Bergen Rockland •
Parent SEPTEMBER 2017
NYMETROPARENTS.COM
Back to School! After-School Activities • How much is too much? • Find the best programs
10 Tips for Easy Meal Planning Save time, money, and stress
Gifted Kids Is my child a genius or just plain smart?
HELPING PARENTS MAKE BETTER DECISIONS
RocklandParent
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RocklandParent
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NYMetroParents
Helping Parents Make Better Decisions
Contents
September 2017 ››
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Features
12 Cover Stars Meet the finalists and winners of our 2017 cover contest.
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14 Is My Kid a Genuis? How to tell if your child is gifted, a prodigy, or just plain smart 16 Extracurricular vs. Extra Downtime When it comes to scheduling after-school activities, how much is too much? 38 10 Tips to Master Meal Planning Spend time once a week to create a menu, and you’ll save time, money, and stress. 40 Lunch Treats Made Healthier Four recipes for desserts you won’t feel guilty about sending to school. 42 Left Behind Tips to help your younger child cope when an older sibling goes to college
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Connections
6 Editor’s Note 8 Quotables 9 NYMP Q&A: Parenting expert Sarah Ockwell-Smith talks discipline. 50 Voices: The Lesson of the Pizza Bowl Fail
Fun & Activities
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Family Activities CALENDAR ››
10 DIY Corner: Why Is the Sky Blue? 11 Media Matters: Homework Helping Apps 24 Outing: Roosevelt Island 27 Family Activities Calendar 34 Where-To Guide: Pick Your Own Apples 36 Unique and Yummy: Five homemade ice cream shops in Bergen County
Directories
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20 44 46 48 49
Back-to-School Directory Party Central Meet the Health Care Professional Party Planner Advertisers’ Index
Original photo by PhotoOp NYC (photoopnyc.com) Clothing provided by Appaman (appaman.com)
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ON THE COVER ›› After-School Activities: 16 How Much is too Much? 20 Find the Best Programs 14 Gifted Kids 38 10 Tips for Easy Meal Planning facebook.com/nymetroparents
@NYMetroParents
Visit NYMETROPARENTS.COM for family activities updated daily and more than 2,000 parenting articles!
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SEPTEMBER 2017 • Vol.10 • No.11
NYMetroParents nymetroparents.com
EDITORIAL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Michael Kress MANAGING EDITOR: Katelin Walling
EDITOR’S NOTE
DEPUTY EDITOR: Caitlin Berens SENIOR EDITOR: Bethany Braun-Silva ENGAGEMENT EDITOR: Samantha Neudorf REGIONAL EDITORS: Samantha Beranbom (Rockland); Karen Demeter (Suffolk); Whitney C. Harris (Manhattan); Rosalind Muggeridge (Brooklyn); Jamie McGillian (Westchester); Dorette Saunders (Nassau); Gail Warren (Queens) DIRECTORIES EDITOR: Alice Van Dyke EDITORIAL INTERNS: Jamie Bonchick, Julia Hyman, Amanda Marrone
New Beginnings, New Routines
To Submit Events: nymetroparents.com/submitevents
H
ere we are, another school year upon us! Some of you, I’m sure, are rejoicing at the return to routine, while others are probably misty-eyed at another summer ending. I am somewhere in between, feeling wistful at the speed with which time passes yet excited for the opportunities my kids will face in the coming academic year—not to mention the comforting (for us parents, at least) return to a full and predictable schedule. In our family, however, deciding on the kids’ schedules can be a challenge. There are so many after-school activities to choose from and my kids are excited about exploring multiple interests. There are times when I feel as if they are so busy with extracurricular programs they don’t have enough time for their homework or to study for tests—let alone to relax, play, and socialize. So for this back-to-school issue, we turned to the experts and asked: When it comes to after-school activities, how much is too much? In our seemingly over-programmed culture, the answer may surprise you (p. 16). And if you are looking for great programs in your neighborhood, check out or back-to-school directory (p. 20). For some families, this time of year marks a more dramatic transition: a child leaving for college. It’s a momentous milestone, of course, but for a younger sibling still at home, it can bring challenges and difficult emotions. To help, we look at how parents can help their younger kids navigate the new realities at home (p. 42). Also in this issue, meet our 2017 Kids Cover Contest finalists and winners (p. 12)! We received a record number of submissions this year, and choosing finalists from these amazingly cute kids was a challenge. I’m sure you’ll agree, though, that our finalists and winners are bursting with personality, flashing smiles that will light up our covers during the year ahead (including this month’s cover!). Speaking of our magazine cover, you might have noticed something different: our new logo. We love the sleek, updated look and are excited to show it off. And stay tuned for more changes, as we prepare to relaunch our website in the coming weeks! Lastly, if you’re looking for a great way to spend a Sunday this month, join us for Long Island Parents Day on Sept. 17. See liparentsday.com for more details on this fun, informative event for the whole family. Michael Kress Editorial Director
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CEO: David L. Miller General Manager: Thomas K. Hanlon 498 Seventh Ave., 10th Floor, New York, NY 10018 Phone: 212-315-0800; Fax: 212-271-2239
Keep in Touch: 7 @nymetroparents nymetroparents.com September 2017 | nymetroparents.com 6editor@nymetroparents.com
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BIG APPLE PARENT, QUEENS PARENT, WESTCHESTER PARENT BROOKLYN PARENT, ROCKLAND PARENT, BERGEN •ROCKLAND PARENT, and LONG ISLAND PARENT are published monthly by Davler Media Group, LLC Copyright © 2017, Davler Media Group, LLC No part of contents may be reproduced without prior permission from the publisher. Subscription rates per year, per publication: $39
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UOTABLES Perhaps I shouldn’t be so surprised that the girl who desperately wanted to live in a world of her own—but ultimately chose reality—would become the mother to a child who doesn’t see the difference between the two. —Kathy Radigan, in a post entitled “The Way My Special Daughter Told Me She Loves Me,” on her blog mydishwasherspossessed.com
in an instagram Summer reading is alive & well over here at #CampThirtymommy What are your little ones reading this summer? #AveryRoyce #LaylahJonelle (Posted by @thirtymommy, aka Scherrie D., who blogs at thirtymommy.com)
MOTHER-DAUGHTER WEEKEND
in an instagram after our school’s meet and greet picnic for the new students #iloveny #nyckids #friends #nyc #nycsummer #summer #childhoodunplugged #thisisourclassroom #nycpublicschools (Posted by @familyroadtraveled, aka Estée Pouleris, who blogs at familyroadtraveled.com)
“I once asked a friend who has three young boys, ‘Are you and your wife closer now that you have kiddos?’ He simply said, ‘Of course! It’s us against them.’ Now that I’m a mom, I know what he meant. It’s true.” —Olivia Jeanette, in a post entitled “How Our Marriage Has Changed Since Having a Baby,” on her blog oliviajeanette.com
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September 2017 | nymetroparents.com
“Some days, nothing you do, or offer to do, is right. My 14-year-old daughter, Amelia, a good kid by any definition, jumps out of the car before I’ve even come to a complete stop at the home of her BFF of the week, and doesn’t look back. She stiffens a little when I hug her, remarking, ‘Mom, you’re like really close to my face right now.’ Together time is now largely limited to mani-pedis—if she can bring a friend.” —Christina Verceletto in “I Took a 14-Year-Old YouTube Addict to Niagara Falls.” Read the article at nymetroparents. com/mother-daughter-weekend.
MORE NYMetroParents.com HIGHLIGHTS: FREE FUN: Visit museums and zoos without paying (nymetroparents.com/free). FAIRS & FESTIVALS: Where to go in the late summer and fall (nymetroparents.com/fairs) GO FOR THE GOLD: Check out our interview with Olympic Gold Medalist Gabby Douglas (nymetroparents/gabby-douglas). FALL GUIDE: How to make the most of autumn (nymetroparents.com/fall-guide)
NYMP Q&A
Sarah Ockwell-Smith is a parenting expert and founder of gentleparentinginternational.com. She recently published Gentle Discipline: Using Emotional Connection—Not Punishment— to Raise Confident, Capable Kids.
›› By Bethany Braun-Silva
invites you and your family…
Claire Moir Photography
Be Gentle
Congreg. Shaarey Israel in Montebello, NY &
What are some misconceptions parents have about disciplining their kids? There are three main misconceptions parents have around child behavior and discipline. One, far too many parents expect children to act like adults. They expect quite sophisticated thought processes and neurological regulation that children just don’t have yet because their brains are not fully developed. A good example is expecting a toddler to not tantrum or to be able to calm down in the middle of a tantrum. Toddlers tantrum because they have really poor emotion regulation skills. They can’t control their emotions like we can as adults—they’re not being naughty, just being toddlers! Two, most mainstream discipline methods work on the presumption that kids need to be motivated to “do better.” In fact, most kids are motivated to do better. They don’t want to get in trouble or upset you. Most misbehave because they can’t do better. The motivation is there already, it’s the ability that is missing. Three, another problem with mainstream discipline is, it focuses strongly on punishing and shaming kids. The thing is, a major cause of poor behavior is a lack of self-esteem in kids. If they feel bad, they’ll act bad. What tips do you have for parents when they feel they are about to lose their temper? I think it’s important that we have realistic expectations of our own behavior. Everybody screws up as a parent and everybody loses their temper sometimes, including myself. Stop trying to be perfect. Accept that anger and losing control are normal parts of life as a parent and it doesn’t mean that you’re not good at it! What is important is keeping a check on your own emotions. Being mindful of how you’re feeling, trying to reduce triggers and taking a break to recharge when you feel frazzled. When you feel that you just can’t take any more, you need an emergency break from your kids. Maybe a day with friends, going for a run—whatever it is that replenishes and relaxes you. What’s your take on “time-outs?” Time-outs work on the idea that separating the child from yourself and their peers punishes them for their wrongdoing and makes them think about what they’ve done wrong. This time in quiet contemplation is meant to make the child behave more appropriately next time. Unfortunately, none of these assumptions are true. Young kids don’t have the brain development for such sophisticated thought, they don’t have a developed sense of empathy, they can’t think about future actions, and they can’t control their behavior anywhere near as much as adults think they can. Another huge problem with time-out is, kids often misbehave because they feel a disconnect with their caregivers. It makes no sense that a child who is desperate for love and attention is further separated—it just makes them feel worse, which in time will make their behavior problems escalate.
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DIY CORNER SCIENCE EXPERIMENT
Why Is the Sky Blue?
It’s a question all have asked. Let’s find the answer!
Time: 10 minutes Materials 1 clear drinking glass or small glass bowl Water Milk Spoon Eyedropper (optional) Bright flashlight Safety Tips and Setup Hints • A white LED flashlight works well with this lab, such as the flashlight in many camera phones. • It helps to see the blue color in the water if the room is darkened as much as possible. Instructions Step 1: Fill the glass or bowl with water until it is mostly full. Step 2: Put a few drops of milk into the water, and stir the water with the spoon. You can use an eyedropper for this, but, if you do not have one, just carefully and slowly pour a few drops of milk from a spoon into the water. Do not pour the milk directly from the carton, as it will likely come out too quickly. Put a little bit of milk into a small bowl, and scoop a few drops into a spoon, then into the water. Step 3: Shine the flashlight through the water. What color do you see? (The color will be fairly light.)
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September 2017 | nymetroparents.com
THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE FUN Earth’s air is made of several gases. Most of it is nitrogen, about 78 percent, about 21 percent is oxygen, there is a little bit of a gas called argon, a little water vapor, and very small amounts of gases, such as carbon dioxide and others. While our eyes can’t see the individual bits of gases, called atoms or molecules, we can feel them when the wind blows. The amounts of these gases change depending on the seasons, the altitude, the weather, whether there has been a volcanic eruption, or other reasons, but these are generally the amounts we measure. The light from the Sun is made of many colors, and we can see those colors when we split the Sun’s white light using a prism. When white light hits the gas molecules, most of the light—such as the reds, oranges, and yellows—is able to move its way through the molecules and pass to the ground to your eyes. However, the blue light is scattered around by the gases. It is this scattered blue light we see as a blue sky. In this lab, the big particles of milk in the water acted like the particles of air, scattering the blue light from the flashlight. You can try playing with the amount of milk in the water and the type of flashlight until you get the easiest blue color to see.
Photography © 2016 David Miller, Miller Visual; text © 2016 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc., by Michelle Nichols
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In Theaters Sept. 22: The Lego Ninjago Movie Parents need to know that The Lego Ninjago Movie is based on the funny, popular, actionpacked TV show about Lego ninjas. In this adventure, teenage warrior Lloyd (voiced by Dave Franco) must save his beloved land of Ninjago from evil warlord Garmadon (Justin Theroux), who just happens to be his father. With the help of his five friends and fellow ninjas—and under the guidance of Sensei Wu (Jackie Chan)—Lloyd sets out to defeat his bad-guy dad. Expect bloodless action and fighting and possibly some crude humor.
Our Partner: Common Sense Media An independent nonprof it that helps families make smart media choices. Check out thousands of ratings and reviews at commonsensemedia.org
See more at NYMetroParents.com/media
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Monroe Dental Office – Bobby Crohn, DDS 400 State Rt. 17M, Suite 2, Monroe 782-0189 – monroedental@optonline.net Learn more about MonroeDentalOffice.com RocklandParent 11
Cover Stars!
››
Meet the finalists and winners of our 2017 cover contest.
P
icking finalists from 2,000 cute entries was quite the challenge for the staff here at NYMetroParents. But once we managed to narrow it down, we invited the finalists to meet for a photo shoot at PhotoOp NYC. All the finalists wore their best smiles and some seriously stylish clothes (thanks, Appaman!) and had a blast shooting with PhotoOp’s awesome photographers. (Unfortunately the 10th finalist was unable to participate.) All of the kids did a great job posing for the camera, but at the end of the day it was 4-year-old Olivia from Nassau County and 11-year-old Victoria from Brooklyn who we selected as the grand-prize winners. Olivia and her family will enjoy a twonight stay at Kalahari Resort in the Poconos to celebrate her big win, while Victoria will receive a scholarship to Barbizon Modeling & Acting Studio. Plus, our Fan Favorite, Sydney, received a family pack of tickets to Sesame Place. You’ll get to see more of these adorable kids in the coming months on our magazine covers!
c Sydney
Age: 5 Hometown: Bronx Sydney loves to dance and wants to be a dentist for kids when she grows up.
FAN FAVORITE
c
Olivia
GRAND PRIZE WINNER (YOUNGER THAN 6 CATEGORY)
Age: 4 Hometown: Nassau County Olivia loves to swim and wants to be an ophthalmologist when she grows up.
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September 2017 | nymetroparents.com Read more about the winners and finalists and watch a super-cute video of them at nymetroparents.com/finalists.
c
Hudson
Age: 4 Hometown: Queens Hudson loves his Thomas trains and wants to be a sanitation worker when he grows up.
c
Sean
Age: 5 Hometown: Suffolk County Sean loves swimming and wants to be a firefighter, police officer, lifeguard, or astronaut when he grows up.
Emma
Age: 7 Hometown: Westchester Emma loves art and playing soccer and wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up.
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Sophie
Age: 9 Hometown: Manhattan Sophie loves to draw comics and play baseball.
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c Cameron
Age: 6 Hometown: Manhattan Cameron loves learning and playing soccer.
