100 %
Last replied
11 May 2020
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Description
Hello beautiful human,
We are a happy Kiwi-German family living in a large house in Central Auckland (Epsom), looking for a mother's helper/ nanny who loves being outdoors for our two boys (8.5-year-old Keanu and 8-month-old baby Eden).
Janina and Peter value healthy and conscious living. We love good food, music and dancing, nature, having fun together and spending time with our boys. We also have a male flatmate who works full-time.
Keanu is creative and energetic, loves to move and spend time outside biking, skateboarding, playing football and tennis. He also enjoys drawing and crafty things and speaks German. Keanu spends some days at his father's house.
Eden is our very happy baby boy who loves to interact, laugh and explore his world, especially outside.
Janina loves nature and is passionate about holistic education and empowering children to discover their strengths and confidence through play in the outdoors. She is an experienced educator who runs a Forest/Nature School Programme for school-aged children in a nearby park. (Look up Freedom Kids Nature Play for more info)
Peter's passion is for personal growth and spiritual wisdom, and he works in those fields. He loves music, good chats and learning new things.
Our parenting philosophy is intuitive, loving, and respectful (also ever-evolving). We see our children as competent and active participants. We value uninterrupted play, creativity, nature, connection and fun. Our approach is inspired by the philosophies of pedagogues such as Emmi Pikler/Magda Gerber, Rudolf Steiner, Maria Montessori, Friedrich Fröbel, Peter Gray and a few others :)
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
Interests
Vegetarian or vegan
Self development
Drawing & painting
Cooking & food
Music
Yoga / Wellness
Gardening
DIY & crafts
Animals
Plant care
Nature
Camping
Dancing
Outdoor activities
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Learn about kiwi culture from a local, explore Auckland and New Zealand's nature. We can give you advice on travelling NZ.
Epsom is a quiet area close to Maungawhau (Mt Eden) with lots of cafes and restaurants, close to Auckland City but in a nice quiet area. Perfect if you want to get to know the city or as a base for day trips to beaches or nature walks, all within a 45min-1h drive.
If you're interested in personal growth, meditation, healing or spirituality, then Peter is the right person to talk to!
Staying with us is also a perfect learning opportunity for a future career in education!
Gain experience and expand your knowledge in
- early childhood education/ outdoor classroom
- play-based learning
- quality child care
- nature pedagogy
And if you're interested in deepening your experience, Janina is happy to share the basics of
- early childhood development/ developmental psychology/ brain development
- Steiner (Waldorf), Emmi Pikler philosophy
- Pikler/ RIE®️ competent infant approach
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
IDEAL CANDIDATE
Female, mature (22+ years), independent, honest, reliable, clean, good communication skills and easy going. Enjoys being outdoors. Loving and gentle with children, willing to learn. Bonus if you are a confident driver and speak German!
YOUR JOB
Your main responsibilities would be caring for baby Eden, mostly alongside Janina, so she has space to do other work while still being available to guide you. Also, providing some household help and spending time with Keanu. Both boys are raised bilingual, so a native German speaker would be amazing!
Your role requires you to spend one day a week (Thursday) looking after Eden outdoors, in the park where Janina runs her Nature Play programme. This would be your longest working day (8.30am - 3.30pm/4pm).
On this day, you would accompany Janina to care for Eden while she runs the nature programme, so she can breastfeed him as needed every 3h or so. Eden loves spending time outside with the children! Your job is to ensure that his needs are met and that he is safe while he explores alongside the other kids, as well as to handle toileting, walking him in the pram, and putting him to sleep as needed.
Other than childcare, we would require you to assist with household duties such as laundry, kitchen help, cleaning, food prep and possibly gardening.
Workaway suggests 4-5h of volunteer hours a day, but we found it worked better to have days with longer hours and then a few days off, giving you more time for your plans. There is flexibility, so we can go through the weekly plan together to fit in your needs and times off with our schedule.
OTHER INFO
We'd love someone to join us who's keen to be part of our family and is happy to take turns cooking healthy vegetarian dinner as part of communal life once or twice a week, depending on your plans.
We eat mostly vegan/ vegetarian, including cheese and butter, but don't have meat, eggs or cow's milk. We would be happy to buy eggs and cow's milk if required; however, we ask that no meat be consumed here. Main meals, fruit and bread are included; snacks and special requirements are "buy your own".
IMPORTANT
No smokers, please.
We have two cats.
2-4 weeks commitment (first week trial). Option to extend for the right person!
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Accommodation
Large and sunny house in Epsom. Close to the city but in a quiet and green area. Car parking is available on the street.
Room with a double bed, wardrobe, desk and chair. Towels/ bedding provided. The bathroom is shared with the hosts, but there's an additional separate toilet. We have a big deck and outdoor sitting options.
Tennis courts and Windmill Park down the road, Beautiful beaches and Regional Parks (Long Bay, Piha, Wenderholm, Tawharanui etc) are within 1h drive
What else ...
I've got a piano and want to learn to play it if you are a musician and willing to teach me I would be really happy! Looking forward to hearing from you!
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
One
My animals / pets
Shadow and Leo
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback (8)
With Janina I love our conversation about childhood, education and life. Janina is easy going, fun and really clear about… read more
Photos
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback
With Janina I love our conversation about childhood, education and life. Janina is easy going, fun and really clear about… read more
During those 4 weeks I learned a lot about childcare, babies and got an impression of life as a parent.
Keanu is a very happy and chilled child, I really enjoyed seeing him grow and evolve during my stay.
Helpwise, staying with Janina and Shub is perfect if you are helping on any kind of project that… read more
For other workawayers: this… read more
I was there one week and had to help them with daily things and tasks around the house. (things like vacuuming, sanding a wooden tabel, cleaning garden chairs..)
The work wasn't too much so I had time to catch up with friends and explore… read more
The duties were mainly household help, some gardening, cooking and minding sweet little Keanu. I learned about nature and plants from Jani and enjoyed some great conversations about life… read more
I even had fun building a raised garden bed from pallets for the family ;)
Thanks again for trusting me with… read more
