10th Annual Homeschool Prom!

Our 10th Annual Homeschool Prom

Saturday night was a magical night for my daughter Louisa. She has "only been waiting my whole life" (as she puts it!) to go to the Homeschool Prom! She is finally old enough, and spent weeks designing and sewing her dream dress—an education in itself. And then she danced, and danced and danced. She came home with stars in her eyes and is still smiling about it!

A magical time for my daughter Louisa

And yes, this is the 10th year that we've put on this special no-date dance. What we do for our kids, huh?! My real desire is to create a counter culture—an alternative to the pop culture that is so invasive in our world, and often so detrimental to raising good kids. We cannot leave a vacuum and expect much success. If we don't want our kids listening to bad music or doing suggestive dancing, then there has to be a bright alternative that appeals to them.


Some highlights of the night: we had a brother/sister team dance the floor show, a cute and innocent cha cha routine. And there was the Twist Contest, with so much energy! We also had a university dance instructor come and teach us to do some English dancing, which was a great new option: stately and beautiful dancing from history to excellent music! I think Jane Austen would have highly approved.

Girls too young to come to prom are thrilled to come and take care of the refreshment table.

I really do get a lot of enjoyment out of watching these good teens, modestly dressed having a great time dancing to good music. They have so much fun! And oh how they enjoy dressing up in formal wear! The girls were sparkling in their modest prom dresses, upswept hairdos, and all. The boys looked great in their ties and dress-up clothes. Parents came too and danced. I love to see the daddy-daughter couples—so sweet. One mom came with a diamond tiara in her hair, looking very lovely. There is no generation gap here. I danced myself into oblivion too—who can resist the fun? (and I could barely walk the next day . . . it's hard for me to remember that I am not 16 years old anymore.)

Louisa dances with her Dad

My daughter Julianna, who has taken oodles of dance classes in college, taught a free ballroom dance class for the 6 weeks preceding the Homeschool Prom, so all the kids would know a waltz from a polka. That has been a lot of fun too. Teens are much more confident if they know some steps when the music starts!

My son Ammon enjoying the dance!

This is a good thing. I'm glad we put in the effort required to make this dance happen each year. It gives homeschooled teens the real experience—all the dazzle and excitement of going to Prom, with other high-standarded kids, wholesome music, and happy memories of a magical evening!

My 3 beautiful daughters: Louisa, Julianna and Emily