child development Archives - Westchester Jewish Community Services

WJCS Early Childhood Programs Celebrate the Week of the Young Child & El Día de los Niños
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WJCS Early Childhood Programs Celebrate the Week of the Young Child & El Día de los Niños

Miriam Arond2026-05-07T16:21:17-04:00May 7th, 2026|Categories: Feature, Featured Homepage, Featured Internal, General|Tags: New Rochelle, week of the young child, sleepy hollow, tarrytown, yonkers, child development, early childhood|

This April, WJCS Early Childhood Programs proudly celebrated the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)'s 2026 Week of the Young Child and El Día de los Niños with a series of joyful, family-centered events across Westchester County. These celebrations highlighted the importance of play, creativity, and community while bringing together children, parents, caregivers, and community partners in warm and welcoming spaces. In Mount Vernon, families gathered at the local library for a festive evening filled with connection and fun. Children shared pizza, participated in a lively story time, and enjoyed creating a hands-on craft. The event offered ...

Superhero Therapy: An Innovative Way to Get Kids to Open Up
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Superhero Therapy: An Innovative Way to Get Kids to Open Up

Miriam Arond2026-04-24T17:06:33-04:00April 24th, 2026|Categories: Mental Health, Feature, Featured Homepage, Featured Internal, General|Tags: superhero therapy, mental health clinic, geovany martinez, yonkers, child development, Trauma, Mental Health|

Most children have favorite superheroes. For Geovany Martinez, Clinic Director for the Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS) Clinic in Yonkers, those superheroes are the doorway into the thoughts and feelings of his young clients. In individual therapy as well as in the Superhero Play Therapy Groups he conducts, Martinez uses characters from pop culture to help young clients, usually between the ages of five to nine, talk about their distress, symptoms, and stories.  Martinez’s office is filled with superhero stickers on the wall and superhero figurines. It’s an environment which invites discussion about beloved superheroes and TV characters. "Hearing someone ...

Protective Factors and Promoting Resilience in Early Childhood

Miriam Arond2025-01-09T13:45:38-05:00January 9th, 2025|Categories: Courses, Mental Health|Tags: courses, socioemotional learning, wjcs ed institute, parenting skills, parentchild, child development, early childhood|

This training will seek to inform participants about the major findings of the ACES study, the theoretical foundations for the Protective Factors Framework, and each of the five protective factors. This course will further address practical strategies to integrate the Protective Factors Framework approach into existing practices, as well as the use of a screening tool known as the Protective Factors Index, or PFI.

WJCS Awarded United Way Grant to Support Women and Children in Yonkers
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WJCS Awarded United Way Grant to Support Women and Children in Yonkers

Miriam Arond2024-08-20T12:49:17-04:00August 20th, 2024|Categories: Feature, Featured Homepage, General|Tags: united way of westchester and putnam, pepsi, strength of a woman, grant, academic and career support, envision, early step forward, infant-toddler, crime victims, yonkers, child development, Mary J. Blige, early childhood|

We are proud to announce that WJCS has been awarded a Pepsi X Mary J. Blige Strength of a Woman Community Fund Grant by United Way of Westchester and Putnam. The grant will support WJCS programs that provide services to women, young women, and children who are underprivileged, marginalized, and ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) populations in Yonkers. The grant will help support WJCS programs available to the community at the Mary J. Blige Center in Yonkers. These programs include: which includes adult basic education and preparation for the TASC high school equivalency exam and career readiness workshops. ...

Early Learning Tips for School Success
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Early Learning Tips for School Success

Grace Oshin2024-07-11T14:25:45-04:00September 4th, 2023|Categories: General|Tags: problem solving, self control, parenting skills, school success, communication, child mental health, child emotions, confidence, parentchild, child development, empathy, early childhood, early learning|

By Tally Aliphas Palefski, LMSW The early years of a child’s life are an essential foundation for later success—in school, career, and in life. During the early years and beyond, we believe that parents are their children’s first and most important teachers. Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS) is committed to providing parents and young children with the tools they need to develop a healthy bond, early literacy and language skills, and social-emotional capabilities. Our Parent-Child Programs recently introduced a new initiative, “Strategy of the Month." Its goal is to help parents hone in on one attainable approach each month to ...

Boosting Your Child’s Emotional and Social Skills
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Boosting Your Child’s Emotional and Social Skills

Miriam Arond2023-08-31T13:51:26-04:00August 31st, 2023|Categories: General|Tags: child mental health, socioemotional, child emotions, social skills, emotional skills, parentchild, early literacy, child development, early childhood, early learning, Westchester|

New parents often bemoan that their newborns didn’t arrive in this world with a manual. They, rightfully, sense that the early years of a child’s life are an essential foundation for later success—in school, career, and in life. WJCS has numerous early childhood programs. We are committed to providing parents and young children with the tools they need to develop a healthy bond, early literacy and language skills, and social-emotional capabilities, including empathy, problem-solving, persistence, collaboration, confidence, communication, curiosity, creativity, cooperation, and self-control. Cultivating a child’s social and emotional skills takes thoughtfulness and patience on the part of parents. ...

We’re Expanding Our Parent-Child Programs!
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We’re Expanding Our Parent-Child Programs!

Katy Wong2022-11-16T13:20:46-05:00November 2nd, 2022|Categories: Feature, Featured Homepage, Featured Internal|Tags: child development, literacy, early childhood, early learning, Westchester|

“Play is the work of the child.”—Maria Montessori Westchester Jewish. Community Services (WJCS) is thrilled to announce the expansion of early childhood programming to Tarrytown and Yonkers. Both initiatives are mode possible through generous support for the Westchester Community Foundation. The WJCS Tarrytown Parent Child Center will be a free early learning program for parents and their young children (newborn–4 years old). The program serves families in need, many of them Spanish speaking recent immigrants, and is focused on giving parents the confidence and competence to support their children’s early learning and literacy through joyful play, singing, reading, as ...