Current Events & Preparing Our Children for an Anti-Christian Culture

The ongoing battle of worldviews being waged in this country is intensifying every day. North Carolina is in the thick of it, with the opponents of HB2 launching heavy artillery aimed at the state economy, in hopes of forcing our government leaders ( who were elected by the people, btw, so this attack is on the democratic process!) to align with the new "progressive movement.

Similar things are happening all over the country. Yesterday, the Michigan Board of Education passed "guidelines" (tied to funding, so we know what that means) saying that all schools must allow students to self-identify their gender. Last week, Massachusetts (my home state) became the latest state to approve protected class status for transgender persons, and, according to the Gender Identity Guidance report by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, CHURCHES can be considered places of public accommodation and subjected to fines and penalties for not accommodating transgender persons in accordance with their gender identity. Similar wording was issued by a commission in Iowa earlier this summer.

U.S. Civil Rights Commission chairman Martin Castro has lashed out at "religious liberty and religious freedom, calling them “code words" for a host of hateful and discriminatory actions including “Christian supremacy or any form of intolerance.” " [World Magazine, "Churches in the ‘civil rights’ crosshairs", 9/13/16]

What is your worldview? What and who influences your beliefs about right and wrong, good and evil, truth and lies? What are the assumptions ( truth claims ) that determine your opinions and actions? Do your actions line up with what you claim you believe?

Is God real?

What is my purpose in being?

Why is there suffering and what is the solution?

What is truth?

Is truth relative, or is there such a thing as absolute truth - something that is true for everyone?

There was a time, not so long ago, when

Some resources I have used with my teens that you might want to investigate:

*The Truth Project (Focus on the Family)

*Doing the Right Thing: A Crisis of Ethics (Colson Center)

*Impact 360 Institute

*Summit Ministries / the Summit Lecture series

*For the Life of the World (The Acton Institute)

With younger kids, ground them in God's Word, talk about what it means to follow Jesus and how sometimes that's a hard thing to do. Study the book of Daniel. Set a godly example, demonstrating God's love and compassion while also standing up for truth. Teach them to be compassionate. Read biographies of heroes of the faith, who faced hardship, disappointment, calamity, and all manner of challenges with hope, courage, perseverance, fortitude.

Ephesians 6:10-18 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.

Placement Testing

My youngest is a slow reader, and struggles with finishing the sections on timed tests. He has always scored right around 50% -ish on his annual standardized tests. He has taken the ACT test twice, and his scores are okay, but did not meet the minimum for registering for college-transfer classes at the community college, which has been the plan for his senior year/5th year of high school. So yesterday  he took the placement test at the local community college campus. Those scores can be used in lieu of ACT or SAT scores, but there is a minimum score required in order to register for classes in the college pathway. If he didn't make the minimum score, it would be back to the drawing board.   No pressure, right?

The test, NC DAP,  has 3 sections - Math, English/Reading, and Essay. All but the essay is untimed, and there is a 2 hour limit for the essay. It is all on the computer and you get the results immediately. Jason spent 2 weeks reviewing algebra with his dad, and doing some practice essays from prompts. It took him 4 hours to complete the test, and then he sat down with Ms. Hudgins, who oversaw the testing, for his results.

He passed with flying colors, and she commented that she always can tell which kids are homeschooled because they are the "child geniuses"!! That made him feel pretty good.

PTL!!!

Obviously, the timed factor is a big issue for him, and we will have to address that going forward.  But now he is walking around the house telling his siblings, "You can address me as Child Genius."


You can read more Weekly Wrap-Ups HERE. 

Homeschool Prom, Take 7

The 7th annual Carolina Capital Homeschool Prom took place a week ago, with 350 homeschooled teens and guests, and it literally took me 3 days to recover.  I started this prom seven years ago with my then-16-year-old daughter and a few friends, and have been chairman ever since.  This year my 17-yr-old son attended as a homeschool junior, my 28-yr-old and 22-yr-old daughters were prom photographers, and my husband and I were chaperones, as well as part of the set-up/clean-up committees.  It is a family affair.

