If the student has a family member that comes along on the tour with them or surprises them with a visit, they can NOT go home with them. The family member can only visit the student at the host families house and MUST notify the Choice Homestay office for approval first. If a teacher wants to spend time with your student outside of school hours, let us know immediately as they may not have permission to do so.
Most guests are students between 12 and 17 years of age.
Choice Homestay provides host families with:
Before guests arrive, you should:
Most guests visit in January, February, July and August each year.
When we have guests wanting homestay accommodation, we contact our families by email and/or phone and share the guest’s visiting dates, requirements and other information.
Families are then free to ask more questions and to accept or decline the hosting opportunity.
You may choose where to share time with your guests. You are welcome to take them on paid excursions if you pay for your guests, or you may ask your guests if they want pay for an excursion as long as they’re not pressured and are able to refuse.
Homestay families provide a home environment and care for their guests as family. Many families go above and beyond for their guests, taking them shopping and sightseeing and making them feel welcome during their special visit to Australia.
All families provide:
Bedroom requirements:
We will tell you if your guests require phone and/or internet access before they visit.
If they don’t request this before their visit, then you may provide it at your discretion.
Please do not ask guests to pay you for phone and/or internet access or for anything else.
Contact us if you have concerns or questions about the provision of homestay accommodation.
You can email emailus@choicehomestay.com or call 0448552345 to talk with someone here at this office.
The payment can vary, depending on the guests requirements and length of stay.
Most groups visit for less than 14 nights with payments to families being:
Payments are on Monday and Thursday, for the nights hosted thus far.
Most guests visit for between 5 nights and 1 month.
Answering yes often means that the student has heard you and is acknowledging you; it does not always mean that they have understood and are going to do what you say. It helps to ask open ended questions rather than closed questions that require a yes or no answer to ensure your student has understood what you are saying.
When accommodating guests with Choice Homestay, you are required to:
Welcome to our home. We hope you will enjoy your time with our family. Please read and adhere to these house rules to help keep our home happy, safe and comfortable for everyone.
It’s always better to ask your guests what they can eat and what they won’t eat, as every guest is different and this insight makes it easier for all of you when you go shopping or prepare meals. Many Asians do not eat raw vegetables, some do so best to ask them.
Please provide your guests with breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks each day.
Please vary the options to avoid repetition and boredom, have extra bread available for students to toast if they are hungry, and provide them with the option of drinking tea, coffee or juice.
Potential breakfast options:
Guests are visiting to experience an Australian way of life, and will usually enjoy your usual food choices, however it is good to provide Asian guests with additional rice options and spicy sauces such as Kimchi which you can easily find at Asian grocery stores.
Please provide the equivalent of 2 sandwiches, fruit, another snack, and a bottle of water or juice.
There are generally no heating options, such as microwaves available, or containers, dishes or cutlery at the classroom so please supply students with utensils if required.
Potential snack options:
Most families have a list a mile long of things to do, but sometimes a few suggestions can be helpful, therefore we have put this together as an outline of ideas that might inspire you when hosting our international students in your home.
Brisbane City:
Logan City:
Redland Bay:
Free and Cheap things to do on and around our Golden Coast
Central from Surfers Paradise
North
South
East of the Mountains
West of and in the Mountains
A country drive always brings new discoveries.