Homeschool Dance Dos and Don'ts

Prom. Something that homeschool parents are both happy and sad for their high school students to miss out on.  What if you could create the ideal version of prom?  All of the fun of dressing up, dancing, and hanging out with friends without the awkwardness of your high schooler having to find a date and the anxiety that comes with you wondering about what is really going on at the dance.

Planning a dance for your high schooler may seem like a daunting task, but there are some ways to make it more doable.  Here are some things that I have learned over the past few years of helping plan dances:

Do:

• Hire a professional photographer.  This is a must.  I took lots of pictures at our latest dance, and when I got the pictures back from our photographer, I was so thankful she was there to capture the night. Her pictures were SO much better than mine. I don’t know about your teens, but mine are a lot more cooperative with a professional photographer.  They actually want to pose and will do all kinds of fun things that they would never do for a mom running around taking pictures with her phone.  We will forever treasure the pictures from our photographer (look her up on Instagram @mom23ninjas).

• Find a venue that requires little to no decorations.  This is a game changer.  We have done it both ways, and I tell you what, this “do” takes the stress level down to almost zero.  As someone who has helped plan a dance that took miles of tulle, hundreds of strands of twinkle lights, ladders, extension cords, and more than 24 hours of man/woman power, I implore you to think twice before you decide to go for a cheaper place that needs to be decorated.  Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just show up with it all done?  It’s possible, and so worth the extra money!

• Hire a professional dance caller with their own equipment.  This is a total hack to cut the awkwardness for those who don’t have the confidence to just go out there and bust a move.  All they need to do is follow the instructions, and, all of the sudden, the focus is on learning the dance and the pressure is off.  We really love English country dancing.  Every dance, the kids have the opportunity to go with a new partner, and there are lots of “mixers” where partners change throughout the dance.  None of the awkward slow dances or pressure to stick with the same partner the whole night.  We hired https://www.nowisatimetodance.com/ for our last dance, and she is hands down the best caller we have ever had.  I basically won’t even consider anyone else at this point.  She is that far above the rest.  If you are in Oregon, you should definitely hit her up!

Don’t:

• Limit the dance to exclusively “homeschoolers.”  When it comes to a dance like this, “the more the merrier!”  Encourage the kids to invite their friends from church, co-op, sports, past schools, etc… The dance is guaranteed to be a success if your kids get to hang out with all of the people that they love no matter their “schooling” status.

• Fuss with food.  This is a big one, and it goes along with finding a venue that requires little to no decorations.  Live and learn!  I have spent hours planning/shopping/chopping/cooking (and I wasn’t even the main person in charge of the meal), only to have the kids pick at the food and then abandon it in favor of more dancing time.  At the last dance we hosted, we provided punch and store bought finger food desserts like cookies and brownies.  I literally stopped at the store on the way to the dance.  It was that easy.  Please don’t think you need to put on a big formal meal in order to make the night special!

• Be afraid to charge for tickets.  If you want the night to be fun and stress-free, it is going to cost money.  Every person that wants to attend should pay for a ticket.  This also helps with planning and knowing how many/who is going to show up.  Figure out your expenses and charge accordingly.  If you want to keep the cost down for individuals, start planning early so that you can have some fundraisers leading up to the dance.

A few extra tips:

• Find other moms to plan with.  This can be a daunting task, and part of the reason homeschool moms don’t do it is because they don’t want to try to do it alone.  I guarantee that there are other moms who want this experience for their high schoolers and would be willing to help with the planning, you just need to be the one that starts the conversation!

• Make sure you plan enough time for dancing.  We hired our caller for three hours at the last dance that we put on, and I was so glad that we did.  Two hours just isn’t enough time!

• Just because prom is traditionally a “couples” event doesn’t mean that you need to make your dance mirror that model.  In my experience, it is way more fun and way less pressure if your high schooler can invite as many friends as they want, regardless of gender.  

Planning a dance for your high schoolers is possible.  I can not tell you how many kids came up to me after the dance and thanked me profusely for taking the time to help make it happen.  Start planning a dance for your high schooler TODAY!  I promise you won’t regret it!