Ian
Age: 10 Hometown: Rockland County Ian loves playing sports with his friends and studying math.
Victoria
Age: 11 Hometown: Brooklyn Victoria loves everything about Brooklyn and wants to be a teacher when she grows up.
GRAND PRIZE WINNER (6 AND OLDER CATEGORY) RocklandParent 13
Is My Kid a Genius?
››
How to tell if your child is gifted, a prodigy, or just plain smart—and what to do about it By Amanda Marrone
A
ndi Stix, director of G-tec Kids, a program for gifted and talented students in New Rochelle, was teaching a math class about finding a pattern to discover the square root of any given number. The class eventually came up with a pattern, until one child proclaimed, “The pattern will work up until 10,000 and then fall apart.” Astonished, Stix says she asked how the child knew that, and he answered, “I can just see it.” He turned out to be right—a case of profound giftedness, or some may even say, a prodigy. Every child has her own talents and all children are unique in their own ways. But when it comes to cognitive development and intelligence, how do parents and educators judge whether a child is more than just your average smart kid?
Identifying Giftedness
Giftedness can present itself in early childhood, according to the National Association of Gifted Children, which lists the characteristics of gifted children, such as an excellent memory, an unusually high vocabulary or sentence structure for their age, or a highly developed curiosity. However, there are different ways to classify and identify giftedness, since every child is unique.
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September 2017 | nymetroparents.com
There are many smart kids in the world; however gifted students make up only 6-10 percent of the population, according to the NAGC. Clinically, giftedness is defined as anyone with an IQ of 130 or higher. If an IQ exceeds the 145-150 range, a person is considered profoundly gifted. Some children are gifted at just about everything. “There are a small percentage of gifted kids who excel in every subject as well as most extracurricular activities,” says Tobi J. Phillips, president and founder of Village East Gifted, a program for gifted children with locations in Huntington Station and Roslyn Heights. “They are very rare, but I do see them.” More frequently, though, giftedness presents itself in one particular field, such as music, art, or math. Therefore, one important factor in identifying giftedness is determining how a child is gifted. “Our curriculum follows Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, with the premise that students can be intelligent in different ways, such as cognitively, physically, mathematically, or musically,” Phillips says. If your child is gifted in mathematics, for example, she will display extreme excellence and interest in the subject by doing puzzles and games and logic problems in her spare time, according
to a Forbes article, “How to Tell If Your Child’s Gifted.” Children who are more profoundly gifted might even begin doing algebra before kindergarten. Although there are tests to prove that a child is gifted rather than just bright, many experts in the field believe giftedness can be discovered without a test. Nevertheless, educators will administer tests to see if a child is gifted, including the Stanford Binet (L-M), Wescher Intelligence Scale for Children, or general standardized tests such as the SAT. There are so many factors that come into play when determining whether a child is gifted, so it is important for educators and parents to see the child as a whole. Many kids can score very high on tests, but IQ is not the only factor when it comes to true giftedness, Stix says. The way a child challenges material and reacts to that material is where people see true gifted potential. Stix, therefore, is not a fan of just using tests to judge giftedness. “I am very uncomfortable with the idea of testing giftedness because you are saying on that date, on that time, and that environment will the child present themselves to meet the standards of the school,” she says. “I think the most important thing I distinguish between a gifted child and a bright child is if the child is inventing, creating, producing, designing within whatever area of expertise or passion that they have.”
Behavior Issues
Although gifted children are intellectually advanced for their age, many face unique social issues. High expectations and the pressure put on gifted children can lead to stress and anxiety, writes Jennifer Murdock-Smith in “Understanding the Social and Emotional Needs of Gifted Children,” a 2013 article in Rivier Academic Journal. “Gifted children’s cognitive development also often occurs at a more advanced rate than social/emotional development, which makes fitting in with peers difficult. This cognitive advancement can also have a corresponding high degree of moral development and sense for the need to follow rules, which can result in ‘bossiness’ and rigid behavior furthering affect peer relations,” Murdock-Smith writes in the article. In the classroom, some gifted children choose to be very polite and helpful and become the teacher’s helper, Phillips says. Since these students are usually way ahead of their classmates academically, they become a mini teacher’s assistant, helping the teacher with anything. Others quietly go along with their classmates so they can more easily assimilate with their peers, choosing to keep their giftedness a secret, Phillips says. They remain middle-of-the-road behaviorally—not acting out and not being the teacher’s helper— while getting perfect scores on everything and not bragging about it. These children also tend not answer all the questions, even though they know the answer, because they do not want to draw attention from their peers. However, once gifted children are put into a gifted program where the other students are at their level, their behavior can change. Phillips tells the story of a child who was new to a gifted and talented program. He was accustomed to being the smartest child in the room and impressing everyone around him, including the adults. When he entered the class on the first day, he stood up and said he can count to 20 in Spanish, and asked if he could recite it to the class. “I said I will be happy to listen to him when the class is over,” Phillips says. He was very quiet during the class, which Phillips says can be expected since he was now around other peers who might be more intelligent than him.
At the end of class, the student again asked if he could count in Spanish, but before he even began another child blurted out, “Well, I can count to 100 in Mandarin,” followed by another who said, “I can count to 100 in Romanian, Cantonese, and Sanskrit.” The moral: It is important for gifted students to be around others of the same intellectual level, so they have the chance to be challenged in the classroom.
Beyond Just Gifted
What if a child’s cognitive level exceeds even giftedness? These children are extremely rare and present themselves with seemingly miraculous capabilities. These kids are generally known as prodigies. “One definition of the term prodigy is a child who has achieved an appreciable measure of adult intellectual understanding in a particular field before he or she is out of the years devoted to secondary school education,” according to the article “Prodigies of Nature” by J.S. Jenkins in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. A prodigy will become of a master of a particular field at a young age. Mozart was considered a music prodigy and was able to identify pitch correctly and quickly without external reference by the age of 7—an extraordinarily rare ability, even for adults, Jenkins writes Stix, who also has worked closely with some prodigies, explains: “I think prodigies, the speed they integrate at is simply much faster. The links they make in terms of integrating material is higher and their productions are most complex. It is a very difficult thing to raise a prodigy because emotionally they want to be their age level but cognitively they can be light years ahead of themselves.” Prodigies often experience a lot of loneliness because other kids cannot connect with them, Stix says. Parents raising a prodigy need to try their best to try to get their child into programs to engage with others like them, she advises.
Raising a Gifted Child
Whether someone is bright, gifted, or even a prodigy, parents need to keep in mind that every child is still an individual and parents and educators must cater to what is in the best interest of that particular person. The most important factor in helping a child is trying to keep her brain stimulated, experts say. “When a parent finds out that his or her child is gifted,” Phillips says, “I always recommend spending as much time as possible visiting science and art museums, reading classic literature and nonfiction books, traveling to historic destinations and arranging play dates with children of similar intellectual abilities and interests. If they are getting enrichment outside the classroom, they will be more patient with the standard curriculum.” For example, she continues, “If they’re in a classroom and they are assigned a book report on Charlotte’s Web, a parent should reach out to the teacher to allow the child to select a more advanced novel after she or he has completed the assignment based on Charlotte’s Web.” Whether it is signing the child up to be in a gifted and talented program or speaking to an educator to ensure the appropriate measures are taken within the regular school environment, it is important that giftedness is not ignored, experts agree. By enriching a child or putting him in a gifted program, a child will be given the tools to thrive.
RocklandParent 15
FOCUS ON: ME TIME
Experts say there are many benefits to children of participating in after-school activities—but that me time is also essential for kids’ healthy development.
Extracurriculars vs. Extra Downtime ›› When it comes to scheduling your kids’ after-school activities, how much is too much? By Rosalind Muggeridge
F
or most of my childhood, my extracurricular schedule consisted of riding my bike to the local YMCA every Saturday morning for a swimming lesson. I’m pretty sure my mom and dad never asked themselves if they were scheduling too much or too little for me. And yet it’s a question parents these days seem to grapple with constantly. I always thought finding the right balance with my own children would be clear, but I can’t deny the pressure I sometimes feel when I hear about my kids’ friends and their weekly schedules: acting class, guitar, gymnastics, tennis, dance, Mandarin. To shed some light on this issue, I turned to local experts who support parents as they navigate matters like this.
What the Research Says
To discuss the balance between scheduled activities and unscheduled me time for kids, it’s important first to ask: Are today’s kids actually overscheduled—or does it just feel that way? A recent paper in the journal Social Policy Report reviewed the research and found more than 80 percent of American children take part in some extracurricular activity, including sports, lessons, or clubs. Approximately 7 million of those are enrolled in after-school programs and many more participate in clubs and organizations such as Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Girls Inc., according to the report. Even though those numbers may seem high, the same report shows children and adolescents spend an average of only five hours per week participating in organized activities. So, although extracurricular activities get a lot of attention, other activities— screen time, chores, spending time with friends and family, working, and doing homework—occupy as much (and often more) time than organized activities. In other words, it may make more sense 16
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to worry about your child’s screen time than about the hours he spends at after-school programs. There are, however, cases where overscheduling poses problems for kids. The same research suggests there may be a point of diminishing returns for a small number of young people with very high levels of involvement—meaning, some kids who participate in a multitude of extracurricular activities may see fewer advantages as they take on more and more. For instance, the educational benefits of playing sports seem to level off when kids participate in more than two competitive team sports. Danis Copenhaver, M.D., F.A.A.P., a pediatrician at South Slope Pediatrics in Brooklyn, looks for telltale signs to make sure her young patients aren’t overscheduled. “I make a point to ask every patient and family about mealtimes and sleep,” she says. “A huge red flag for me is if meals are always eaten on the go and if bedtime is inconsistent or very late. In pre-teens and teenagers, I try and assess if they are enjoying the activities they are involved in. Sometimes they will answer honestly in the exam room and it’s the first time the parents are hearing about it. That can lead to a discussion about prioritizing time out of school for family, friends, sports, and activities.” Overall, however, concerns about overscheduling seem to be overblown. Despite what we so often hear in the media, the research shows that only a small number of young people (between 3 and 6 percent) are very highly scheduled, spending 20 or more hours a week taking part in these activities. The same research also points to evidence that kids who participate in organized activities do better than those who don’t. These young people are more likely to have higher academic achievement, finish school, do well in college, be well-adjusted, smoke less, use drugs less often, and interact more with parents.
There are fewer overbooked young children now than there used to be, Dr. Copenhaver says. “Parents value and protect the free play time that these younger children need,” she adds, noting, however, that this often depends on the age of the child. “The pre-teen and teenage crowd tends to be more over-scheduled, due to the pressures of school and extracurricular demands.”
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The Benefits of Downtime
Even if kids may not, for the most part, be overscheduled, there are many studies emphasizing the pluses of unscheduled free time for children as well as adults. A 2012 report by Mary Helen ImmordinoYang of the University of Southern California showed that when we are resting, our brains are not actually idle and downtime is essential to many of our mental processes. The report examined related research showing this relaxed time is an opportunity for the brain to make sense of what it has recently learned. Kids need to play and explore, says Sharon Peters, who founded the Brooklyn-based marriage and family counseling practice Parents Helping Parents. She is a big proponent of building downtime into a family’s schedule. For more than 20 years, she has been supporting parents as they raise their children. She also draws from her own personal experiences as a mother of five children, several of whom have special needs. “All group settings or one-on-one lessons with a teacher are demanding in ways that individual time isn’t,” she says. Young kids can’t simply roam the streets alone, Peters notes, but it’s essential to fit into their schedules the type of play that encourages exploration and independence. “A great way to incorporate this for younger children is finding a safe space for them to wander and make decisions on their own,” she says. Her comment rings true for me personally, as I’ve noticed my 2-year-old is at his most relaxed and engaged when he is wandering through Prospect Park in Brooklyn with me following a few feet behind him. Downtime benefits kids of all ages, according to Dr. Copenhaver. “In younger children ages 2-5 unstructured play time encourages imagination and cooperation. It can also allow them time to rest and recharge, avoiding becoming overstimulated and cranky,” she says. Me time also has specific benefits for older children. “In schoolaged kids, I find that non-scheduled downtime allows them to more deeply explore their likes and develop their talents,” Dr. Copenhaver says. “Some kids develop a love of reading, others find that they still enjoy playing at the park, while others take the time to participate in preparing meals for their family.” She adds that in teens, stress levels decrease and sleep duration and quality usually benefit first from non-scheduled down time.
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Given what we know about the positives of extracurricular activities and also the benefits of downtime, how do we go about finding what works for us? Here are some tips for ensuring your kids experience the right mix of enriching activities and nourishing downtime. Create a schedule that works for your family. Because many children spend too much time using mobile devices and watching TV, the American Association of Pediatrics recommends maintaining at least one hour of physical activity a day and limiting screen time to two hours a day, according to Melanie Wilson-Taylor, M.D., F.A.A.P., also of South Slope pediatrics. “Oftentimes parents are busy with work or taking care of younger children and there can be pressure to make sure that kids are kept busy,” she says. “Many parents often feel the need to compete and make sure their child has access to every extracurricular activity in order to be a better candidate for the next level of school.” continued on next page ››
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Carefully consider what activities are right for your child. Dr. Wilson-Taylor recommends parents ask their child if she enjoys the activity and to consider whether there are true benefits—academic, social, personal development—in it. She cautions that sometimes the amount of time a child spends in an activity is reasonable but the type of activity may not fit the personality of the child. Parents should consider whether their child prefers group or individual activities, for instance, or whether the child will experience undue anxiety of performing in an end-of-year production or recital. “Parents should also be mindful about how extracurricular activities affect the behavior and self-worth,” Dr. Wilson-Taylor says. “If the child is focused on always winning and values themselves based on their ability to succeed in the activity, caregivers should re-evaluate the importance of that activity.” One good rule of thumb she tells her patients: Due to a limited attention span, structured activities for children younger than 6 should be limited to 30 minutes at a time. Older children can tolerate activities that are an hour or two. Look out for the red flags. According to Dr. Wilson-Taylor, temperament and age play a big part in judging whether a child is overscheduled. Some children like participating in activities outside of school or on the weekends and thrive on constantly doing something. Other children are homebodies or prefer unstructured activities. She cautions that “an overscheduled child has more tantrums prior to the activity, may take a long time to get ready, and may outright say ‘no’ to going. Older children may exhibit poor sleep patterns the night before in anticipation of participating in the event the next day. They also may seem more isolated from friends or family because they are always ‘doing something.’” Parents should be concerned if they notice a child is clingier to caregivers, his grades are dropping, or her homework is getting squeezed into small gaps of free time—in the car, on the bus, waking up early before school. “If not attended to, young kids communicate discomfort one way or the other and raise the flag. This could be acting out in school or more tantrums at home,” Peters says. Children may also exhibit stress-induced physical symptoms, some of which can mimic actual illness. “When a child’s day is scheduled down to the minute, they can become stressed, and sometimes manifest physical symptoms of that stress,” Dr. Copenhaver says. “Stomach aches, headaches, and fatigue are common symptoms that children present to my office with, and the problem is sometimes an overloaded schedule without enough down time.” In her practice, she also sees teens complaining of fatigue, and often finds out they are sleeping fewer than five hours a night because of their busy school and after-school schedules. Trust your gut. “Like everything connected to parenting,” Peters says “this issue is very individual to each family.” Ultimately, she says, parents know their children—and since each situation and child is different, parents must rely on their instincts to decide when their child needs fewer after-school activities and more me time. The bottom line: You probably don’t need to worry that your child is overscheduled or that the number of activities in which he participates will have a negative impact on him. However, me time remains an essential part of everyone’s life and plays an important role in children’s development—so make sure to schedule some unscheduled time into your child’s life regularly. This is the second in a two-part series about the importance of downtime. To read last month’s article on me time for moms, see nymetroparents.com/mom-time.
