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This past month, our co-op sponsored a homeschool ball,  and this was our first year attending. And I have to say, it was a lot different than a typical high school prom.

We didn’t attend the ball last year because I thought it was only intended for high school students, and at the time my oldest was in 8th grade. But this dance is for the whole family! The high school students do receive special recognition, but everyone can enjoy the evening together.

As with any formal dance, the kids dressed up — boys in suits and ties, girls in formal dresses. My girls especially enjoyed this part, as they donned their prettiest dresses and had a friend fix their hair. Preparations also involved putting together a couple of dishes, as all of the families pulled together to provide enough food for the evening.

The dance itself was a lot of fun — English country line dancing. The instrumental music consisted of a keyboard and a violin player. A caller taught everyone the steps to each dance before it began, then called them out again as the dance progressed. The whole atmosphere was  casual and relaxed, as girls took off their shoes to dance without falling, older students danced with younger siblings, and friends danced with friends.

My children all danced every dance — all of them, including 7-year-old Luke! He and I were often partners, although he sometimes danced with his sisters as well. As we went through the dance, I would listen to the caller then tell him what to do, and he caught on very quickly. Who would have thought?

No, it wasn’t your typical school dance, and I was so glad! It was an evening of good, wholesome, family fun — one of those memory-making moments that remind you just why you’re homeschooling after all.

Today is Easter Sunday,  a day set aside to remember our Savior’s death on the cross and resurrection. A day to celebrate our new life in Him.

This past week was full of special activities — egg hunts, Easter parties, craft days, and re-tellings of the Easter Story. We have a few favorites things we do almost every Easter season. They include:

*Reading our favorite Easter picture books — Benjamin’s  Box by Melody Carlson is one we read year after year. It’s written to correspond with the Resurrection Egg set, where each egg contains a different “piece” of the story. Before we purchased one of the sets, I made up my own using regular plastic eggs and filling them myself with items we had around the house.

Another book we really enjoy is The Parable of the Easter Lily by Liz Curtis Higgs. In the story, a young girl named Maggie receives a flower bulb as a gift and, disappointed, tosses it into the garden. When the bulb grows into an Easter Lily, Maggie learns about grace, forgiveness, and the true meaning of Easter.

*Dying Easter Eggs — Sometimes we dye the eggs before Easter, sometimes on Easter Sunday. Either way, it’s always been a great activity for bringing extended family together. Now that the kids are older, we don’t just dip the eggs  in the dye; now we blow the eggs out so they’re hollow and paint them!

*Hunting for Easter Baskets — We had this tradition when I was small, and I’ve continued it with our children, for no real reason except that it’s a lot of fun.  Each child has a designated basket filled with goodies, and Easter morning they hunt around the house for them. Even my 14-year-old still enjoys looking for his basket. Or maybe he just going for the treats inside. Hmmm….

What does your family do to celebrate the Resurrection?

My oldest son, John, is a First Class boy scout working toward his Star rank.  One of the requirements he has to fulfill before earning that rank is that he must complete six hours of community service. Although we already participate in a few community service activities on a regular basis, I began looking for some other opportunities for him to get involved. One such opportunity presented itself at my mother-in-law’s church.

For over two years, this local church has been sponsoring a free “clothes closet” and food pantry for families in the community. They have a room full of household goods, including pillows, blankets, videos, books, dishes, and more. They have three rooms full of clothes, another room with toys of all sorts, and two more rooms that are always overflowing with groceries. All the rooms  are open once a week, and anyone can stop by; we often go to see what’s new (the kids loved the toy room), and we usually bring a bag or two of clothes and other items with us.

Because we’re here so often, the director of the clothes closet put me on the list to help out. And because John needed the community service hours, I volunteered him too.

I worked at a couple of jobs — hanging up donated clothing and helping to pack groceries into bags. John loaded the groceries onto a cart and wheeled them out to the  parking lot. There he would unload the groceries for the individual, then bring the cart back inside for the next load.

After we had finished for the day, I asked him what he thought of the job. I was expecting him to say that it was fine, and I was planning on prompting him regarding how helping someone else in that way made him feel good. But he gave me an answer I just didn’t expect.

“It was really hard,” he said. “Some of the people who got food were mean. One man kept calling me ‘boy, ‘ saying, ‘Put the groceries in here, boy.’ Then, when I did, he just grunted, got in his car, and drove away.”

I thought a lot about what John said. I had wanted him to see how much good he was doing by helping those less-fortunate than himself. And while that lesson didn’t really come across as I had anticipated, he did learn a lesson in gratefulness. He learned what it was like to help someone who is not grateful — someone who takes advantage of a situation and shows no appreciation. He learned how not to behave, and I think he understood it a lot better than if I had given him one of my lectures.

So, will he go again to help at the food pantry? Sure — because no matter how someone responds, we aren’t to grow weary of doing good. And maybe next time, someone will appreciate his efforts so he’ll get to experience that too.

Photo by Alvimann

Last year, I had the opportunity to illustrate a book that’s special in more ways than one.

Written by Nancy Stewart, One Pelican at a Time tells the story of two best friends, Bella and Britt, who experience first-hand the terrible effects of the Gulf oil spill. As the girls watch the clean-up efforts, they see their long-time friend, an old brown pelican, dive into the oily water. They run for help, then follow the workers as they catch the bird and take it to the bird sanctuary to recover. A few days later, the girls return and help wash off the pelican in a huge bucket of sudsy water.

For children who live far from the Gulf, the story helps them better understand the oil spill and the effect it has had on the wildlife in the area, as well as the work that must be done in order to clean it up. The author’s notes at the end include a brief description of the actual spill in 2010 and how it has hurt both the people and animals that have made that area their home.

Another reason this story is unique is because the two main characters in the book — Bella and Britt — are modeled after two sisters! When I was looking for models for my illustrations, a wonderful family volunteered; they had two girls, one adopted, both the same age.  Their mom helped too — she’s the ranger in the story. For them, the book also represents a fun family memory!

So if your children are studying conservation and the environment, check out One Pelican at a Time. It would be a great addition to any unit study about nature and our role in caring for it.

While at the homeschooling convention earlier this month, I had the opportunity to attend a couple of workshops taught by Jean Burke, the owner of the website CollegePrepGenius.com. The information she gave regarding high school students taking the PSAT and SAT was so detailed and helpful, it made the whole conference worth-while. As Jean explained, these two tests are the key to not only getting into a good college, but to receiving scholarship money as well.

The PSAT, she told us,

• Does not stand for “Practice SAT.” Rather, it stands for “Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test.” And while students do have an opportunity to practice for the SAT when they take it, the main purpose of this test is to find the National Merit Scholars — students who will receive thousands of dollars in scholarships.

• Can be taken three times — once during the freshman year, once during the sophomore year, and once during the junior year. The one they take during their junior year is the only one that counts; the other two years are just practice.

• The PSAT is a logic test; it doesn’t test your students on their knowledge, but on how well they can figure out the questions and reason out the answers.

The SAT, she told us,

• Is the test (along with the ACT) that colleges look at for admission and scholarships

• Can be taken as many times as desired, and only the highest score counts. If your student obtains his high score during his junior year, he doesn’t need to take it during his senior year.

• Doesn’t test the student’s knowledge; like the PSAT, it’s a logic test.

On her website, Jean offers classes and DVDs to help students learn how to take these tests. And if they’re anything like her workshops at the conference, they’ll be one of the best investments you can make towards college.