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Published: 29 September 2010

Created: 29 September 2010

Last Updated: 29 September 2010

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Camp-A-Palooza! A Family Festival at Camp Hillard to benefit The United Way of Westchester and Putnam will be held at Camp Hillard on Sunday October 10th.

Camp-A-Palooza combines first class music and entertainment with the best of the summer camp experience distilled into one fun, event-filled day that will feature arts and crafts, miniature golf, field day sports, zipline, and carnival games. The ever-popular Snacks (a.k.a. Pete and Maura Kennedy), Bokandeye African-American Dance Theater and the Take Me to the River Children’s Community Chorus will have the young and young-at-heart dancing, drumming and singing along.

All proceeds from Camp-A-Palooza will benefit United Way’s Born Learning Initiative, which teaches new parents, grandparents and caregivers how to turn everyday activities with infants and toddlers into fun learning opportunities for eager little minds. The goal is for young children to start school ready to learn and succeed. Major sponsors of the event include Advocate Brokerage Corp., AJ’s Burgers, Citibabes, Denise and Jeffrey Koslowsky, People’s United Bank, Shari and Corey Schneider and Sidney Witter.

Located on 20 acres in Edgemont, New York, Camp Hillard has been owned and operated for 82 years by the Libman Family. As one of Westchester County’s premiere day camps, Camp Hillard has given generations of children safe, active, and memorable summers. For additional information about the camp, visit camphillard.com.

Advance tickets to United Way’s Camp-A-Palooza are $25 per person and $100 per family. There is no charge for children under the age of 3. The admission price includes all activities and entertainment. A.J.’s Burgers, a popular New Rochelle eatery, will sell a variety of delicious lunch and snack items during the event. For additional information, or to purchase tickets, visit www.uwwp.org/campapalooza.htm or contact Denise Woodin at 997-6700, ext. 729.

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Published: 12 October 2010

Created: 12 October 2010

Last Updated: 12 October 2010

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Halloween is a wonderful time to be a parent! Decorating the house, buying costumes, and trick-or-treating can be joyful moments to share with our children and to create life long memories to treasure. At the same time, with all of the rules to create and boundaries to set, Halloween provides the perfect opportunity to flex our parenting muscles with a smile.

As parents we are obliged to decide on appropriate costumes, how much candy everyone is allowed to eat, what kind of decorations to buy, and how and when to trick or treat. For example, costume shopping can be highly over-stimulating for many children. A simple and reasonable, "No," may elicit an intense tantrum. Please remember to be firm yet fair, and that giving in to a tantrum reinforces your child’s notion that tantrums are a useful tool for achieving a desired result. In essence, tantrums lead to more tantrums.

When you make decisions about the candy to buy, whether or not your child has to cover up a great costume with a warm jacket, how old your child has to be to trick-or-treat without an adult, how late your teen can stay out on Halloween night, or any other decision to ensure your child's safety and well-being, do so with confidence. You are the parent. You know what’s best. More importantly, you have the right and the responsibility to make and enforce the rules.

I hope that you find the following suggestions helpful:

• Be selective when choosing a costume. Stay away from flammable fabrics, such as nylon and vinyl. Make sure that hems are short enough to avoid tripping.
• Consider leaving toy weapons at home. If you do let your child bring toy weapons along, make sure that they look obviously pretend.
• Make sure that you and your child have a flashlight and reflective tape on the front and back of your clothes so that you can be easily seen by oncoming traffic.
• Young children should always be accompanied by an adult
• If you do decide to allow your older child to go out without an adult, make sure that they are wearing a watch that can be read in the dark and that they have a flashlight. If children are trick-or-treating alone they should know where they may and may not go, and exactly when they are expected home. If possible, consider giving your child a cell phone to use as well.
• Encourage your child to engage in extra physical activity on the day of Halloween and the day after to burn off extra sugar.
• Eat dinner before trick-or-treating. Remember that children with full stomachs will have an easier time waiting to eat candy until it is inspected at home
• Consider cutting down on sugar and fats by handing out packets of pretzels, crackers and cheese, or non-food items, such as pencils, erasers or stickers.
• Make sure your trick-or-treaters stay outside of strange homes at all times.
• Do not allow your children to eat candy until you have had a chance to carefully inspect it at home. Once at home, discard anything that is not wrapped, and then allow your children to take only the predetermined amount of candy that you have specified in advance.

Have lots and lots of fun! Take pictures! These years go by in a blink of an eye. Enjoy your children and make some great memories to share with your grandchildren.

Elizabeth Pflaum lives with her husband and four children in Scarsdale and provides individual parent coaching to clients and their families. She offers parenting classes and workshops throughout the tri-state area, is a frequent guest parenting expert on WABC’s Eyewitness News and other television shows and writes articles about all topics relating to parenting and childhood. For more information, visit her website at: http://www.aaapparentcoach.com

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Published: 20 September 2010

Created: 20 September 2010

Last Updated: 28 September 2010

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Over 300 parents and students from around Westchester are expected to attend the third annual Inside the Admissions Office, a panel discussion about what really happens behind the closed doors of the Admissions Office.

On Monday, October 11, 2010, from 7:30-9:00 p.m., the deans and directors from American University, Barnard College, Columbia University, Indiana University, Lafayette College and the University of Chicago will open those doors at a free community wide program sponsored by the JCC of Mid-Westchester and Woolf College Consulting. “This is the third year we are hosting this event and response has been overwhelming”, said Lisa Itzkowitz, Director, JCC Academic Center. “In the past we have had to turn people away because of limited space. This year we hope to accommodate many more attendees by simulcasting the event into another space in our facility. People are hungry for this kind of information. We are happy to be able to bring this event to the community.”

Moderated by Mamaroneck-based college admissions consultant Betsy F. Woolf of Woolf College Consulting, students and parents will learn:

• What makes a student’s application stand out
• How the new SAT Score Choice option impacts admission policies and decisions
• The impact of the new economic reality on college admissions
• How an admissions staff makes the ultimate decision to admit, deny or defer
• How colleges weigh grades, test scores, family connections, athletics, campus visits, interviews, essays and other factors
• The institutional needs and policies behind the decision-making;
• The difference between a well-rounded student and a well-rounded class – and why that is important in college admissions
• Whether declaring certain majors gives students a leg up in the admissions process;
• How admissions committees treat the application of a student who discloses his or her learning difference or ADHD

Betsy F. Woolf is a college admissions consultant and an award-winning editor specializing in higher education and secondary school. She is a magna cum laude graduate of NYU and holds a J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law and a Certificate in College Counseling from UCLA.

The event will be held:
Monday October 11 - 7:30-9:00 pm
JCC of Mid-Westchester
999 Wilmot Road
Scarsdale, New York

For more information contact Lisa Itzkowitz at 914-472-3300 ext 275, or by email at itzkowitzl@jccmw.org