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The annual guide to schools, resources, programs, & activities for kids! The Academy For Martial Arts
8 Orangetown Shopping Center, Orangeburg 845-359-4500 rocklandkarate.com As a parent, you know it is your responsibility to protect your child from all sorts of dangerous situations. You certainly don’t want your son or daughter to be bullied, or to become a bully. Martial arts lessons are a fantastic solution. Every kid should learn self-defense. It’s like learning to swim—it’s lots of fun, it can save your life, and it builds self-control and self-confidence. Enroll your child in classes our new after-school program, which includes karate, daily homework assistance, and arts and crafts! Free transportation from William O. Shaefer and Cottage Lane schools available. We have a program that is perfect for your child.
APPLAUSE Performing Arts Center
25 W. Central Ave., Pearl River 845-920-1555; 201-362-4948 applauseperformingartscenter.org APPLAUSE is an educational theater organization specializing in musical theater classes and shows for children ages 3-15, beginners-advanced. APPLAUSE offers classes in all three artistic disciplines: acting, singing, and dancing. Ms. Renna provides a unique opportunity for kids to perform in shows, creating special parts for each child. Your child will develop self-confidence and self-esteem in the supportive environment. APPLAUSE provides programs and performances year-round, so call or email for current programs and show information. You can also join our exciting APPLAUSE Company, which performs at Hershey Park, festivals, and special events.
Bright Beginnings Preschool & Childcare 6 Charles St., New City 2 Mountainview Court, Pomona 914-420-5785 brightbeginningsofrockland.com We provide a safe, loving environment accredited by the National
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Association for Family Childcare Accreditation (NAFCC). Two great locations meet your preschool and child care needs for ages 2 to school-age. Owned and operated by a NYS-certified elementary teacher with a literacy specialization, we offer beforeand after-school programs, as well as a drop-in for school delays and closures. We work with your schedule, and offer discounted rates for teachers! We are a NYS-licensed facility and follow a full NYS pre-K curriculum. All staff is CPR and first-aid certified.
Clarkstown Theatre Company
8 Second St., Lower Level, New City 845-708-2288 clarkstowntheatrecompany.com Clarkstown Theatre Company began in our community to create and develop artists as actors and performers. We are a year-round studio that offers acting classes, musical theater workshops, and intimate, original showpieces. Join us where the craft of theater is experienced in a warm and positive environment with professional instructors. Give us a call to see if your child might flourish in our studios, where imagination, and the craft of acting are taught with a sense of humor! Registration for our fall classes begins Aug. 21.
Congregation Shaarey Israel
18 Montebello Road, Suffern 845-266-6445 ourjewishlearning.com Exciting and Hebrew school now go together! Guided by our warm and experienced teachers, and prior student assistants, your child will want to learn about Hebrew, holidays, and Israel and come to love being Jewish. We meet Tuesday afternoons with additional after-school activities available on Mondays and Wednesdays. On all days we offer transportation from local schools, plus a healthy snack and homework help, as an additional option. Programs end at 6:30pm. We are a traditional congregation that welcomes Jews of any background and
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level of practice. Membership not required to join our school.
Coupé Theatre Studio
430 Market St., Nanuet 845-623-2808 coupedance.com For more than 45 years Coupé Theatre Studio has offered the finest training in all areas of the performing arts. Classes include Ballet, Pre-Pointe and Pointe, Variations, Partnering, Jazz, Contemporary Jazz, Acro, Tap, Modern Dance, HipHop, Theatre Dance, Musical Theatre, Acting, and Vocal Technique. For students ages 3 through adult. Recreational and pre-professional training available from highly-qualified teachers with degrees in dance or professional performing equivalent. Reasonably priced exceptional training, caring staff, and beautiful studios.
Danceworks
69 Lake Road, Congers 845-268-4669 danceworksrockland.com Danceworks has been in the Clarkstown area for more than 34 years. The studio offers classes in creative dance, pre-ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, and hip-hop for ages 3 through teen. Danceworks specializes in children— encouraging a friendly and non-competitive atmosphere. Several children have gone on to study at the School of American Ballet in Manhattan. Our adult ballet workout (free babysitting) teaches you to work with your body, not against it. Beginners are welcome, and no special clothing is needed. Free trial classes are available to all.
German Language School-Westwood Saturday only class 47 Berkeley Ave., Westwood, NJ 201-825-9770 germanschoolnj.org info@germanschoolnj.org The German Language School-Westwood is a nonprofit organization in Bergen County. We welcome students of all
nationalities and backgrounds. Most classes meet on Saturday mornings, with additional adult classes offered evenings. All teachers are experienced language instructors. Classes for children range from Mommy/Daddyand-Me through high school. Students can prepare for the SAT II German, AP German, and the German Government sponsored Sprachdiplom tests, which can result in the opportunity to study at a German university. Adult classes include conversation, literature, composition, business German, and grammar. Summer language camp for children also offered.
Huntington Learning Center
58 E. Route 59, Nanuet 845-624-6800 23 Jefferson Ave., Westwood, NJ 201-664-2000 75 N. Maple Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 201-447-1200 huntingtonhelps.com Huntington Learning Center is an accredited, K-12 tutoring and test prep leader. Its certified teachers provide individualized instruction in phonics, reading, writing, math, science, study skills, and executive functioning skills. Huntington also helps students prepare for the SAT, ACT, High School Entrance Exams, and other state and standardized exams. Huntington students achieve results at all skill levels. According to one parent: “In just four months I have seen incredible improvements in Jessica’s grades and confidence. She actually went up two grade levels!” Huntington offers convenient 1-on-1 tutoring programs. Call today!
JEP of Rockland Hebrew School
30 Blueberry Hill Road, Monsey 845-558-5858 JEP Rockland’s Bobbi Lewis Hebrew School provides an outstanding Jewish education through our comprehensive curriculum, taught by dynamic, creative teachers in a joyous, loving environment. Inspiring
classes for parents and grandparents, family holiday events, mitzvah projects, fantastic Shabbatonim, exciting trips, and an Israel fair are integral parts of the JEP experience. The JEP Hebrew School provides thorough preparation for bar and bat mitzvah. We also offer a vibrant post-bar and bat mitzvah program for teens. Reasonable rates. No membership dues.
Jill’s Ceramics
180 Germonds Road, West Nyack 845-623-4975 jillsceramics.com jillsceramics@aol.com “Where children and adults create their own functional works of art.” Established for more than 36 years, we offer a huge variety of plaster pieces that can be painted and taken home in the same day, or glazed ceramics with a large assortment of finishes. Open Ceramic times and free instruction are offered weekly—please call for days and hours. There are no hourly fees and all supplies are included—you pay one price per finished piece. Come and see our wonderful seasonal items as well; there’s something for everyone at Jill’s Ceramics.
Kreative Kids & Vicki’s Dance Studio
61 Maple Ave., New City 845-634-2202 vickistudio.com Kreative Kids is a toddler and nursery program for boys and girls ages 16 months to 4 years (diapers welcomed)! Classes are divided by age. We offer arts and crafts, music with instruments, singing, creative movement, tumbling, story time, snack time, and early learning skills. Our professional staff balances active and quiet activities, as they provide comfort and love to each child, making separating from parents easy. Classes are kept small to provide individualized attention. We also offer flexible, extended hours to fit your work schedule.
The Lindgren Nursery School and Camp
211 Irving Ave., Closter 201-768-3550 lindgrenschool.com/summer-camp It is our mission to engage young children in direct and meaningful experiences with the natural world and other people. We encourage questions and exploration. We invite free expression through language, songs, drama, art, play, and invention at
all levels. We value individuality and also teach respect for others. Our campus includes seven classrooms, 3½ acres of gardens, play areas, and farm animals. Daily program is a balance of indoor and outdoor free-play, teacher directed experiences, and small group activities. Full- and halfday programs, before and after care, and summer camp available.
Lower Hudson Valley Youth Theater & Chorus
Green Meadow Waldorf School 845-300-1925 lohudyouthchorus.com Your child will be trained to sing, act, and gain confidence in a group atmosphere led by Jared Rosenblum, a New York and New Jersey state-certified music teacher with degrees in music education who has been training children to sing, and inspiring their love for music and theater, for more than 20 years. We are known for our safe and happy atmosphere while allowing children of all ages to shine, no matter their age or experience. The chorus provides the opportunity for local children to sing at Radio City Music Hall, Citi Field, Madison Square Garden, and other great venues.
Master Jung & Yu Traditional Taekwondo
70 N. Main St., New City 845-638-4000 mytaekwondolife.com Blending Korean culture and philosophy with traditional taekwondo, Master Jung and Master Yu’s school is unique in martial arts training. By combining physical with spiritual, we offer the most complete and satisfying training, embodying mind, body, and spirit. Classes are open seven days a week for all ages. Our unique birthday parties open the door for future leaders and martial artists, and are available on weekends. Energize your whole being at Traditional Taekwondo. Call for more details.
Mathnasium of Nanuet
209B W. Route 59, Nanuet 845-624-MATH (6284) mathnasium.com/nanuet nanuet@mathnasium.com Make this school year greater than last year! A new school year brings a fresh start and Mathnasium is here to help set the stage for success. Our unique teaching method is designed to help students reach their full potential, and boost confidence. As your child gears up for a
successful school year, Mathnasium is ready to assist with math gaps and enrichment, homework, and test preparations (Common Core Assessments, Regents, Terra Nova, ACT, SAT, ASVAB, and GRE/ GMAT). We make math fun, most of all we make math make sense.
of athletic accomplishment. Our Sky Tykes kids’ ropes course is designed for ages 2-7, 48-inches tall and shorter. Both courses are available for birthday parties, camp groups, and special events. Book your group today! Check out our new Sky Rail now open!
New City Bowl and Batting Cages
Prime Time for Kids A division of ARC of Rockland
90 N. Main St., New City 845-634-4977 newcitybowlandbattingcages.com Children love bowling! We offer something for everyone—all ages and abilities are welcome. All league members get awards, trophies, and membership in our VIB club for discounts all year long. Join a league and you participate in every game. Unlike other sports, nobody sits on the bench. Every participant bowls in every game. All leagues are handicapped to even the playing field. Experienced and inexperienced bowlers can compete against each other—everybody is a winner! We offer inexpensive clinics and camps for those who want to improve.
New Jewish Learning Academy Located at Congregation Shaarey Israel
18 Montebello Road, Suffern 845-266-6445 ourjewishlearning.com Jewish after-school programs done your way! Programs for first-eighth grades, with options to take one or more classes per week, all in six-week sessions that give you scheduling flexibility. Choose from topics such as Coding and Robotics from Israel, Jewish World Cooking, STEM Projects, Hebrew Reading, and bat and bar mitzvah training. To help busy families we offer additional options of transportation from local schools, a healthy and light dinner, and even homework help. Programs end at 5:30pm with an after-care option until 6:30pm. Membership is not required to join our programs.
Palisades Climb Adventure
4590 Palisades Center Drive, Level 4 of the Palisades Center, West Nyack 845-727-3500 palisadesclimb.com Palisades Climb Adventure offers the world’s tallest indoor ropes challenge course. Standing 85-feet tall, it has five levels and 75 unique challenge elements to explore, climb, and conquer. More advanced athletes will find a challenge, while “just for fun” climbers will experience a sense
70 Phillips Hill Road, New City 845-639-2425 rocklandarc.org dsaulpaugh@rocklandarc.org Prime Time for Kids provides early intervention services, evaluations, and services for infants and toddlers with delays in their development. Our preschool (ages 2.9-5) is recognized as a School of Excellence by the National Association of Special Education Teachers. We provide speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and parent counseling and support. Our Universal Pre-Kindergarten and curriculum follows the NYS Pre-Kindergarten Common Core. Our program includes a state-ofthe-art technology center, expansive indoor and outdoor play areas, music therapy, field trips, and a swimming pool. The Upper School serves students ages 9-21 and uses Applied Behavioral Analysis.
Red Owl Academy Red Owl Academy Summer Camp
645 Main St., Suite 1, Sparkill 845-848-2407 redowlacademy.com info@redowlacademy.com Red Owl Academy is an exciting new preschool that aims to inspire creativity, self-confidence, and a love for learning in young children. Our STEAM-based curriculum fosters children’s natural sense of curiosity, imagination, and joy; and learning to “think outside the box” takes place through interactive exploration and discovery using the five senses. We develop knowledge and skills through real life science and math activities, growing and observing our organic garden, music and movement including yoga, early literacy and language experiences, as well as French language. We invite you to visit to see the difference!
St. Catharine Early Childhood Center 517 Western Highway, Blauvelt 845-359-4330 stcatharineprek.org Our program provides an opportunity for young children to join
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RocklandParent 21
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36 Years In Rockland
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together in a loving, nurturing, educational, and fun environment. Each child is introduced to a full curriculum of early learning in a center-based setting. Hands-on activities and participation in all areas provide the perfect setting for young children to develop and grow. Each child is recognized as a unique individual with many special talents and abilities. Phonemic awareness, social, cognitive, and fine and gross motor skills are introduced through a creative curriculum. A wonderful place for preschoolers to learn, grow, and have fun!
Tumble-Bee Gymnastics and Fitness
401 Market St., Nanuet Mall South, Nanuet 845-623-2553 tumble-beegymnastics.com Tumble-Bee Gymnastics and Fitness is more than just tumbling. We offer an education in gymnastics, fitness, and fun. Serving Rockland for more than 30 years, we offer private birthday parties, and programs for children ages 10 months to 12 years. Our preschool program offers exciting lessons and theme weeks. We teach the nationally recognized Fun & Fit Gymnastics program and International Smart Moves for our after-school program. Our staff is warm, caring, and well trained to work with your child building confidence and self-esteem to achieve success in the future.
Vicki’s Dance Studio and Kreative Kids 61 Maple Ave., New City 845-634-2202 vickistudio.com For more than 30 years, we have been inspiring and motivating students to follow their dreams both in dance and in their lives. Instructors at Vicki’s Studio are dedicated to their students and teaching technique, while creating fun and exciting choreography in our non-competitive studio. We offer beginner to advanced classes for boys and girls ages 2½ to adult, including jazz, tap, hip-hop, ballet, pointe, lyrical, modern, creative movement, boys’ hip-hop, gymnastics, combination classes, and our new musical theater classes. For experienced dancers, we also offer a competitive dance team (try-outs required).
West Rock Indoor Sports and Entertainment Complex 21 Pralle Lane, Nanuet
845-623-3636 westrockindoor.com Rockland’s premier facility for sports training, development, birthday parties, and special events offers programs for children and adults in basketball, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, tennis, and fitness. Our skilled staff ensures your child has the perfect mix of fun, physical activity, and training. Whether it’s our Basketball Academy, Tiny Tots Soccer classes for young children, or revamped tennis academy, we offer plenty of programs to meet your child’s needs, no matter his or her age or ability. Allow West Rock to be your one and only stop for your family’s sports and entertainment needs!
