My 11- and 8-year-old daughters and I participate in Keepers at Home through our homeschool group. We meet once a month for 2 hours to learn valuable homemaking and life skills. This is a wonderful way for both the mothers and daughters to learn new things, and for the moms to put their talents and creativity to good use.

Tonight we had our planning meeting to map out our monthly topics for the next school year. We wanted to achieve a mix of crafty and outdoorsy activities, depending on the time of year. Here’s what we decided:

• September: swimming
• October: photography
• November: hiking
• December: etiquette with tea party (Christmas party)
• January: mosaic
• February: volleyball
• March: sign language
• April: soapmaking
• May: year-end banquet

We spent 2 months covering photography this year, but there was a desire for a continuation of the topic. I am responsible for teaching it, with 1 to 2 other mothers helping, too. This year we began the school year with photography and ended with scrapbooking, utilizing the photos we’d been taking throughout the year for the girls’ scrapbooks. Next year we will follow photography with hiking, taking photos on our hike. We might even be able to cover letterboxing since there are 3 boxes at the park where we will hike.

Here are some pictures from this year, including singing at a local nursing home: