For us, youth group is a necessity this year.  I won't bother to tell you why unless you specifically ask, but will, instead, tell you what my boys heard last night :

kid : why would you want to be homeschooled?  You don't have any friends if you are homeschooled.

son number one : yah we do ... we have lots of friends ...

 leader (who just happens to be a homeschool mom) : that's right, sure, you have tons of friends ... and as a matter of fact, we went to Disneyland while you guys were in class!

kid : silently wishing, staring off into space for a few moments.

sweet two feet from where I was

Posted by SheilaG

I love moments like that!

My oldest daughter loves youth group this year because it's a really good group of kids. Last year we had to switch churches because the youth group girls were too into being popular/fashionable/cool, etc. It drove her nuts and really wrecked her self-esteem. Youth group can definitely be a minefield, but when you find kids you like, and they understand your kid, life is a lot better.

Posted by AcceptanceWithJoy

I don't hate youth group. I love-hate youth group. Marissa has a lot of friends there. Most of the kids are really very nice kids.

The only problem... one of the boys she met has a major crush on her. He doesn't seem to be able to tell time and he calls after 10 PM (when I am already dreaming about tomorrows lesson plans).

Posted by ClagettsFLStyle

I used to not like Youthgroup, but the Lord blessed our family with finding a great youthgroup for our dd's. It has been an answer to prayer since we picked up and moved them away from all their friends.

I love the comment she made. We used to tell kids up north that we got to go sledding while they were stuck in school. Now we tell them that we go to Disney World for field trips all the time while they are in school. LOL.

Guess it's just a fun thing we get to enjoy as homeschoolers.

Posted by jess4him

lol... that's great!

I also believe youth groups can be good.. under strict circumstances.. (like me being my kids' leader, once I have some, hehe)

Posted by jess4him

lol... ashamedly, we love and have all the seasons to that show "friends" on dvd.. so that's what we'd been watching.. haha We don't get but 2 fuzzy tv channels, but we will watch movies from time to time

and PLEASE don't avoid my blog because of blueberries! lol.. that's silly- it was truly easy as pie! :)

Posted by rcelliott

I just wanted to say that