Young Chefs Academy of New City
59 S. Main St., New City 845-638-0601 newcityny.youngchefsacademy.com newcityny@youngchefsacademy.com We offer fun and creative cooking classes for kids throughout the year as well as exciting school holiday break camps, summer camps, and birthday parties. You can sign up for one class at a time or our monthly memberships, which include frequency discounts and other perks. No annual contracts required and you can join at anytime during the year. We offer different themes each month and cover topics such as kitchen safety, proper food handling, food preparation, cooking and baking techniques, table setting, and etiquette.
Young World Day School
585 Wyckoff Ave., Mahwah, NJ 201-327-3888 youngworlddayschool.org director@ywdschool.org Young World Day School provides a safe, nurturing environment in which ordinary kids do extraordinary things. An experienced staff utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to learning, using individualized instruction, cooperative learning, and small group instruction. The school includes a traditional preschool, beginning with a 2-year-old program, a Montessori school for ages 2.9-5, a transitional and traditional kindergarten, all with low pupil-to-teacher ratios. The primary school for first-fifth grades is comprised of small, mixed-age classrooms providing individualized instruction so students learn at a rate appropriate to their ability. Morning and afternoon extended care available.
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theatre studio 430 Market Street Nanuet, NY 10954 845.623.2808 Coupedance.com
• Weekly Cooking Classes For Kids • Themed Birthday Parties • Holiday Workshops • School Holiday Break Camps • School Field Trips • Register Now for our Halloween Workshops
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Young Chefs Academy of New City 59 South Main Street, New City, NY Newcityny.youngchefsacademy.com Newcityny@YOUNGCHEFSACADEMY.COM
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Auditions for Show & Chorus Oct 1st 12pm – 5pm Green Meadow Waldorf School Reg at LoHudYouthChorus.com • (845) 300-1925 RocklandParent 23
OUTINGS: Roosevelt Island
Get Away Without Leaving NYC Explore historical sites, view art, and take a 4-minute tram to explore the island between Manhattan and Queens. ›› 2 Vanessa Petit
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1 Double rows of trees narrow and frame the triangular courtyard of The Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park. 2 The Roosevelt Island Tramway takes visitors from Midtown Manhattan to Roosevelt Island in 4 minutes. 3 The Octagon Gallery serves as a lobby and art gallery inside a luxury apartment building; it originally greeted people entering the New York City Lunatic Asylum. 4 The Lighthouse was designated a New York City landmark in 1975. 5 The Fall for Arts Festival brings together artists and community members to paint large murals.
R
oosevelt Island, the 2-mile-long strip of land between Manhattan and Queens, makes for a great family day trip. Governor Nelson Rockefeller and Mayor John Lindsay named the island in 1973 in honor of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Families can walk or bike along both sides of the island or take the Red Bus, free transportation around the island, up and down the middle of the island on Main Street to explore its numerous parks, take in amazing city views, and learn about historical sites.
Where Else Can You Ride a Tram in the City?
The kids will love taking the 4-minute tram ride to this storied island. With one swipe of a Metrocard at East 59th Street and Second Avenue (including a free transfer to the subway or MTA buses) the Roosevelt Island Tramway climbs to 250 feet above the East River and travels along the north side of the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge (expect brief wait times due to maintenance work on both sides of the tram through the winter). The F train has a stop at Roosevelt Island as well, and starting Aug. 29 visitors can reach the island via the NYC Ferry on the Astoria Line. At the Roosevelt Island Visitor Center you can buy souvenirs, historical books about the island, and maps. 24
September 2017 | nymetroparents.com
See a Lighthouse and Enjoy Its Park
Completed in 1872 under supervising architect James Renwick Jr., the Lighthouse was built of stone quarried on the island by convict labor from the Penitentiary. It stands 50 feet tall on the northernmost point of the island and is surrounded by the East River. The Lighthouse was designated a New York City landmark in 1975, and its park includes grills and tables perfect for a picnic.
An Art Gallery With a Storied Past
South of the Lighthouse is the Octagon, first built in 1839, which originally served as the administrative center and main entrance to the New York City Lunatic Asylum—both Charles Dickens and Nellie Bly wrote about its stark conditions. After serving as a hospital and then being abandoned, the Octagon Gallery reopened in 2006 as the lobby entrance of a 500-unit residential luxury apartment building and home to a rotating art exhibit curated by the Roosevelt Island Visual Art Association. Now residents and visitors can enter the building’s original rotunda, framed by a spiral staircase, to experience the RIVAA exhibits.
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, on the southernmost tip of the island, opened in 2012. It spans 4
Courtesy Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation
By Vanessa Petit
nymetroparents.com/outings acres and celebrates the four freedoms that President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke of in his 1941 State of the Union speech: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Double rows of trees narrow and frame the triangular courtyard, which contains a bust of FDR, sculpted in 1933 by Jo Davidson. The Four Freedoms Park Conservancy offers free public guided tours on the weekends, weather permitting, and events AprilOctober, including yoga in the park and playgroups for toddlers.
Family-Friendly Roosevelt Island Activities
Roosevelt Island’s diverse community is family-friendly and hosts many events. The Fall for Arts Festival on Sept. 23 brings together local and off-island artists to paint large murals tied to a central theme. Kid-friendly activities include art workshops, community mural panels to paint, and live music. Enjoy outdoor movies in the summer, a family Halloween Parade Oct. 28, and a year-round farmers’ market under the Roosevelt Island Bridge every Saturday.
Want to Go?
Address: 591 Main St., Roosevelt Island Directions: Approximately a 1-hour, 25-minute drive from New City Hours: The Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park is open April 1-Sept. 30, Wednesday-Monday, 9am-7pm, and Oct. 1-March 31, Wednesday-Monday, 9am-5pm Admission: FREE For more information: rioc.ny.gov
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RocklandParent 25
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SEPTEMBER CALENDAR
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Editor’s Hot Tickets
31
Must-Sees in NYC
29
We Can’t Believe It’s FREE!
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30
Smarty Pants, The Great Outdoors
Show Time!, Fun Fairs & Festivals
33
Browse & Buy
EDITOR’S HOT TICKETS
Our calendar is full of great ideas. First, here are the nine events we consider can’t-miss—the ones we’re taking our own kids to. Consider it your cheat sheet to the best of what’s great this month!
1
Apple Picking Season Opening
WHEN: Sept. 2-3, Saturday-Sunday, 9am-4:30pm WHERE: Demarest Farm, 244 Werimus Road, Hillsdale, NJ AGES: All WHAT: Featuring well-manicured trees, spectacular views, and tasty apple varieties, Demarest Farm is home to more than 14 varieties of pick-your-own apples. Families will also enjoy hay wagon rides, two petting zoos, an adventure playground, corn box, photo display area, a crooked house village, wooden playsets, and more. WHY WE LOVE IT: Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me! WANT TO GO? $7; $10 per bag. 201-666-0472. demarestfarms.com.
Movie Under The Stars: ‘Back to the Future’ FREE
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WHEN: Friday, Sept. 8, 7:30-9:30pm WHERE: Piermont Civic Association, Flywheel Park, 554 Piermont Ave., Piermont AGES: 9 and older WHAT: Bring a blanket or lawn chairs and enjoy this modern classic. WHY WE LOVE IT: Introduce ‘em to your first crush, Marty McFly! WANT TO GO? piermontchamber.org.
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SeptemberFest Street Fair
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 10, 10am-5pm WHERE: Nyack Chamber of Commerce, Main Street, Nyack AGES: All WHAT: Celebrate with live bands, great food, kid rides, and
September 2017 | nymetroparents.com
hundreds of vendors offering unique crafts, jewelry, and more. WHY WE LOVE IT: See and be seen! WANT TO GO? Free admission. 845-721-5059. nyackchamber.org.
4
Suffern Day 2017 FREE
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 16, 11am-3pm WHERE: Ballfield Complex, 1 Ramapo Road, Suffern AGES: All WHAT: Meet local organizations and enjoy hayrides, pony rides, inflatables, games, and emergency services followed by an evening of music, and fireworks at 6:30pm. WHY WE LOVE IT: Small town, big celebration! WANT TO GO? 845-357-2600. suffernvillage.com.
8th Annual Italian Feast and Carnival
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WHEN: Sept. 14-17, Thursday, 5-11pm; Friday, 5pm-12am; Saturday, 11-12am; Sunday, 12-9pm WHERE: Tappan Masonic Park Fairgrounds, 89 Western Highway, Tappan AGES: All WHAT: Four days of fun celebrating all things Italian, including an amazing array of food, rides, games, and live entertainment. Also enjoy more than 50 vendors jewelry, home goods, hand-made artwork, clothing, and hand-rolled cigars made on-site. WHY WE LOVE IT: Family, food, fun...now that’s amore! WANT TO GO? $5; free for children younger than 12. 845-359-9766. blauveltsonsofitaly.org.
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6
Autumn Campfire & Night Hike
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 23, 6:30-8:30pm WHERE: Tenafly Nature Center, 313 Hudson Ave., Tenafly, NJ AGES: 5 and older WHAT: Gather ‘round the campfire to explore seasonal changes, listen to stories, and roast marshmallows for s’mores. Then a Tenafly Nature Center Environmental Educator will lead participants on a short walk along the trails in the forest without flashlights to develop night vision, play games, and listen for animals. WHY WE LOVE IT: Crisp air + roasted marshmallows = fall family fun! WANT TO GO? $10. 201-568-6093. tenaflynaturecenter.org.
Apple Cider Making
WHEN: Sept. 10-24, Sundays, 12:30pm, 2pm, and 3:30pm WHERE: Tenafly Nature Center, 313 Hudson Ave., Tenafly, NJ AGES: All WHAT: Participants will use an apple press, help to make cider, and learn about the history of apple cultivation and cider making. Tenafly Nature Center will provide apples, but families are encouraged to bring three or more apples per person. Registration required. WHY WE LOVE IT: The taste of fall is here! WANT TO GO? $6; $30 per family. 201-568-6093. tenaflynaturecenter.org.
7
Fall Festival
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 24, 10am-5pm WHERE: Glen Rock Chamber of Commerce, Rock Road, Glen Rock, NJ AGES: All WHAT: This year’s festival will have a new focus on local vendors, rides, entertainment, music stage, family fun, and more. WHY WE LOVE IT: You won’t want to miss this! WANT TO GO? Free admission. 201-670-3956. glenrocknj.net.
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NY Renaissance Faire
WHEN: Through Oct. 1: Saturday-Sunday, 10am-7pm WHERE: Renaissance Faire, Tuxedo Park, 600 NY-17A, Tuxedo Park AGES: All WHAT: The Faire is a rollicking romp through Elizabethan England complete with 16th century games, rides, arts, crafts, food, music, and dance. WHY WE LOVE IT: Like a great storybook come to life! WANT TO GO? $25; $20 seniors and military; $12 children ages 5-12; free for children 4 and younger. 845-351-5174. renfaire.com/ny.
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WE CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S FREE
Think a freebie has to be ho-hum? Don’t let the price tag (or lack of one) fool you. Here are the five no-cost events we’re excited about now. You’re welcome. Shabbat Under the Stars FREE
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 8, 5pm WHERE: Nanuet Hebrew Center, 411 S. Little Tor Road, New City AGES: All WHAT: Enjoy live music and services under the stars. Tot Shabbat begins at 5pm followed by a barbecue. WANT TO GO? 845-708-9181. nanuethc.org.
24th Annual Car Show FREE
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 8, 6pm-9pm WHERE: Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Ridgewood, Ridgewood, NJ AGES: All WHAT: Known as one of the best night time car shows in the area, enjoy more than 400 cars from all over the U.S. WANT TO GO? experienceridgewood.com.
Rocket Launch FREE
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 16, 4-6pm WHERE: Weldler Park, West Maple Avenue, Monsey AGES: All WHAT: Bring low-powered rockets (A-D motors) to launch or just come to watch. Beginner and advanced rocketeers are welcome. WANT TO GO? 845-357-3416. lhvcc.com.
Toddler Tuesday FREE
WHEN: Tuesday, Sept. 19, 10-11am WHERE: Smile More Kidz, 140 Oak Tree Road, Tappan AGES: 3-8 WHAT: Come learn tips for raising a cavity-free child. Kids will enjoy a puppet show, show and tell, storytelling, balloons, and free prizes. WANT TO GO? 551-999-6229. smilemorekidz.com.
Guided Demonstration Garden Tour
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 24, 1-2:30pm WHERE: CCE-Rockland Education Center & Office, 10 Patriot Hills Drive, Stony Point AGES: 9 and older WHAT: Tour the Demonstration Gardens and enjoy a brief lecture. Discover how to plant this fall and care for the best spring flowering bulbs. WANT TO GO? Free admission. 845-429-7085. rocklandcce.org. ››
RocklandParent 29
Party Animals Story Time FREE
WHEN: Sept. 6-27, Wednesdays, 11am WHERE: Palisades Center, Level 1, Palisades Center Drive, West Nyack AGES: Newborn to 5 WHAT: Party Animals hosts a fun story time every week. WANT TO GO? 845-348-1000. palisadescenter.com.
Playtime Storytime FREE
SMARTY PANTS Using Black Walnuts to Dye Fabric
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 10, 2pm WHERE: Cropsey Community Farm, 220 S. Little Tor Road, New City AGES: All WHAT: Paul Tappenden will lead a workshop in which particpants will gather black walnuts from the farm and make dyes and stains to tie-dye T-shirts. Bring a white T-shirt. WANT TO GO? $20. 845-634-3167. rocklandfarm.org.
WHEN: Sept. 15-29, Fridays, 10:30-11:15am WHERE: Haverstraw King’s Daughters Public Library, Main Library, 10 W. Ramapo Road, Garnerville AGES: 3-5 WHAT: Stories, songs, sensory story time with cool activities, fun with non-fiction, and more. WANT TO GO? 845-786-3800. hkdpl.org.
Baby Signs with Miss Fran FREE
WHEN: Sept. 28-Oct. 19, Thursdays, 10:30-11am WHERE: Haverstraw King’s Daughters Public Library, Main Library, 10 W. Ramapo Road, Garnerville AGES: 3-5 WHAT: A unique hands-on class in which children learn signs so they can communicate before they can talk. This fun, interactive class features music with guitar, songs, puppets, instruments, movement, sign language, and laughter. Registration required. WANT TO GO? 845-786-3800. hkdpl.org.
Public Planetarium Show
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 10, 2-4pm WHERE: Town of Ramapo Challenger Center, 225 Route 59, Airmont AGES: 5 and older WHAT: Following a 1-hour planetarium show, participants will take part in a 1-hour hands-on astronomy-related project. WANT TO GO? $10; $5 seniors and for children younger than 9. 845-357-3416. lhvcc.com.
Bee Friendly Backyards FREE
THE GREAT OUTDOORS Guided Nature Walk
WHEN: Tuesday, Sept. 12, 7-8:30pm WHERE: Finkelstein Memorial Library, 24 Chestnut St., Spring Valley AGES: 9 and older WHAT: Come learn about common pollinators and four easy ways to make your backyards and gardens prime habitats for these essential creatures. Reservations required. WANT TO GO? 845-352-3694. rocklandcce.org.
