My introduction

[RCHOUDH]

Hello!

My name is Rahela and I'm a mother to two kids, a daughter aged 10 and a son aged 6. Right now I am homeschooling both of them using different sets of curricula. With my daughter, I am using the Laurel Springs online curriculum and with my son I am using an eclectic mix of materials. I'm also a part-time writer and blogger. I usually write articles for the website Examiner.com and my title there is Western Queens Family Examiner. I write articles regarding issues, news and events for families in and around the Western Queens region of New York City. I invite you all to check out my articles: http://www.examiner.com/family-in-new-york/rahela-choudhury

Thank you and I look forward to meeting all of you!

[IdentityCrisisMama]

Welcome, Rahela! It sounds like you have a cozy life homeschooling and writing about family issues in a wonderful part of the world. I hope you are recovering from the storm. Thank you for sharing and Welcome to MDC - we're happy to have you. 

[RCHOUDH]

Thank you for welcoming me I really appreciate it! And I also appreciate the well-wishes. I just want to quickly mention that there are currently volunteer opportunities available for anyone interested in helping to clean up Hurricane Sandy's aftermath in NYC. You can click on the Examiner link above to find out. Also I put up a few family activities/programs that were supposed to take place this weekend, but will obviously be postponed due to the hurricane. But they will certainly start up again as soon as it's feasible, so I've posted their relevant contact info. Take care and I look forward to meeting more members of the Mothering community!

[RCHOUDH]

Just want to quickly mention that my latest Examiner article deals with the news that most NYC public schools are to reopen this week with some major schedule changes, there are some new volunteer opportunities available, and who to contact in the city if you experience significant damage from the hurricane. Thank you and I hope this helps fellow New Yorkers out there.

[phathui5]

Welcome to MDC!

[RCHOUDH]

Thank you! It's nice to be here

[RCHOUDH]

I just wanted to mention to all the NYC mama's out there that there's a really nice independent children's clothing store/book seller in Astoria called babyNOIR/The Story Nook. Besides their own business, they're very active in promoting other local businesses in the area through annual holiday bazaars. There's one going on this weekend and so for anyone interested in attending, they can go to my Examiner page to check out my latest article on this event. The article also talks about Time Warner Cable's first food drive for families affected by Hurricane Sandy in NYC.

[RCHOUDH]

Hello everyone,

I hope you're all doing well. I just wanted to mention that in my latest article for Examiner.com, I wrote about some free ESL classes being offered at NYC's Laguardia Community College for immigrant parents of children attending NYC public schools. Please feel free to pass on the information to anyone who may benefit from it. You can find the article through the link to my Examiner homepage at the first part of this thread. Thank you!

[Fhnyc]

Rahela, nice to meet you. I am in queens and would love to learn more about your experience homeschooling in NYC.

[RCHOUDH]

Hi Fhnyc,

Nice to meet you too! And sure I'd be glad to share my homeschooling experience in NYC . Personally I find NYC to be a great place to homeschool just because of all the wonderful social/outdoor/cultural activities that we can take our kids to during the week. Just in Queens alone there are lots of accessible parks/playgrounds nearby as well the Queens library system, which offers so many educational workshops and activities for kids throughout all its branches. I write about family events and activities here in Queens (with Western Queens the focus, but not exclusively) for Examiner.com and if you check out my link above, you'll find a number of things going on around the city every week. So in terms of socialization and educational activities to be done outside, I find NYC to be one of the best for that. Hope this helps and feel free to ask me about anything else. Take care!