It seemed this year that a number of the young teenager girls in our homeschool support group had the desire to attend a more grown up, dress up, mature function. They wanted to get their hair done, put on a beautiful dress, wear make up and go to a nice formal function.
For the parents this presented a dilemma. Most of the parents in my support group support the idea of courtship vs. dating, of making lots of friends vs. “going together,” and certainly we support modest dress, and purity. Many of today’s high school dances, at least in my area, do not support any of those values. SO how could we meet the needs of maturing young women and men but also support the values we had been bringing them up in their entire lives?
One of the moms in our group took on that challenge. My friend Ruth hides it well, but she is a master event coordinator! She went all out for this spring dance for our homeschooled youth.
First she decided to hold the dance in a local parish hall. There was a cost for renting the hall, so their would be a fee for attending the dance. To keep costs down though, the attendees were encouraged to bring snacks for the table along the side of the hall and punch was provided. Tables were covered with plain white plastic table clothes. Decorations were elegant but simple blue and white balloons with foil covered weights and twirled ribbon. She taped stars on the floor leading from the outside entrance to the opening of the hall. It was just lovely! She even painted a background in deep blue with silver stars so that the kids could have their pictures of their friends in front of it. I never would have thought of that!
Ruth arranged for a Christian DJ to come and spin the tunes. I understand there was some problem with that just before the dance with one of the dads having to help out with equipment, but the wound quality was great. I only learned afterwards that there was a problem.
Attendees were to arrive 1/2 hour before the dance was to officially start to take a short “dance class.” Ballroom instructors who were also members of the support group, gave instruction on some very basic ballroom dances that the couples could practice throughout the evening.
There were some rules. You had to pre-register to attend the dance. No one was supposed to come “as a couple.” Everyone was there by themselves. Each person had a dance card with the names of all of the other registered attendees on it. You had to dance with every member of the opposite sex on your dance card and have them sign it! At the end of the night, the completed dance cards were turned in and then used for distributing door prizes! (Sam turned his in and won a nice football!)
There were also some dress rules. No spaghetti straps, no strapless gowns, no bare tummies or low backs. Guys could were a shirt and tie, or a suit if they wished.
Calvin my 16 year old was very much looking forward to dancing with all of the “ladies.” Sam, my 13-year-old couldn’t sleep and had a stomach ache. He was afraid he was going to look goofy, or step on somebody’s foot. I had kind of promised Ruth though that he would attend. Although the homeschooled girls were excited about attending, it wasn’t clear how many guys were going to show up! Sam might really be needed as a partner. As it turned out though, there was a good mix of boys and girls.
By the end of the evening, parents and kids pronounced the event a huge success. They had lots of fun, learned some new dance skills, and made new friends and renewed old friendships. Ruth received requests for a Christmas dance and a Valentine’s event. We’ll see. It took a lot of work, but maybe now that we know what goes into a successful dance, more of us will be willing to give it a try as well!
Calvin and Sam ready for the first Homeschool Spring Dance!
Calvin and a young lady practicing some of their new dance moves!
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