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 3, 3-4pm WHERE: Tenafly Nature Center, 313 Hudson Ave., Tenafly, NJ AGES: All WHAT: Enjoy the season with a guided walk along one of the center’s trails with an Environmental Educator. Whether a first time visitor or a regular on the trails, participants will enjoy different sensory experiences in the forest each month. Weather permitting. WANT TO GO? $6. 201-568-6093. tenaflynaturecenter.org.
Public Space Mission
Seasonal Scavenger Hunt
Naturalist Diary FREE
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 10, 9am-5pm WHERE: Hurds Family Farm, 2187 Route 32, Modena AGES: All WHAT: Grandparents receive a free activity wristband when they bring their grandkids this weekend. Fresh Air Concert Foot tapping Celtic music by Dylan Foley and the Foley Family. WANT TO GO? $50; free for grandparents. 845-883-7825. hurdsfamilyfarm.com.
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 17, 2-5pm WHERE: Town of Ramapo Challenger Center, 225 Route 59, Airmont AGES: 5 and older WHAT: Just like the real astronauts, public crew members will attend a briefing session and then select tasks to perform on the mission. Small teams of space adventurers will conduct research, perform scientific experiments, and even deploy a probe. Reservations required. WANT TO GO? $10; $5 seniors and for children younger than 9. 845357-3416. lhvcc.com. WHEN: Friday, Sept. 22, 8pm WHERE: Allendale Borough Hall, 500 W. Crescent Ave., Allendale, NJ AGES: 9 and older WHAT: Peter Bacinski presents natural history facts and answers questions about birds, wildflowers, butterflies, ferns, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, as well as many unusual natural history events. WANT TO GO? 201-281-0158. fykenature.org. 30
September 2017 | nymetroparents.com
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 9, 2-3pm WHERE: Tenafly Nature Center, 313 Hudson Ave., Tenafly, NJ AGES: All WHAT: Families will receive a set of clues to solve riddles along Nature Center trails. Each family will need to work as a team as they hike to complete the hunt and receive a small prize. Weather permitting. WANT TO GO? $6; $30 per family of three or more. 201-568-6093. tenaflynaturecenter.org.
We Love Grandparents Weekend: Fresh Air Celtic Music
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 15, 6:30-8:30pm WHERE: Piermont Chamber of Commerce, Bridge Street and Piermont Avenue, Piermont AGES: All WHAT: A family event with song, line dancing, food, and ice cream. Bridge lighting installation by Kugler Ning Lighting Design and a special performance by Tom Chapin and the Chapin Sisters. WANT TO GO? Free admission. piermontchamber.org.
CityBound Must-Sees in
N Y C Courtesy Summer on the Hudson
The Sparkill Creek Drawbridge Illumination
Art in the Park
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 17, 1-6pm WHERE: Flywheel Park, Piermont Avenue, Piermont AGES: All WHAT: More than 100 artists will be showing their work outdoors. Visitors can come to see artists work on-site, take part in special workshops, and buy art at this annual festival. WANT TO GO? Free admission. piermontchamber.org.
Biodiversity Celebration
Celebrate the Seasons with a Waldorf Teacher FREE
WHEN: Wednesday, Sept. 27, 3:30-5pm WHERE: Green Meadow Waldorf School, 307 Hungry Hollow Road, Chestnut Ridge AGES: 3-8, adult WHAT: Creative, age-appropriate activities that support seasonal rhythms to help connect children to the natural world. Activities vary by season and may include forest walks and cooking with apples in the fall, sledding, indoor crafts, and baking in the winter. Reservations required. WANT TO GO? 845-356-2514. gmws.org.
Experience fair fun without leaving the city.
A Little Bit Country Fill your Sunday afternoon with county fair fun in a city setting. Summer on the Hudson’s West Side County Fair promises carnival rides and games, sideshow performers, local food and merchandise vendors, cotton candy, and more. See aerialists from the House Of Yes, laugh with host Ambrose Martos, and listen to live music from Mariti Garrett and Bette Smith, among others. Plus, you can bring clean, reusable items such as clothing, housewares, games, books, and toys that you no longer use and take home something that’s new to your family for free at the Stop ‘N’ Swap with GrowNYC. Sept. 10, 1-6pm (rain date: Sept. 17). Age: All. FREE. Pier I in Riverside Park South, West 70th Street, Riverside Park South. nycgovparks.org. Meg Banks
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 23, 11am-3pm WHERE: Trailside Museums and Zoo, Bear Mountain State Park, Bear Mountain AGES: All WHAT: Celebrate New York state’s native animals and plants. Enjoy nature crafts, games, and activities. WANT TO GO? $10 parking fee; $1 suggested donation. 845-786-2701. trailsidezoo.org.
Putting the Garden to Bed
WHEN: Wednesday, Sept. 27, 7-8:30pm WHERE: Clarkstown Continuing Education Congers Elementary School, 9 Lake Road, Congers AGES: 9 and older WHAT: Explore the best methods to use in the fall to create the best garden in the spring. Learn what to do in the fall to improve soil quality and how to protect perennials, tender plants, trees, and shrubs from winter conditions. Registration required. WANT TO GO? $20. 845-639-5628. ccsd.edu. ›› Pet a horse and have some fun at the Rolex Central Park Horse Show’s free family day.
Horsin’ Around Calling all equestrian fans! The Fourth Annual Rolex Central Park Horse Show will feature five days of diverse programming and daily exhibitions of different breeds and disciplines, concluding with a free family day packed with kid-friendly programming. Participate in hands-on interactions with horses, try your hand at hobby horsing (a competitive sport for children that involves a toy stick with a model horse head), and check out the first-ever dog agility class at Wollman Rink. Sept. 24, 12-3pm. Age: All. FREE. Wollman Rink, 830 Fifth Ave., Central Park. centralparkhorseshow.com. RocklandParent 31
Back to School Party & Movie Night
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 16, 5-9pm WHERE: Ridgewood Karate Academy, 30 Cottage Place, Ridgewood, NJ AGES: 5-12 WHAT: Children will learn safety tips, play exciting games, and win prizes, followed by a fun-filled movie night. Call for details and to RSVP. WANT TO GO? Call for prices. 201-447-2272. ridgewoodchamber.com.
‘iLuminate’
WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 21, 7pm WHERE: Mayo Performing Arts Center, 100 South St., Morristown, NJ AGES: 9 and older WHAT: Music, art, and the technological magic of iLuminate bring you a story of adventure and romance conveyed by an array of dance styles expressed through a glowing visual design and choreographed to music by artists including Michael Jackson, Bruno Mars, and James Brown. WANT TO GO? $29 and up. 973-539-0345. mayoarts.org.
‘Shopkins Live!’
SHOW TIME!
WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 28, 6:30pm WHERE: Bergen Performing Arts Center, 30 N. Van Brunt St., Englewood, NJ AGES: 3-8 WHAT: Shopkins Live! immerses audiences in the world of Shopville using custom-designed theatrical costumes, creative onstage characters, state-of-art video and set design, and original pop songs and music. WANT TO GO? $29 and up. 201-227-1030. bergenpac.org.
Summer Music at the Marina FREE
Captain Underpants Party FREE
WHEN: Through Sept. 7: Thursdays, 7:30-9pm WHERE: Edgewater Marina, 989 River Road, Edgewater, NJ AGES: All WHAT: Bring a blanket, chair, and a picnic basket and enjoy music all summer long. WANT TO GO? 201-943-9242. edgewaternj.org.
Summer Concert Series FREE
WHEN: Through Sept. 7: Thursdays, 5-8pm WHERE: The Shops at Nanuet, 75 New York Route 59, Nanuet AGES: All WHAT: Featuring a lineup of national and regional talents for three concerts throughout the summer. Family activities including face painting, balloon art by Making Faces Parties, and a bounce house will be available to enjoy. Bring lawn chairs to enjoy the entertainment. WANT TO GO? 845-501-4272. simon.com.
Outdoor Movie: ‘The Wizard of Oz’ FREE
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 8, 7:40pm WHERE: Village of Nyack, Artopee Way Municipal Parking Lot, Nyack AGES: 5 and older WHAT: One of cinema’s all-time great coming of age stories. Enjoy this iconic classic under the stars with your family and friends. WANT TO GO? 845-353-2221. rivertownfilm.org.
‘Annie’
WHEN: Through Sept. 10: Wednesday-Sunday, see website for times WHERE: Westchester Broadway Theater, 1 Broadway Plaza, Elmsford AGES: All WHAT: Annie is a spunky Depression-era orphan determined to find her parents, who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City orphanage run by the cruel Miss Hannigan. In this funfilled adventure, Annie foils Miss Hannigan’s evil plots, befriends President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and finds a new family in billionaire Oliver Warbucks. WANT TO GO? $50 show only. 914-592-2222. broadwaytheatre.com.
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September 2017 | nymetroparents.com
WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 28, 7-8pm WHERE: Haverstraw King’s Daughters Public Library, Main Library, 10 W. Ramapo Road, Garnerville AGES: 5-12 WHAT: Celebrate the Captain Underpants movie coming out to DVD with crafts, games, and laughs. Registration required. WANT TO GO? 845-786-3800. hkdpl.org.
Kids’ Movie Night
WHEN: Through Dec. 17: Sundays, 5:30pm WHERE: Harry’s Burritos, 90 Main St., Nyack AGES: All WHAT: See animated films for kids every Sunday night at Harry’s Burritos. Parents receive happy hour pricing on meals and drinks. WANT TO GO? Prices vary. 845-353-5220. harrysburritos.com.
FUN FAIRS & FESTIVALS Family Water Festival FREE
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 2, 1-4pm WHERE: Crestwood Lake - East Beach, West Crescent Avenue, Allendale, NJ AGES: All WHAT: Residents will enjoy this day of fun including swimming events, relays, sand castle contest, cannon ball competition, raffles, and prizes. WANT TO GO? 201-818-4400. allendalenj.gov.
Music Fest FREE
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 10, 1-7pm WHERE: Memorial Park, Van Neste Square, Ridgewood, NJ AGES: All WHAT: Come out for live music, food from local restaurants, a beer and wine garden, raffles, prizes, and more. WANT TO GO? Free admission. 201-493-9911. ridgewoodguild.com.
Ridgewood Fall Craft & Art Street Fair
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 17, 12-5pm WHERE: Downtown Ridgewood, East Ridgewood and Maple avenues, Ridgewood, NJ AGES: All WHAT: Featuring 175 exhibitors with arts, crafts, and photography; a food court with all types of festival foods; a large Kidz Zone with pony rides, a petting zoo, and inflatables; and music all day. WANT TO GO? Free admission. 201-666-1340. pjspromotions.com.
Suffern Street Fair
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 17, 10am-5pm WHERE: Suffern Chamber of Commerce, Lafayette Avenue, Suffern AGES: All WHAT: Enjoy food, live music, craft vendors, a kid’s zone, and more. WANT TO GO? Free admission. 845-357-8424. suffernchamber.org.
Franklin Lakes Festival
WHEN: Sept. 22-23, Friday, 6-10pm; Saturday, 12-5pm WHERE: Borough Hall, DeKorte Drive, Franklin Lakes, NJ AGES: All WHAT: Fun for the whole family with rides, games, food, a car show, and more. WANT TO GO? Check website for updates. franklinlakes.org.
BROWSE & BUY Suffern Farmers’ Market
WHEN: Through Oct. 28: Saturdays, 8:30am-1pm WHERE: Lafayette Avenue, between Orange and Wayne avenues, Suffern AGES: All WHAT: A family-friendly market with food vendors, craft vendors, children’s activities, and live entertainment weekly. Provides fresh, locally grown, nutritious produce and fruit, prepared foods, grass-fed beef, farm fresh eggs, baked goods, body care products, handmade gift items, and more. WANT TO GO? Prices vary. suffernchamber.org.
Clarkstown Farmers’ Market
WHEN: Through Oct. 28: Saturdays, 9am-1pm WHERE: Traphagen Park, 131 Germonds Road, West Nyack AGES: All WHAT: The newest market to open in Rockland County. Highlights include locally grown and sourced produce, flowers, jams, pickles, honey, and more. WANT TO GO? Free admission. 845-323-3658. town.clarkstown.ny.us.
Piermont’s Down to Earth Farmers Market
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 23, 10am-5pm WHERE: Kirkbride Hall, 5 Patriot Hills Drive, Stony Point AGES: All WHAT: Featuring the largest outdoor laser tag game in the county, plus inflatables, rock climbing, games, pony rides, food, and more. WANT TO GO? Free admission. 845-641-0328. stonypointpal.org.
WHEN: Through Nov. 19: Sundays, 9:30am-3pm WHERE: M&T Bank Parking Lot, Piermont Avenue and Ash Street, Piermont AGES: All WHAT: Down to Earth Markets bring together two kinds of vendors: local farmers and area food makers who source locally. WANT TO GO? Prices vary. 914-923-4837. downtoearthmarkets.com.
24th Annual Food & Farmers Festival
Ridgewood Farmers’ Market
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 23, 11am-4pm WHERE: Hungry Hollow Co-Op Market, 841 Chestnut Ridge Road, Chestnut Ridge AGES: All WHAT: Join the co-op market’s annual celebration of farmers and local food producers, featuring live music, grilled local food, organic cotton candy and popcorn, nature walks, hay rides, cider pressing, and more. WANT TO GO? Free admission. 845-356-3319. hungryhollow.coop.
WHEN: Sept. 3-Nov. 26, Sundays, 9am-3pm WHERE: Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce, Train Station Parking Lot, Ridgewood, NJ AGES: All WHAT: Celebrating 17 years with farm-to-table, fresh, and delicious produce, fresh mozzarella, jams, pickles, flowers, and more every Sunday until Thanksgiving. WANT TO GO? Free admission. experienceridgewood.com.
Haverstraw RiverArts Festival
Nyack Farmers’ Market
Stony Point PAL Fall Festival & Family Fun Day
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 24, 11am-5pm WHERE: Emeline Park, 16 Front St., Haverstraw AGES: All WHAT: A full day of music and art with live music, storytelling, kite making, puppet making, craft vendors, a beer garden, and more. WANT TO GO? Free admission. 845-429-0300. haverstrawriverarts.org.
WHEN: Through Nov. 30: Thursdays, 8am-2pm WHERE: Main Street Parking Lot, 119 Main St., Nyack AGES: All WHAT: Some of the greatest vendors come together in the center of Nyack to hold the weekly farmers’ market with produce, baked goods, sweets, and more. WANT TO GO? Free admission. 845-353-2221. nyackchamber.com.