Our theme this year was "INVINCIBLE",  inspired by superheroes.  Although it got the most committee votes for 2016 theme, there were several doubters who couldn't envision a "Superhero" prom being elegant and not cheesy birthday party-ish.  I think they were convinced.  My core team of decorator/planners had a vision of an urban "corporate gala" atmosphere, lots of black and white with pops of color, focusing on the inspirational "hero" aspect of the superheroes, not the villains or the darkness sometimes associated with them.

Every year we choose a Benefit Project, and this year, in keeping with the theme, we chose a charity that benefits the families of fallen first responders, Carolina Brotherhood.   We donated $2 from every ticket sold, plus some additional donations that were brought to Prom, for a total of $850.

There Must Be Something in the Water: Thoughts on Homeschool Mamas and Teen-age Boys

Last night I spoke to about 60 people at our homeschool support group meeting about homeschooling through high school. I covered a lot of different topics - touching on things like graduation requirements, high school testing, credits, transcripts, etc. and then busting some of the myths surrounding homeschooling through high school, such as "parents aren't qualified to teach high school subjects", "homeschooled students cannot get good jobs or go to college" and "they'll miss out on Prom".  But it was the final topic I discussed that got the most response and comments after the meeting ended, and that was Homeschool Mamas and Teen-age Boys.  

I have raised 3 boys of my own, and have talked with many, many mothers of sons about this topic, and it seems to be pretty universal and disconcerting!    Somewhere around the age of 12,  they discover that we moms have lost part of our brains.  We go from being very smart, even brilliant,  people who can solve almost any problem and fix almost anything, to suddenly not being very smart at all and also somewhat annoying.  We don't know the answers, we don't know the best way to do things, and we don't have the right opinion on anything.  In addition to losing our minds, we have also lost our looks.  We were once beautiful and the women our little boys wanted to marry one day.  Now they are embarrassed to be seen with us. 

It must be something in the water, because we aren't the only ones who have changed. Our little boys who were once cuddly, enthusiastic, eager to please, and obedient ( okay, okay, that's a stretch -  but true at least part of the time? )  suddenly become withdrawn, emotional, distracted, and disrepectful. They don't want to do their schoolwork. They talk back. They sleep all the time. They challenge your authority, your wisdom, and your fairness. 

"Who are you and what did you do with my son?"

Some boys only show glimpses of this hijacking, but for others it is quite prominent.  Suddenly our sons are taller than us, stronger than us, and they don't seem to like us or take us seriously.   This is tough, uncharted territory for all moms, and for homeschooling moms it can cause a quite dramatic reaction.   "I can't do this!  He isn't doing his work. He isn't listening to me.  He needs to go to real school because of course he will  listen to someone else."

I do not have an answer and I don't know of a cure.  But my encouragement to you is that it doesn't last forever.  A few years.  But not forever.  This is a period of time when our little boys are growing into men, and for a while they just don't know what to do with themselves!  They want to be treated like grown ups one minute, and the next they are crying, "I can't do that! I'm just a kid!"  One minute they cringe when you give them a hug, and the next minute  all 5'10" of them is crawling into your lap.   Their bodies are changing, their brains are changing.  Hormones make them crazy. 

I think it is different with our daughters, because we can sympathize with them! We were young girls once, and remember the angst and the cramps and the discomfort and the uncertainty that those years brought, and can identify with them better. But young men are  different creatures entirely;  and that just reminds us that we don't understand our husbands half the time either, and now we have TWO men to deal with. 

 
DON'T  PANIC!

Maybe it's time for Dad to take son out for a burger and a talk about manhood, respect for those in authority, humility, God's order, and possible consequences for bad behavior.