Coming up next month: OCT. 7: Allendale Festival Day and Car Show at Allendale Town Center, Allendale, NJ OCT. 8: Nyack Famous Street Fair, Downtown, Main Street and Broadway, Nyack OCT. 28: Halloween Trunk or Treat, New City
RocklandParent 33
WHERE-TO GUIDE
Pick Your Own Apples
››
Research by Amanda Marrone and Jaime Bonchick
Bite into crunchy, juicy, just-picked apples this month! A day trip to a local orchard yields fresh fruit to take home by the bucket, sweet pastries and baked goods (apple cider doughnuts, please!), and lots of kid-friendly perks, from hayrides to petting zoos. Grown-ups: Some farms even serve up hard cider and homemade wines! Note: Dates are projected and availability is subject to change. We recommend calling ahead before visiting these locations. village on the weekends, plus a hay bale maze every day from September-October, playhouse farm village open daily, and animals for petting. Country store with honey, preserves, hot cider, ice cream, and homemade apple cider doughnuts. Open daily, 9am-4pm. Masker Orchards 45 Ball Road, Warwick 845-986-1058; maskers.com Apple picking Labor Day weekend through early November, daily, 9am-5pm. Bags provided. Free admission and parking. Country store with honey, preserves, and country gifts on-site. Picnic areas available. Pony rides, live music, haunted house, and maze for children on weekends (call for starting dates).
Dr. Davies Farm 306 Route 304, Congers 845-268-7020; drdaviesfarm.com Labor Day through midNovember, open daily, 10am4:30pm, for pick-your-own. Hayrides offered weekends 11am-5pm. Farm market open daily, 8:30am-5:30pm. Picnic fields on-site. Cash and checks only. Orchards of Concklin 2 S. Mountain Road (off Route 45), Pomona 845-354-0369 theorchardsofconcklin.com Open the last two Sundays in September and the first two Sundays in October, 10am5pm. Picking poles available; $5 refundable deposit and $2
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rental fee. Farm store with baked goods, apple cider, and doughnuts open 8am-6pm. Pick-your-own group tours are available by appointment.
Orange County Apple Dave’s Orchards 82 Four Corners Road, Warwick 845-986-1684 applewoodorchards.com Apple picking Labor Day through October and pumpkin picking in October; daily, 9am5pm. Farm store and winery on-site. Apple Ridge Orchards 101 Jessup Road, Warwick 845-987-7717 appleridgeorchards.com
September 2017 | nymetroparents.com
Pick your own apples starting Labor Day weekend, open Thursday-Sunday, 9am-6pm. School groups by reservations only (call or visit the website), Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm. Dwarf apple trees make picking easy for kids. Hay wagon rides, farm animals for petting, glass observation honey beehive, and farm store with fresh-pressed cider and homemade cider doughnuts. Lawrence Farms Orchards 39 Colandrea Road, Newburgh 845-562-4268; lawrencefarmsorchards.com Apple and pumpkin picking through October, plus pickyour-own grapes, peppers, cabbage, and other vegetables. Train rides through the
Ochs Orchard 4 Ochs Lane (off Route 94), Warwick 845-986-1591; ochsorchard.net Apple picking in September and October; U-pick pumpkins, tomatoes, and other vegetables through October. Farm stand with pre-picked fruits and vegetables, apple cider, homemade doughnuts, preserves, maple syrup, jams and jellies, and honey. Pies available on weekends. Homemade ice cream for sale. Small petting zoo. Open Wednesday-Sunday, 9am5pm. Store open until 6pm. Pennings Farm Market and Orchard 161 Route 94 S., Warwick 845-986-1059;
nymetroparents.com/where-to penningsfarmmarket.com Apple picking Labor Day weekend through the second week of November, daily, 9am-5pm. Pumpkins on sale from late September through October. Weekend hayrides and petting zoo. Ice cream stand, pub, and café with full menu. For apple picking information, call 845-986-7080. Soons Orchard & Farm Market 23 Soons Circle, New Hampton 845-374-5471 soonsorchards.com Apple picking Labor Day weekend through October, 10am-4pm on weekends and Monday holidays. Dwarf trees ideal for kids. Store with prepicked fruit and vegetables, fresh-pressed apple cider and doughnuts, fudge, and baked goods open 9am-6pm.
Westchester County Harvest Moon Farm and Orchards 130 Hardscrabble Road, North Salem 914-485-1210 harvestmoonfarmandorchard.com Apple picking begins in early September after Labor Day (call for availability). Fresh pies, doughnuts, produce, and local honey, local dairy products, and maple syrup for sale, as well as New York state wines and spirits and the farm’s own hard cider. Open daily, 8am-6pm. Outhouse Orchards 139 Hardscrabble Road, North Salem 914-277-3188 outhouseorchardsny.com Apple picking Sept. 1-Nov. 1, daily, 9am-5pm while supplies last. Fresh cider for sale, hayrides, and corn maze on-site, and a pick-your-own pumpkin patch. Wilkens Fruit & Fir Farm 1335 White Hill Road, Yorktown Heights
914-245-5111; wilkensfarm.com Apple picking through midOctober, daily, 10am-4:30pm. Farm market with apple cider, baked goods, pre-picked produce, and gifts.
Ulster County Dressel Farms 271 State Route 208, New Paltz 845-255-0693 dresselfarms.com U-pick apples (15 varieties) in September and October, weekends only, 10am-4:30pm. Small trees for kids. Homemade apple cider and doughnuts for sale. Ice cream stand onsite. Hayrides, picnic tables, and animals to feed. Farmers’ market open weekdays, 9am6pm. Cash or check only; ATM on-site. You can use credit cards at the farm stand. Hurds Family Farm 2185 State Route 32, Modena 845-883-7825 hurdsfamilyfarm.com Pick your own apples from August through early November with more than 20 varieties at the 400-acre farm. Apple cider doughnuts, hot and cold apple cider, applesauce, apple butter, and jams and preserves available for purchase. Visit the café for savory and sweet foods, all made with apples. Open daily, 9am-5pm. Jenkins-Lueken Orchards Route 299 W. and Yankee Folly Road, New Paltz 845-255-0999; jlorchards.com Apple picking Labor Day weekend through October, daily, 9am-6pm and until 7pm on weekends. Gourds, fresh peanut butter, fresh cider, and hard cider also available. Bakery, corn maze, hayrides, and pumpkin picking on-site (in October). Minard Farms 250 Hurds Road, Clintondale
866-632-7753 minardfamilyfarms.com Apple picking through October, weekends, 9am-6pm. Farm market with apple cider, doughnuts, homemade pies, jams, and jellies. Hayrides, farm tours, and picnicking available. Restrooms on-site. Plus haymaze, apple slingshot, and pumpkin picking available. Prospect Hill Orchards 73 Clarks Lane, Milton 845-795-2383 prospecthillorchards.com Apples are available for picking starting in late September. U-pick pears, Asian pears, and pumpkins also available. Low-hanging branches for small children. Two free family festivals: Kids’ Days (Sept. 30-Oct. 1) and Johnny Appleseed Cider Festival (Oct. 15-16) with make-your-own scarecrows, gourd crafts, cider pressing, hayrides, corn maze, and face painting. Tractorpulled hayrides stop at the cider-pressing tent, pumpkin patches, picnic area, and market. Parking available. Tantillo’s Farm Market 730 State Route 208, Gardiner 845-256-9109 tantillosfarm.com Through October, daily, 9am4:30pm for picking. Farm stand and bakery open daily, 9am-6pm. Soft-serve ice cream bar open 11am-10pm on weekends and until 9pm Monday-Thursday. Wilklow Orchards 341 Pancake Hollow Road, Highland 845-691-2339 wilkloworchards.com Labor Day through Halloween, daily, 9am6pm. Roadside stand with homemade cider, baked goods, jams, jellies, and apple
cider doughnuts. Hayrides, picnicking, pumpkin picking, and farm animals on-site. Wright’s Farm 699 State Highway 208, Gardiner 845-255-5300; eatapples.com September and October, daily, 8am-4:30pm. Pets allowed. Picnic areas and a fruit stand on-site with baked goods and flowers. Farm store open Monday-Thursday, 8am-7pm, and Friday-Saturday, 8am-8pm.
NEW JERSEY Bergen County Demarest Farms 244 Wierimus Road, Hillsdale 201-666-0472 demarestfarms.com Pick-your-own apples beginning Sept. 3, MondayFriday, 9:30am-4:30pm. Reservations for schools or large groups available. Farm store with bakery, apple cider, salad bar, and fresh produce open daily, 8am-6:30pm. Weekend hayrides available. Also offering a corn maze and farm animals.
Mercer County Terhune Orchards 330 Cold Soil Road, Princeton 609-924-2310 terhuneorchards.com Pick-your-own apples through October, daily, 9am-5pm; and pick-your-own pumpkins and gourds September-October. Fall harvest festivals with wagon rides and pony rides every weekend, 10am-5pm, Sept. 17-Oct. 30 (see website for details). Farmers’ market with pre-picked fruits and vegetables, apple cider, doughnuts, and more (open year round). Barnyard of farm animals on-site and a 1-mile nature trail (open daily). Winery and tasting room on-site.
Find the full guide at ›› nymetroparents.com/apples
Courtesy Conrad’s Confectionery
Conrad’s Confectionery was founded in 1928, and is the oldest business in Westwood, NJ.
Unique and Yummy
››
The five best homemade ice cream shops in Bergen County By Amanda Marrone
B
ergen County has its fair share of ice cream places—in my hometown alone there are four different shops to choose from. However, if you want to stray away from the standard Dairy Queen, Bergen County has a handful of homemade ice cream places to get a sweet treat. So as summer transitions to fall, head out for some of these end-of-season icy treats!
Angelo’s Desserts & Expresso Café
96 E. Main St., Ramsey, NJ 201-962-7575 Angelo’s is a family-run dessert café that offers something to satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth. Angelo’s features a wide range of ever-changing homemade ice cream flavors, gelatos, and ices. All ingredients are freshly imported from Italy, ensuring the greatest quality. It also offers homemade pastries and coffee, so it is possible, after all, to get a small taste of Italy right down the street.
Bischoff’s Confectionery
468 Cedar Lane, Teaneck, NJ 201-836-0333 36
Bischoff ’s Confectionary is the perfect place to visit to feed all of your ice cream cravings. It offers a wide selection of ice cream specialties, from the standard scoop to ice cream sodas and milkshakes. Aside from the usual, everyday flavors, Bischoff ’s offers many unique ones as well, including peach and banana. One of the best menu items, however, is the unbelievable super sundae, with flavors including marshmallow and more, cookie crush, and pecan.
Conrad’s Confectionery
107 Westwood Ave., Westwood, NJ 201-664-2895 This family-owned ice cream parlor has been serving homemade ice cream and candy since 1928. Stepping into the old-fashioned ice cream parlor, which has character along with its delicious treats, is like taking a walk back in time. Between the homemade hot fudge ice cream sundaes and homemade chocolate candy bars, Conrad’s is every child’s (and adult’s) dream.
September 2017 | nymetroparents.com
Ernie’s Ice Cream
78 Franklin Turnpike, Mahwah, NJ 201-252-8373 Ernie’s Ice Cream offers its customers a wide variety of unique flavors to try. Some flavors Ernie’s has to offer include strawberry cheesecake, maple French toast, and campfire s’mores. In addition, Ernie’s has specialty softserve ice cream in unique flavors such as pumpkin, cotton candy, and root beer. Since there are so many flavors to choose from, the decision will be difficult but worth it.
Van Dyke’s Homemade Ice Cream
145 Ackerman Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 201-444-1429 Van Dyke’s Homemade Ice Cream parlor offers a wide selection of signature flavors that will leave everyone’s mouths watering. Some fan favorites include peanut butter, vanilla fudge, and pistachio. Van Dyke’s also offers a wide selection of toppings to go along with whichever flavor you choose.
LOOKING FOR A FRESH APPROACH FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION FOR AGES 3-5?
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Popular School Trip Destination Farm to Table Café Menu
U-Pick Apples & Pumpkins • Famous Cider Donuts
RED OWL ACADEMY’S age appropriate curriculum with an emphasis on organizational skills offers: — Individualized program including transitional Kindergarten — STEAM (Science, Technologies, Engineering, Art, Math) Activities — French Language with QTalk method — Organic Gardening — Kids’ Yoga — Half and full day options www.facebook.com/redowlacademy @redowlacademy
Over 25 Activities Including:
• Hayrides • Cornmazes • Bouncy Pillow • Gem Mining • Cow Train Rides • Giant Slide • Pedal Karts • Animals
Hurds Family Farm
2187 State Rte. 32, Modena • 845-883-7825
HurdsFamilyFarm.com
We Love Kids & Know How to Care for Them! Meet Your Smile Team Certified Pediatric Dentists Voted NY Top Children’s Dentist 140 Oak Tree Road, Tappan, NY 10983
We are located on the corner of Oak Tree Rd & Rte 303.
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FOOD & NUTRITION Courtesy Katelin Walling
10 Tips to Master Meal Planning ››
Spend the time once a week to create a menu, and you’ll save time, money, and stress when it comes to cooking dinner. By Katelin Walling
O
nce a week when I was growing up, my parents would have my brothers and me go through our cookbooks and cooking magazines to each pick out one meal we wanted to try and write down the ingredients we needed to buy at the grocery store for that recipe. We also had to check to see what we had in the cupboards already to avoid purchasing ingredients we had on hand. Now that I’m older and living on my own, I do the same, except I have to plan a meal for every day. So on Sunday mornings, I comb through my cookbooks, recipes torn out of magazines, and my favorite cooking blogs, and plan what I’m going to eat for the week. Why? Meal planning saves me time and money, and it can for you, too. Plus, it will save you a lot of stress, says Ruthy Kirwan, creator of PercolateKitchen.com. “Speaking to other parents who were in my position where they’re tired and they’re stressed, and they’re coming home from a long day, the kitchen and cooking and figuring out what to make for dinner is the last thing they want to do at the end of a long day,” she says. “But if you sit down for maybe five to ten minutes at the start of the week, and you look at how your schedule is, figure out what’s in your kitchen already, and then work that into a plan…[it] can save you a ton of time and stress throughout the next seven days.” Meal planning is a money-saver because “you’re not going to end up ordering in as much or doing takeout or going to whatever the closest store is that may not have the items [you need] on sale,” says Jessica Levinson, M.S., R.D.N., C.D.N. It also cuts down on food waste, Levinson adds, whether it’s picking two meals that include fresh parsley so you’re not throwing any away (or composting it) or enjoying leftovers for lunch the next day. Levinson also notes that meal planning helps to ensure you have healthy, balanced meals on the table each night, and that you have all the ingredients in the house to make those balanced meals. I’ve been a practicing meal-planner for almost 20 years and consider myself to be a bit of an expert. Keep these tips in mind when starting out, and you, too, will be an expert in no time. 38
September 2017 | nymetroparents.com
My parents got me and my brothers involved with the mealplanning process as kids—we each had to choose a recipe for the week, and more ofte n than not, I helped ma ke it. Here, my dad and I are making his fam ous biscuits, a recipe I still make today.
Tips for Successful Meal Planning
Don’t bite off more than you can chew (pun intended!). Both Levinson and Kirwan recommend starting out by planning meals for two to three days and doing what you typically do (order takeout, cook a frozen pizza, eat leftovers) for the rest of the week. “This way you’re not overdoing it and setting yourself up for something that you can’t stick to,” Levinson says. Once you have those few days down, you can add more and eventually plan out meals for the whole week. In fact, Levinson suggests planning a night of leftovers. “If it’s a family favorite, your kids won’t be upset that they’re having baked ziti two nights in a row because some kids would have that every night if they could,” she adds. Have your schedule for the week handy. Do you have to work late one night, do the kids have after-school activities that will run close to dinnertime, is it date night for you and your partner? These are all things to take into consideration when planning meals for the week. “Be realistic about your abilities and the amount of time you have to cook, and when in doubt, don’t worry about eating leftovers or a frozen pizza,” Kirwan says. Stockpile recipes. Levinson suggests creating a board on Pinterest to pin easy, quick weeknight meals so you have a go-to database of recipes. “Same with any cookbooks you have or recipes you pull out from magazines,” she says. “This way you’re not always having to come up with something new, but you have at your fingertips a group of resources to pull recipes from.” Chain your meals, as Kirwan says. This is essentially building one meal off of another. For example, if you make chicken enchiladas for dinner one night, cook extra chicken to use in your Alfredo
dish for the next night. This way, part of your dinner is already prepped and you save time. “People think it needs to be a brandnew item every evening, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be. In fact, if it is a brand-new item every evening, then it sets you up for failure from the get-go,” Kirwan says. Keep your picky eaters in mind, but don’t make yourself crazy. Meal planning helps cut your time in the kitchen, so planning separate meals for your picky eaters is counterintuitive. Kirwan says she makes sure to have at least one thing her 3-year-old daughter enjoys and will eat on the menu, as well as something new. “She doesn’t have to eat [the new food], but she gets comfortable seeing that it’s there,” she says. And if your child only eats that one familiar thing, that’s okay, Levinson says. “Look at the week in full, and assuming that you have enough meals during the week that your kids do eat more of, if there’s one or two nights during the week that they’re not eating as much, it’s okay because it balances out,” she says. Write it down. While you may be the type of person who prefers mental notes, writing out your meal plan will help it stick with you whether it’s on a special meal planning chart, a simple calendar, or a chalk- or dry-erase board. Plus, your kids (and partner) can look at it and see what’s for dinner rather than bugging you about it (and maybe take initiative to start cooking!). Get the kids involved. Older kids, tweens, and teens can help pick out recipes to set up the weekly meal plan. “Let’s say it’s a family with three kids, so you could say, [Monday] is going to be Joe’s choice, and Tuesday night is James, and Wednesday night is the third child. Everybody can pick what they want as the meal for a night during the week,” Levinson says. A way to get younger kids involved is to let them pick an item from the produce aisle they want to try and integrating it in a meal that’s already planned. “I usually recommend planning your menu and then basing your grocery list on the menu,” Levinson says. But if you take your kids grocery shopping, “I’m a big fan of saying, pick something from the produce aisle that you want to try, and they’ll pull something from the produce aisle,” which then needs to be integrated into one of the planned meals, she adds. Don’t forget to get the kids to help you do the cooking. Kirwan
says her daughter is obsessed with pizza, so Kirwan will roll out the dough and her daughter will help with adding the sauce and toppings. “The more active you get kids in the kitchen and feel like they’re a part of the meal planning process, the cooking process, I think you have a better chance of getting them to eat the things you made,” Kirwan says. Take stock of what you already have in the refrigerator and pantry. Before sitting down to plan your meals for the week, check out what you have in your fridge that needs to be used before it goes bad and see what ingredients you already have in your cupboards. “So if I have a bunch of cilantro that I used the week before,” Levinson says, “I’m going to base at least one or two meals on where can I use that cilantro so it’s not going to go bad and I don’t waste my money on throwing out food.” And, as Jessica Jones, M.S., R.D., C.D.E., and Wendy Lopez, M.S., R.D., say in their FoodHeavenMadeEasy.com blog post, “The Ultimate Meal Planning Guide,” once you have your grocery list (based off your meal plan for the week), check to see if you have any of those ingredients in your cupboards already. This way you’ll avoid buying items you don’t need. Prep ingredients for all of your meals at the same time. “Chop all of your fruits and vegetables, cook your grains, wash your greens, and store in airtight containers,” Jones and Lopez say in their blog post. They also suggest investing in good food storage containers so your pre-prepped foods and meals don’t go bad. Plus, ingredient prep time is also a good way to get older kids involved in the process. Be flexible. Sometime life gets in the way—whether it’s an unexpected meeting, delays on public transit, or a flat tire—so learning to take things in stride with meal planning will go a long way. “In those instances I try to teach people to learn how to pivot and have things stored in the freezer for those crazy busy days,” Kirwan says, or find a new way to use those ingredients, or just make the meal the following night. As with all things in life: The more you practice, the better you’ll get, Levinson says. So don’t be too hard on yourself if the week’s menu doesn’t go exactly according to plan.
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Tenafly • Clifton • Oakland • Fort Lee • Paramus • Park Ridge RocklandParent 39
All photos: Amy Neunsinger
FOOD & NUTRITION
Clockwise from left: Chocolate Hummus, Grain-Free Chocolate Zucchini Cake, White Bean Thaini Blondies, “Nutella” Bliss Balls
Lunch Treats Made Healthier ››
When the kids beg for sweets in their lunch boxes, here are four recipes for desserts you won’t feel guilty about sending to school. By Pamela Salzman “Nutella” Bliss Balls
Makes 12 • Vegan, DF, GF 1½ cups raw hazelnuts 1½ cups Medjool dates, pitted (about 12 dates) ¼ cup raw cacao powder ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract ¼ teaspoon sea salt 1. Toast the hazelnuts: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Pour the nuts onto a pie plate and toast for 10-15 minutes, or until skins blister. Remove from the oven and allow to cool; rub the nuts in kitchen towel to remove the skins. 2. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until the nuts are finely chopped and you have a well-combined mass
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September 2017 | nymetroparents.com
that is moist enough to roll into balls. Depending on your food processor, this could take a couple of minutes. 3. Roll the mixture, using your hands, to form 1½ - to 2-inch balls. 4. These can be eaten immediately, or refrigerate to firm them for a few hours. Store them in the fridge in a covered container for up to seven days.
Grain-Free Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Makes 1 8- or 9-inch square pan • Vegetarian, GF, DF This is probably the most popular dessert I have ever taught in a class. My students consistently report back with success stories after serving this cake to their kids, at parties, and to their friends. After telling my son that this cake contained zucchini, he inhaled another piece and, with crumbs falling out of his mouth, declared, “I don’t even
care.” It’s that good. You can also bake the batter in regular muffins tins or mini muffins tins. Just watch the time, because regular muffins will likely take 20-25 minutes; and minis, 7-12 minutes, depending on the size of your tin. These also freeze amazingly well.
¾ cup DF semisweet chocolate chips 6 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut 6 tablespoons chopped pecans
Coconut oil for pan 1 cup creamy, unsweetened, unsalted almond butter, raw or roasted, or sunflower butter 1/ cup pure Grade A maple syrup or honey 3 ¼ cup raw cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder ¼ teaspoon sea salt 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder, regular or decaffeinated (optional) 1 large egg 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 teaspoon baking soda 1½ cups shredded zucchini (about 2 small) 1 cup DF dark or semisweet chocolate chips ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square pan with butter or coconut oil and line with unbleached parchment paper. 2. In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the melted butter, white beans, tahini, eggs, muscovado sugar, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Process until smooth. Stir in ¼ cup of the chocolate chips. 3. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. 4. In a medium-size bowl, mix together the remaining ½ cup of chocolate chips and the shredded coconut and chopped pecans. Spread evenly on top of the batter and press lightly into the batter. 5. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the cake springs back when pressed in the center. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before cutting. Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to five days. Even more delicious cold.
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8- or 9-inch square pan with coconut oil. If you want to remove the cake from the pan in one piece, line it with unbleached parchment paper as well. 2. In a large bowl, combine the almond butter, maple syrup, cacao powder, salt, coffee powder, if using, egg, vanilla, and baking soda until smooth. 3. Stir in the zucchini, chocolate chips, and nuts, if using. 4. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until just set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with dry crumbs. Do not overbake. A 9-inch pan will take about 30 minutes; an 8-inch will take about 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving. TIP: Instant coffee powder enhances the chocolate flavor in baked goods. It is completely optional, though. There are coffee alternatives, such as Pero, which is a chicory and barley-based product with no caffeine. Pero is not gluten-free or grain-free, due to the barley. Do not use coffee grounds in place of instant coffee powder.
White Bean Tahini Blondies
Makes an 8-inch square pan • Vegetarian, GF, DF adaptable White bean blondies are the new black bean brownies! I know the ingredients seem a little bizarre, but I promise these bars taste nothing like white beans. They’re dense, lightly sweet, with the perfect amount of chocolate to satisfy my sweet tooth. But these blondies have gone high protein with legumes and sesame tahini pureed into the batter. Tahini is an amazing spread made entirely from sesame seeds. Besides being rich in protein and good fat, sesame seeds boast an impressive amount of calcium, about 88 milligrams in only 1 tablespoon. 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter (not DF) or unrefined virgin coconut oil, melted, plus more for pan 1½ cups cooked white beans, or 1 (15-ounce) can, drained and rinsed ½ cup tahini, preferably raw 2 large eggs 2/ cup muscovado sugar or light brown sugar 3 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder ¼ teaspoon sea salt
TIPS: You can turn this into a light and fluffy cake by adding 1 tablespoon of coconut flour. Creamy almond butter can also be substituted for the tahini.
Chocolate Hummus
Makes 2 cups • Vegetarian, GF, DF I know what you’re thinking. Chocolate, yes. Hummus, yes. Chocolate hummus, not so sure. Stay with me. Hummus, which is made from chickpeas, tahini, garlic, and lemon juice, is, hands-down, my favorite dip. But I didn’t exactly throw chocolate into the pool, too. Instead, this is a blend of chickpeas, raw cacao, and some high-quality sweeteners that transforms into an insanely delicious chocolate dip. It’s creamy, chocolaty, and the perfect snack, since it’s high in protein, fiber, and good fats. I love an extra pinch of flaky salt on mine because chocolate and salt are BFFs! Serve with apple slices, celery sticks, or your favorite GF/DF crackers. 1½ cups cooked chickpeas, or 1 (15-ounce) can, drained and rinsed (or sub white beans) 2 Medjool dates, pitted 1/ cup unsweetened, unsalted, raw or roasted almond butter 3 ¼ cup pure Grade A maple syrup ¼ cup raw cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder ½ teaspoon sea salt ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract ¼ cup warm water 1. Place all the ingredients, except the water, in a food processor or high-speed blender. Process until smooth. 2. With the motor running, add the warm water and process until combined. 3. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Store leftovers, covered, in the refrigerator for up to four days.
Excerpted from Kitchen Matters: More than 100 Recipes and Tips to Transform the Way You Cook and Eat—Wholesome, Nourishing, Unforgettable by Pamela Salzman. Copyright © 2017. Available from Da Capo Lifelong Books, an imprint of Perseus Books, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
RocklandParent 41
Left Behind
››
In families with two children, an older sibling’s departure for college can spark mixed emotions in the younger child who remains at home. Here’s how to cope. By Bethany Braun-Silva
W
hen Queens resident Sarah Richard is asked if she will miss her little sister when Sarah leaves for college next year, the 17-year-old rolls her eyes and says, “Yeah, I’m going to miss that dork.” Although it is just about a year away, the Richard girls are already contemplating Sarah’s departure. The girls have lived across the hall from one another for the past 14 years, a fact that is on 14-year-old Rebecca’s mind when she says, “I’ll be sad, for sure, but I definitely want to visit.” Even if it seems like your kids spent the past 15 years fighting over everything, this is an all-too-common feeling when one sibling leaves for college—especially for families with two children, where the younger one suddenly finds herself an “only child.” The sibling who remains at home can be left with a number of new emotions to deal with, not to mention a shift in the family dynamics and a much quieter house. These feelings can range from relief to abandonment, and will often fluctuate even after a new routine is put in place. To help with the adjustment, we’re offering tips on how to help your younger child cope when his sibling goes off to college. (Families with more than two children will face their own unique issues when the eldest leaves home, but these tips are applicable to them as well.) 42
September 2017 | nymetroparents.com
Inclusion is Key
The college application process can go on for years. With the hustle and bustle of visiting colleges, filling out applications, writing essays, and ultimately choosing a college, your younger son or daughter may end up feeling like a background player in the family. Stephanie Richard, Sarah and Rebecca’s mom, suggests including younger siblings in the process from the very beginning. “Ultimately both kids are going to eventually go to college,” she says. “We had our younger daughter create a list of questions for potential colleges while on tours for her older sister that were based on her specific interests.” This was a great way for her younger daughter to feel included in the process, Richard says, which was especially important since they dedicated quite a few family vacations to touring colleges. Parents can also opt to involve the younger sibling in minor details of the process, suggests Gayle Sturmer, LCSW-R, who practices in Nyack and Tarrytown. “Letting children contribute to brainstorming transition suggestions is empowering for the child and allows them to be part of the launching process,” she says. “The non-college bound child sometimes gets lost in the excitement and/or anxiety about the transition for the collegebound child. Having both children involved in perhaps choosing
things for the dorm room, certainly with the big freshman move into the dorm, is great way to be inclusive.”
Prime Time Upper School is accepting applications for students ages 9-15 with autism spectrum disorders for the upcoming year.
Time for a New Routine
With one child out of the house, it is time not only to establish new family dynamics but also a new routine. Your younger child may take the transition in stride, reveling in being an “only child,” but others may struggle with it. “The key to making any transition easier for children and teens is to keep some things consistent and create some things together that are new, different, and tailored to the appeal of the younger sibling,” Sturmer suggests. Have the younger sibling decide what he wants for dinner, or what family movie she chooses to watch one night. He might get excited at the idea that there is no one there with whom he needs to negotiate these choices and that he can have his first choice pick more often now. Sturmer also suggests “creating new rituals” between parents and the child who is home. Pick a day to do something special after school, such as get frozen yogurt or go out to a favorite restaurant. “This is an opportunity to create a new dynamic between the parent and the child at home,” Sturmer says. If your child is really struggling with loneliness, it’s important to recognize the things that have not changed, the appealing things that still exist, and to create new things, Sturmer says. “Often children and teens have a view that can be distorted—an adolescent brain is working from a very different place than an adult brain—so it’s very important to try to gently acknowledge the loneliness and emphasize the things that challenge the negative thinking.” Remind younger children of all the benefits they have now that the older child is out of the house. These may include having the family car or other shared items to themselves, having more room in the house for sleepovers, and receiving more attention from parents.
Encourage Communication
If your younger child really misses having face-to-face time with her older sibling, have them schedule a digital date once a week. FaceTime or Skype is a great way to connect with your child who is away. Once a weekly date is established, this will give both siblings something to look forward to each week—after all, the child who is away at college may also be experiencing some level of homesickness, and this is a great way for her to reconnect with home. If video chat doesn’t work, “a quick text, an Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook message goes a long way for children and adolescents. Regardless of our opinion of social media and technology, we are flooded with it and our children are tied to it. In this case, it can be used as an easy simulated ‘visit,’” Sturmer says. Parents can also help their younger children connect to their older siblings by working on creating a care package together or making plans to visit as a family. When the older one is back from college, parents can arrange for “sibling-only” outings or even nights at home. Having a child go off to college is an exciting time, but can also be fraught with a lot of different emotions for everyone in the family. “If a child (or parent) is feeling very challenged by the change in family dynamic and circumstance, consulting with a psychotherapist who is knowledgeable with this stage of life and the specific challenges the family members are experiencing is important. To wait until things escalate can be problematic and unnecessary. Sometimes just a simple consult can go a long way,” Sturmer says.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: David Saulpaugh at dsaulpaugh@rocklandarc.org • 845-639-2425 70 Phillips Hill Road, New City, NY 10956
You don’t have to deal with your child’s depression, anxiety, stress, suicidal thoughts or drug addiction alone. We’re here to help 24/7 free of charge.