Beyond that, I think we moms need to dish out heaps of GRACE! (unmerited favor)   We need to be calm and consistent in reminding our boys of their boundaries and their responsibilities.  Let me emphasize the word CALM.

We can perhaps let go and give them some of the control they crave. Let him stay up late and sleep later in the morning, or go outside without a jacket in the middle of the winter, or eat  pizza and Doritos for lunch every day, or take a 45 minute shower.  Ask if there is something he would really like to study this year, or let him choose between math curriculum A or math curriculum B. 

We need to continue to be their cheerleader and biggest fan, because their disdain is really a mask. Our boys desperately want to know they are loved and accepted. 

Don't stop pointing them to God and his Word.  Remind him that God allows us to struggle  so that we can be refined and grow stronger and closer to Him. 

Read lots of biographies of good role models and watch movies that teach solid messages about character.  Teach Godly character. Model Godly character. 

Don't be stingy with hugs, backrubs, and smiles. Remind them that you like them.

Maintain a sense of humor.  Laugh with them. ( not at them. never at them.)  Sometimes they are really funny.

Feed them a lot.  Their favorite meal or some warm brownies, even after a tough couple of days of banging heads, sends a strong message. 

Encourage physical activity as an outlet for some of that aggressive energy.  Team sports, running, biking, tae kwon do, swimming, rock climbing, jumping jacks! 

These are just some suggestions. Pray and ask God to show you the best way to parent your child.  Anger, insults, and a hard-nosed strictness are probably not the best reaction to this stage of your child's development.  And my answer to "If they won't listen to me and respect me, won't they be better off learning from somebody else?"  [ meaning "in school"] is "Is it more important that he get the essay written and the geometry lesson done or that he feel loved and hear about righteousness and character and Truth and God's plan for us?  Are you okay that  strangers, whose worldviews you know nothing about, walk with him through this time of his life and mold him and direct him?  Whose voice do you want him to hear on a daily basis?"

Don't give up!   They do come out on the other side. 

Galatians 6:9   Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18   For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary ,and what is unseen is eternal.


I have found these resources to be very helpful.
Raising Real Men  
Hal and Melanie Young are Christian homeschool parents who understand boys.  They have written a book, and their website and blog also contain lots of helpful articles and information.

Homeschooling Boys
This site does not seem to have been updated in a while, but still has some helpful articles by a number of authors, including Mark Hamby, Barbara Shelton, and Terri Camp. 

Homeschool-Your-Boys
This is a newer blog, but I've read a couple of articles here that are very good.

Homeschooled High Schoolers : Grown Up

I wrote this in Aug 2012, in response to a question about homeschool families feeling inadequate to homeschool in high school. Even after 21 years, I still have moments (days/weeks) of self-doubt, and this has been one of those weeks. This was good for me to revisit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am starting my 18th year of homeschooling and have graduated 4 of my 5 children from our homeschool. My oldest graduated from NC State, entered the US Army as an officer and served 2 tours of duty in Iraq.

 He has just returned from Kuwait and is now getting out of the military and looking for a civilian job. His Army buddies jokingly say that the fact he was homeschooled "explains a lot", but they also acknowledge that he is the most responsible, the most driven and also the best cook of them all. My next 2 graduated from Appalachian State University, my daughter summa cum laude in 2010 and my son this past May. She has traveled to Ethiopia, Uganda, and Haiti doing missions work, interned for a Christian non-profit in TN, and spent the summer working as Production Editor at a Christian summer camp in Michigan. 

My son just got hired by a computer IT company in Cary and is planning to get engaged soon.( shhh ) My 4th child took a year off after graduation to work, finish up some loose ends academically and to decide what she wanted to do next, and we'll be moving her into her dorm at ECU next weekend. It is an exciting, bittersweet, stressful, exhilarating time of life, parenting all these grown ups!

My youngest is starting his 9th grade year, and we are considering but haven't yet decided on a 5-year-high-school-plan for him. That's just one of the many ways that we as homeschoolers can be flexible in our approach to high school. He hates to read - it exhausts him - but he is smart, a very good athlete, a sharp wit, and a wonderful, responsible kid with lots of friends. 

I still read aloud to him a good bit, and try to spread his reading and writing assignments out and use video and audio materials as much as I can. That's another way I can take advantage of the flexibility I have as a homeschooler. We are in a Tapestry of Grace co-op that meets once a week, and this year he'll do a science enrichment class and possibly a public speaking class or foreign language as well as guitar lessons and basketball training outside of the home. These help fill his need to be around other kids - since he is now an "only child" at home - and also help him be accountable to someone besides me, because I really am a very laid back, lenient teacher. Also, I don't get excited about science like I get excited about history, literature, philosophy, and art. I don't put him in these activities because "he won't get into college if I don't"!! I know better. We do it because it gives him a rich variety of experiences, and THAT is why I homeschool. You have the FREEDOM to decide what is best for your child. We all need to encourage one another and protect that freedom. You don't have to homeschool the way I homeschool. But I do want you to know that you don't have to follow the way of Institutional schools either, unless you want to. You might want to investigate the Hebrew model of education versus the Greek model. It is interesting to think about. 

I have to say that the trend you mention isn't really new. I have known homeschool parents who followed the "traditional school model" to the letter, and those who have crafted a free-flowing, out-of-the-box education for their children, and guess what? Kids from both types of families have done fine! Do some homeschooled kids falter? Yes. Is it because their parents failed to cross some "t" or dot some "i"? Or is it because they weren't allowed the freedom to follow their own star? No. I wish I could tell you that if you do X, Y, and Z your kids will succeed in life, but there is no guaranteed method, and there is no guaranteed outcome! Each of our children has their own choices to make in life. We homeschool because we believe it is right and the best we can do for our children. I homeschool because I believe it is what God wants me to do, and I am being OBEDIENT to follow that calling, as faithfully as I know how. But boy, do I spend a lot of time on my knees praying for grace to fill in the gaps and my failures. Ultimately, I believe that God blesses our heart, our desire to do the best we can, our willingness to learn and be teachable. Our children don't succeed because we are "super homeschoolers" who found the magic curriculum, or because we put them in the right enrichment classes with exceptional teachers! 

Be sure to look at the Big Picture. If there was one thing that I would say was the MOST important thing in homeschooling a high schooler, I would say it is RELATIONSHIP. Put your best efforts into that area, as well as CHARACTER, SERVICE, and KNOWLEDGE. I wrote a blog post about this earlier in the year - you can read it here, if you are interested.  There are numerous books, websites, workshops, etc that can teach you how to devise a high school plan, create a transcript, apply for scholarships, etc. Do your research. Bathe it all in prayer. Love your children fiercely. Buckle up and enjoy the ride!



*** It is now 2015 and we have been homeschooling for 21 years.  My youngest is 17 and a junior/senior. (depends which of us you talk to)  This is his 4th year of high school, but he will continue for a 5th. We have been able to stretch out his academics and give him plenty of time to hang out with friends and to spend plenty of time on basketball, as well as explore guitar, pottery, and his latest interest... bowling! We are in the process of registering him for his first community college course.  My younger daughter transferred to Appalachian State after one year at ECU, and will be graduating from college this spring with a degree in Child Development.  Middle son is now married and worked in IT for a little over a year. After getting laid off due to "downsizing", he decided to follow his entrepreneurial heart and started his own very successful business as an Amazon seller. My older daughter worked at Samaritan's Purse for a year and a half and now is an office manager at Appalachian State University. She does photo shoots on the side, is a volunteer coordinator for Wine to Water, and is mentor coordinator for the college ministry at her church. In other words, she is a busy lady. And oldest son got a job working as a 3rd shift production line manager at a bottling plant in Asheville, and is now working in supply chain management.  
They are all awesome people.  