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Don’t Wait. Get Help.
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Clemente Orthodontics Where Excellence Is A Family Tradition Dr. Marissa Clemente Dr. Michael Clemente
We are now excited to offer Acceledent to our patients!!
Dr. Nicole Clemente • Private Treatment Rooms • All Digital X-Rays • Flexible Payment Plans • Accepted
• Impression Free Invisalign • Super Elite Premier Invisalign Provider • Complimentary Consultations • Orthodontics for Adults & Children
603 South Route 304 New City, NY 845-638-6646 • clementeorthodontics.com RocklandParent 43
PartyCentral Your local guide to entertainers, party places, activities, and other resources.
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914-337-4000 42 Kinderkamack Road, Woodcliff Lake, NJ 201-782-9500 23 E. Palisade Ave., Englewood, NJ 201-541-0600 327 Franklin Ave., Wyckoff, NJ 201-891-1331 595 Broadway, Norwood, NJ 201-784-3311 bluemoonmexicancafe.com Looking to spice up your child’s next birthday party without sending your savings south of the border? Your party guests will revel in a fun-filled celebration with a mouth-watering menu. Call today to find out more!
You and a guest are invited to a complimentary afternoon of food & fun! SEE WHY DAVE & BUSTER’S IS THE PERFECT VENUE FOR:
Grad Nights • Post Proms • Senior Breakfasts End of Year Banquets • FUN*Raising Events! We’ll have team members available to show you our private event spaces, answer questions about lock in events, and show you what an amazing experience Dave & Buster’s is for guests of all ages! RSVP TO Brigid Purdy AT Brigid_Purdy@daveandbusters.com OR CALL (845) 348-6007
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Palisades Center Mall • 4661 Palisades Center Drive West Nyack, NY • 10994 • (845) 353-1555
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• Specialist in dentistry for children and adolescents
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265 N. Highland Ave - Suite 101 (Rte 9W-in Children of America Bldg) Nyack, NY Tel: 845-512-8434 www.nyackpediatricdentistry.com
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NYMetroParents Get advance notice on activities, participate in group discussions and receive special notices. www.facebook.com/nymetroparents ACTIVITIES
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PROVIDING KID APPROVED DENTAL CARE!
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(973) 347-8900 WildWestCity.com 50 LackawannA Dr. Stanhope, NJ 07874
Your child is not like everyone else... so why is his education? Come see our individualized approach to education.
Young World Day School Age 2 through Grade 5
585 Wyckoff Avenue R Mahwah, NJ 07430 P. 201-327-3888 R www.youngworlddayschool.org
RocklandParent 45
Meet the Health Care
PROFESSIONAL
To be in this section, call 845-848-8021 or email nympads@davlermedia.com A&R Advanced Dental Group, Anna Alekseyeva, D.D.S., Roman Izmailov, D.D.S. 5C Medical Park Drive, Pomona 845-364-9400 aradvanceddental.com
Marita Smith, D.D.S. Smith’s Little Smiles Pediatric Dentistry 5C Medical Park Drive, Pomona 845-414-9626 smithslittlesmiles.com drsmith@smithslittlesmiles.com
At A&R Advanced Dental Group, patient satisfaction and comfort is our No. 1 priority. We are a cutting edge practice that delivers state-of-the-art dental care to our patients. Dr. Roman Izmailov and Dr. Anna Alekseyeva have more than 30 years of experience in all phases of dentistry, including high quality and affordable dental implants, zirconia crowns, porcelain veneers, fixed bridges, root canal treatments, teeth whitening, and composite fillings. Evening appointments are available and we accept most insurances.
Dr. Marita Smith is a board-certified pediatric dentist dedicated to providing excellent dental care for children from infancy through adolescence in a warm and friendly environment. As a mother of two, Dr. Smith knows how important it is for a child to be comfortable and stress-free during their dental visits. Dr. Smith places great focus on prevention and her goal is to keep your child’s smile healthy! Most insurances accepted. Evening and Saturday hours and 24-hour emergency service available. Se Habla Espanol.
Kastin & Newman Orthodontics 6 Medical Park Drive, Pomona 845-354-7233 rocklandorthodontics.com info@kastin-newmanortho.com
Dental Wellness of Suffern Sherri Alpert, D.D.S. 2 Executive Blvd., Suite 307, Suffern 845-918-1801 dentalwellnessofsuffern.com dentalwellness@optonline.net
Drs. Brett Kastin and Warren Newman utilize stateof-the-art materials and customized treatment planning for every patient, ensuring the highest quality of care. Dr. Kastin is a certified Invisalign® provider, and has been president of the Rockland County Dental Society since 2006. Dr. Newman has more than 40 years of orthodontic experience. They have been a team for more than 10 years, and were voted Rockland’s Top Orthodontists by the dentists of Rockland County. Their practice offers an experienced staff and flexible appointment times. Initial exams are complimentary, as are children’s recall appointments.
Smile More Kidz Meet Your Smile Team 140 Oak Tree Road, Tappan 845-367–4866 smilemorekidz.com
At Smile More Kidz, we are part of a local tradition of providing your children with the very best that dentistry has to offer in a friendly, comfortable setting. Our entire team understands how children develop and learn and will make the extra effort to make sure nervous kids feel comfortable and respected. We offer 8am–7pm and Saturday appointments so our patients don’t have to miss school for their care, something our team feels strongly about. We believe in building a foundation for a lifetime of healthy smiles by making every visit to our office a fun and informative experience.
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September 2017 | nymetroparents.com
Dental Wellness of Suffern provides natural, effective, quality dental care for your family, making your visit enjoyable, comfortable, and relaxing. A parent herself, Dr. Alpert enjoys working with children who are apprehensive about the dentist, creating a fun environment with magic tricks, interactive Wii games, a wall mural, and a Find the Dental Helpers game. Author of two books, Cassandra Gets Her Smile Back and Attack of the Sugar Bugs, Dr. Alpert makes visiting the dentist fun. Dental Wellness of Suffern—let them create the smile you were born to have.
Tenafly Pediatrics 74 Pascack Road, Park Ridge, NJ 201-326-7120 Offices also in Tenafly, Fort Lee, Clifton, Paramus, and Oakland, NJ tenaflypediatrics.com
Dr. David Schaumberger is one of the pediatricians working out of our newly expanded Park Ridge office. As someone who lives nearby, he enjoys working in Northern Bergen and Rockland counties. Dr. Schaumberger completed his pediatric residency from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and has been working at Tenafly Pediatrics since 2001. On a personal note, he enjoys ethnic cuisine and spending time with his three children. Tenafly Pediatrics is a recent Angie’s List Winner with offices conveniently located throughout Bergen County.
Bobby Crohn, D.D.S. Monroe Dental Office 400 State Route 17M, Suite 2, Monroe 845-782-0189 monroedentaloffice.com monroedental@optonline.net
Let Them GROW with us!
Dr. Crohn graduated from SUNY Stony Brook with a degree in biology. He received his Doctor of Dental Surgery from the University at Buffalo in 1992, and he completed his general practice residency at Danbury Hospital in 1993. Dr. Crohn has done extensive additional training in implant dentistry including training with Dr. Nick Elian at Vistara Institute, DentalXP Symposiums, and training at Zimmerman Institute.
Mrs. Feeney and her staff are celebrating another fabulous year educating and nurturing the children in our community
Registration Ongoing for September 2017
Crystal Run 2 Centerock Road, West Nyack 845-348-1100 crystalrunhealthcare.com
Half and Full Day Sessions for 3-5 yr old • Extended Care Hours Readiness Skills
Including: Math, Science, Reading, History, Religion, Fine & Gross Motor Skills
Crystal Run Healthcare is a premier multispecialty group medical practice with more than 400 providers, offering the convenience of Primary Care and nearly 50 medical specialties all under one roof. Our 70,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art West Nyack facility offers patients easy access to quality health care by way of more than 20 medical and surgical specialties, including Adolescent Medicine, Pediatrics, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, including Urogynecology. In addition, our innovative facility boasts an Infusion Center, Urgent Care, diagnostic testing services, on-site laboratory services, Diagnostic Imaging, and Women’s Imaging—making it a one-stop health care destination for all. We are here to meet the needs of every family member, regardless of age or medical condition.
Technology
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Arts & Crafts, Yoga, Class Trips, Hands on Activities
St. Catharine Early Childhood Center 517 Western Highway • Blauvelt
359-4330
NY State Licensed All Staff NY Certified CPR & First Aid
www.stcatharineprek.org st.cprek@yahoo.com UPK Participant
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LINDGREN IS THE NATURAL CHOICE. At Lindgren Nursery School, we let children be children. With 3½ acres of woods, gardens and play areas designed for exploration, spacious, sunny classrooms, and a truly exceptional teaching staff, we have created a learning environment made for natural discovery and development. We nurture young children so their bodies, their minds, and their feelings develop naturally.
FIND OUT MORE! Visit lindgrenschool.com or call 201.768.3550 today.
CLOSTER, NJ
RocklandParent 47
PARTY PLANNER
To advertise: 845-848-8021 or nympads@davlermedia.com
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AD INDEX
NYMetroParents.com features more than 20,000 businesses serving the NY Metropolitan area!
ACROBATICS / GYMNASTICS
Danceworks.................................................................. 22
Nyack Pediatric Dentistry............................................. 44
Tumble-Bee Gymnastics.............................................. 17
Kreative Kids & Vicki’s Dance Studio............................. 3
Rockland Behavioral Health......................................... 43 Smile More Dentistry.............................................. 37, 46
BIRTHDAY / PARTY SERVICES Academy for Martial Arts.............................................. 22 Blue Moon Mexican Cafe............................................. 44 Dave & Busters - West Nyack...................................... 44 Hurds Family Farm ...................................................... 37 Master Jung & Yu Traditional Taekwondo.................... 19 New City Bowling and Batting Cages........................... 45 Palisades Climb Adventure........................................... 25 Rockland Parent Party Planner.................................... 48 Tumble-Bee Gymnastics.............................................. 17 West Rock Tennis Club................................................ 18 Young Chefs Academy................................................. 23 CAMPS Academy for Martial Arts.............................................. 22 Applause Performing Arts Center................................. 19 Clarkstown Theatre Company...................................... 23
DEVELOPMENTAL
Smith’s Little Smiles Pediatric Dentistry................. 45, 46
Huntington Learning Center......................................... 25
Tenafly Pediatrics................................................... 39, 46
EDUCATION
MUSIC
Bright Beginnings Pre-School & Daycare..................... 47
Lower Hudson Valley Youth Chorus & Theater............ 23
Congregation Shaarey Israel.......................................... 9 German Language School Westwood.......................... 18
PERFORMING ARTS / ACTING
Huntington Learning Center......................................... 25
Applause Performing Arts Center................................. 19
Kreative Kids & Vicki’s Dance Studio............................. 3
Clarkstown Theatre Company...................................... 23
Lindgren School & Camp.............................................. 47
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Prime Time for Kids Erly Learning Center.................... 43 Red Owl Academy........................................................ 37 St. Catharine Early Childhood Center.......................... 47 Young World Day School.............................................. 45
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Lindgren School & Camp.............................................. 47
Dave & Busters - West Nyack...................................... 44
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Hurds Family Farm ...................................................... 37
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New City Bowling and Batting Cages........................... 45
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West Rock Tennis Club................................................ 18
Palisades Center ........................................................... 7
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Bright Beginnings Pre-School & Daycare..................... 47
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Dave & Busters - West Nyack...................................... 44 Palisades Center ........................................................... 7
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Academy for Martial Arts.............................................. 22
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Clarkstown Theatre Company...................................... 23
Danceworks.................................................................. 22
Huntington Learning Center......................................... 25
Congregation Shaarey Israel.......................................... 9
Master Jung & Yu Traditional Taekwondo.................... 19
Tumble-Bee Gymnastics.............................................. 17
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Kreative Kids & Vicki’s Dance Studio............................. 3 Lower Hudson Valley Youth Chorus & Theater............ 23
HEALTH
Master Jung & Yu Traditional Taekwondo.................... 19
Mathnasium of Nanuet................................................. 19
A&R Advanced Dental ................................................. 46
New City Bowling and Batting Cages........................... 45
Prime Time for Kids Early Learning Center.................. 43
Clemente Orthodontics................................................. 43
Palisades Climb Adventure........................................... 25
Tumble-Bee Gymnastics.............................................. 17
Crystal Run Healthcare.......................................... 47, 52
West Rock Tennis Club................................................ 18
Young Chefs Academy................................................. 23
Dental Wellness of Suffern................................11, 46, 47 Good Samaritan Hospital............................................... 2
THEATER
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Kastin & Newman Orthodontics.................................... 46
Applause Performing Arts Center................................. 19
Coupe Theatre Studio.................................................. 23
Nyack Hospital................................................................ 5
Lower Hudson Valley Youth Chorus & Theater............ 23
RocklandParent 49
VOICES
The Lesson of the Pizza Bowl Fail ››
Accustomed to doing so much for her son, who has cerebral palsy, a mom realizes he’s old enough to start making some of his own decisions. By Ellen Seidman
M
ax snookered me into getting him pizza the other night. I’d promised him frozen yogurt, but I hadn’t had time to eat dinner after I got home from work and said I wanted to grab a slice first. “I want pizza!” he announced, even though he’d already had dinner. And so he had pizza as an appetizer for his dessert, or something like that. Pizza is not an easy food for Max to eat; because it’s thick and chewy, it can pose a choking hazard. At home, we shred it with Tiny Bites Food Shears. When we’re out, I use a knife and fork then dump the pieces into a bowl for Max to scoop out, with a square of tacky Dycem, a non-slip material, beneath it for stability. And so I asked the guy at the counter for a fork and knife and carved up a slice. Just as I was about to slide the bits into a bowl, Max pointed to the paper plate. “Max, it’s easier to eat from the bowl,” I pointed out. “No!” said Max. He wanted to eat the pizza off the plate. So I slid it over to him, then watched in awe as Max speared the pieces and chewed them well. As I sat there, it occurred to me that I don’t always know what
is best for Max, especially as he’s getting older—both because he is evolving, and because he can now tell me what’s best for him. This is a hard thing to wrap your head around when you have done so much for your child over the years: the therapies, doing exercises at home, the specialist appointments, modeling how to move and talk and play, yet more therapies, pushing to get him into programs. So. Much. Pushing. And while there is only so much you can do to help your child develop, you take heart in knowing that you are doing everything within your powers. And then one day you are in a pizza joint and discover that your boy is reaching the point where you realize he is capable of copiloting his present—and future. Yes, he has been voicing opinions and preferences for years, but he hasn’t had much to say about his physical challenges until now. And he is telling you what he wants and needs, and you should listen. I have no idea what it feels like to have cerebral palsy and fingers that don’t easily bend. If Max is telling me that picking up pieces of pizza is easier done from a plate than a bowl, who am I to disagree? And that, my friends, is the lesson of the pizza bowl fail—and win.
Ellen Seidman blogs at lovethatmax.com, where this essay first appeared. It is reprinted with permission.
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