Thoughts on Teens and Dating

I have read a couple of articles recently about why teens should not date, or at least wait until they are out of high school.
Underage Dating: The Elephant in the Social Conservative Living-Room
and
7 Steps to Raising a Teen Who Won't Date Too Young

Any parent of teens has to deal with the topic of dating at some point, and parents of younger children need to be considering it as well, because our culture puts teen romance and teen relationships  in our face. Everywhere! Allthetime! TV.  Movies. Schools. The mall. Church.

I don't think there is one right way to approach this topic, just as there is no one "right" way to approach education or worship or healthy living.   Each family has to do what they feel is best for them.
Our family rule is no dating  until after high school.  They do have lots of friends, both boys and girls. Their social life wasn't/isn't lacking.  They have all been active in sports, music, church, Scouts, and various other activities.   But our reasons for putting the nix on young love has to do with preserving and protecting a time of life and leaving room for other experiences that romantic relationships can get in the way of.    We want our kids to enjoy spending time with our family and with siblings, and not resent family for taking them away from "that special person". We want our kids to develop strong friendships and understand the give and take that goes into maintaining a strong relationship - minus the tangle of romance.  We want our kids to enjoy their participation in sports, jobs, clubs, volunteer work, and not give up on those things because of the demands that dating places on their time and energy.  We want our kids to develop a bit more maturity and wisdom and self-control before diving into the complexities of a romantic relationship, because even those of us who have been married for 30 years still haven't figured it all out yet.  We want our kids to avoid the heartbreak of broken relationships during a time of their life when they are especially prone to extreme emotion and even melodrama, and lack the life experiences to handle those emotions rationally.

Our teens have respected this position, even if they haven't always been happy about it.  For the most part, they have seen that young dating among their friends/peers hasn't been a great experience for them, and they appreciate that our family rules take off some of the pressure to "have a girlfriend" or "have a boyfriend".

This is just what our family does, and is by no means a "formula for success".  I know wonderful families who have allowed their children to date at a young age. I know wonderful families who follow a strict courtship model. I do think it is a topic that all parents should discuss and consider before their children hit the teen years.

The 5-Year High School Plan

My youngest son will turn 15 this summer. He technically just completed 9th grade, but will actually do 9th grade again this year; or maybe he'll be in 10th grade and eventually he'll do 12th grade twice. Or we'll add on a grade 13, but that is harder to explain when people ask what grade you are in. You see, we have decided to do a 5-year plan for high school, which is a little on the unconventional side.
However, it really makes a lot of sense for us.

J has a late August birthday, putting him on the young end of his "grade-level".   Boys, especially, often are slower to launch into academic areas like reading and writing, so being young in a grade can be a developmental disadvantage. For some kids,like my son, readig and writing continue to challenge and cause struggles.  It hasn't been an issue up til now,  since as homeschoolers we have been free to adjust and individualize and adapt everything we did. But we utilize more outside classes in high school, and the work load increases greatly.  A 5-year plan allows us to spread the high school work out a little more, giving him more time on reading assignments and more time to develop his writing skills to the level he needs to be at before college.   For instance, we use Tapestry of Grace for history and literature, and it is a very reading-intensive program.  The curriculum is arranged by the week, but the amount of reading per week is compatible with a strong, fast reader.  Since J is a slow reader who needs time to digest, we will spend two weeks on every week of the TOG curriculum.  There is still plenty of content to fulfill a whole credit - we'll just have the chance really cover the material rather than skim it.

I just have to guard against my impulse to pack even more into high school, since we have that "extra year". Kind of defeats the purpose of spreading the work out.  But an extra year does give the opportunity to include additional things that you might not have time for otherwise.  hmmm,
 I just need to be a little creative....

Also, J is an athlete, and an extra year in high school will allow him even more time to build his skills and work on strength and conditioning.  He doesn't know right now if he wants to play at a college level, but he loves his high school athletic experience, and we can let him get as much out of that as he can.

So, in a nutshell, a 5-year high school plan gives the following advantages

• time to build up weak academic areas
• opportunity to include other areas of study that we might not have had time to include in 4 years
• more time to devote to developing talents and interests, like athletics, music, dance, etc.
• ability to spread academic work out to accommodate a job or travel
• time to mature and grow in knowledge of our faith before leaving home

As homeschoolers here in NC, we have great freedom and flexibility in deciding our own curriculum and school plan, and setting our own graduation requirements and timeline.  We are not limited to following the same path as everyone else, and are free to think "outside the box". I love that. 

One down, four to go.



 

Keeping Your Teen's Heart

Over the years, I have often been inspired and encouraged by the writing and speaking of Sally Clarkson.    Her book, "Educating the Whole-Hearted Child" resonated with me and had a big influence on how I choose to homeschool my children, and the atmosphere I try to create ( however poorly ) in my home.


I love this post - Keeping Your Child's Heart Through the Teen Years - about creating a family culture that will compete with all the distractions of modern society for the hearts of our children as they grow into the teenage years and beyond. 

http://www.itakejoy.com/keeping-your-childs-heart-through-the-teen-years/

 

Common Sense #2: Older Kids NEED Their Parents Too!

Our society tries to convince parents of young children that they are not necessary except to provide food and shelter, and that experts are much more capable of caring for and educating their children.  While some of us might boldly reject that way of thinking and firmly hold on to our role as nurturer, protector, educator, and guide,  our confidence withers and fades as our children grow older. Ten years old.  Twelve.  Fifteen!  Seventeen!!

Agh!!!

Suddenly we are convinced that we do not know enough, are not smart enough, are not strong enough, can not BE enough to help our children navigate those pre-teen years and young adulthood! We now look to the "experts" - those with specialized degrees that ensure they have the wisdom to keep our children on the path to success. I have seen so many parents who were very involved in their children's lives during the elementary years suddenly back off in middle school and high school, saying things like, "Well, he really doesn't want me around anymore", or  "She will have more fun if I'm not there".

While it is true that parenting changes as children get older, and part of our job is to gradually move them from dependence to independence, I think the "gradually" part has gotten lost in our culture.  Children are being treated as miniature adults at younger and younger ages, and perhaps given choices that they are not yet equipped or mature enough to handle.  I believe that older children NEED their parents just as much as younger ones do.

Again, the parent's role does shift as the child gets older, to more of a facilitator, guide, and trainer.  We need to see our job as preparing them for the adult world by giving them opportunities to learn and grow and experience while still under the watchful eye and protection of someone who loves them and has their best interests at heart.  Their input should be sought and welcomed, but they should know that ultimately, big decisions belong to the parents because we are the ones responsible to God for our children's  well-being until they are old enough to live away from us as adults.

Relationships with our teen-age children should be marked by humor, affection, and caring concern, even when at times we must be tough and stern.  Contrary to the belief of many parents, fueled by the entertainment industry,  it is possible to LIKE your older kids, and for them to like you in return!  Instead of bowing out,  stay involved in your older children's activities, like sports, Scouts, Sunday School, shopping, etc.  Be friendly and a "mom" to their friends - making brownies or ordering pizza when they are at your house, taking them bowling or to the movies, including special friends in family activities .  Play board games, watch movies, go to ballgames, take walks as a family. This is not the same as micromanaging or being a "helicopter" parent. This is being an involved parent and strengthening family bonds already created and nurtured when they were young.


My husband coaches sports teams and was involved in the Boy Scout troop the whole time my sons were involved.  We plan and chaperone the Prom.  I teach my son in our Co-op.  My teens also participate in activities that don't involve us, but my kids know that their parents are likely to be involved in whatever they are doing, and they are fine with that.  When we go on vacation, they all want to come, even though jobs and classes sometimes get in the way.  Family activities take priority over friend activities.  They really have never known anything different.

Enjoy your children - of all ages - and invest yourself in their lives. Too soon, they will be grown and these years of opportunity will be over.  And then we will reap what we have sown during the years of their growing up.

Homeschool Prom 3.0

Part of the reason I've been absent from this blog for the past month is that I've been immersed in Prom planning, among other things. The 3rd annual Carolina Capital Homeschool Prom, which my daughter and I founded and which I still head up, was held on Friday, May 4th. 

We returned to the same venue we have held Prom at the past 2 years, and that is the beautiful Sutherland Estate & Gardens in Wake Forest., NC, and we also featured the same awesome caterer, Rocky Top Hospitality, and disc jockey, Brian Pate Entertainment. This has been a winning trio for the three years we have held this event!  New this year was  photography by I Believe Designs.

Our theme this year was "Moonlight in Paris".    Our mother-daughter Decoration Committee, Sweeter Than Tea, did a phenomenal job of creating an elegant, chic, vintage atmosphere with the Check-in table, table decor, mason jar luminarias, and a fantastic Candy Buffet.  They truly have an incredible gift!

 

 

We had 166 students in attendance this year, from over 27 different towns/cities across central North Carolina. The age range is 14 -21, and there were 3 girls for every 2 guys because we encourage the students to come with friends, and not just with a date, as this Prom is a celebration of homeschooling and of fun and friendship, and not just for "couples". 

We had beautiful weather for Prom night this year, although there was a threat of rain and one very brief and light shower went through during Check-In.  We changed things up a little this year and had a larger event tent so that dinner and dancing were both under cover, rather that dancing under that stars as we have the past 2 years.  Next year, we'll add some fans, as it got a little warm on the dance floor, since the tent held in the heat.  It didn't seem to bother the kids much, although the drink station was kept very busy all evening, and even ran out of cups by the end of the night.

Our Prom does a benefit each year, to raise awareness and donations for a charity or ministry that is near and dear to some member of the Prom Committee. This year, our benefit was the Faith Food Pantry, located at Faith Baptist Church in Youngsville, NC.   We collected "extravagant" items such as shampoo, sunscreen, laundry detergent, toilet paper, toothpaste, etc, which are items that the Food Pantry doesn't regularly have on their shelves but which clients really appreciate. A couple of the young people on our committee prepared a slide show of a day volunteering at the Food Pantry, and Jacob spoke to the guests about the impact of the ministry and ways to  be involved.

 Mr. and Mrs. Rego preparing to accept donations.

Door prizes this year were donated by Lighthouse Christian Homeschool Association as well as a couple of parents.  We drew names and gave away a number of gift cards for things like iTunes, Chilis, Starbucks, and Champs Sporting Goods, as well as a couple of cool Gift Baskets.  One contained 2 Movie passes to  Marquee Cinemas, as well as a variety of snacks. Another was a French-themed basket containing French cookies, soap, Eiffel Tower notebook and stickers, and a DVD of Les Miserables.  There was also a Summer Fun gift basket containing a beach towel, sunscreen, Dairy Queen gift certificate, beach ball, and other goodies.

Of course, our Prom wouldn't be possible without our wonderful chaperones and Sponsors. We had 22 parent chaperones this year, who also enjoyed the evening very much as they kept an eye on things and made sure everyone stayed safe and behaved themselves. They might not be out there on the dance floor working up a sweat, but they do work hard!  By the end of the night, my legs were shot, my feet were killing me, and I was exhausted.  But we all love seeing the kids have such a great time!

We are also very thankful to the local businesses who supported Prom this year as Sponsors.

Sue Patrick's Workbox System

Rego Automotive

The Wake Weekly

Armstrong Wealth Management

Sweeter Than Tea

Dr. Brian Ransone - Chiropractic Partners

Wake Forest Awards and Engraving

Countdown begins for Prom 2013!