Our Creative Juices are Flowing

Homeschooling & Horses: One of Equestrian Girl's favorite online activities is playing Howrse. It's a community where you breed, care for, buy, sell and all sort of other stuff with horses. You can make money, create horses including the elusive unicorn, etc. While I was aware that my daughter was making a lot of money on Howrse making and selling banners and avatars, I hadn't paid all that much attention to them. Today she was creating a horse for someone that would look like a horse I've long admired at Pinto shows. As she worked on it I realized how much talent it takes to do what she was doing! She was shifting between using GIMP and Photoshop and her ability to "color" electronically was amazing. The result is on the left. I think he's amazing! On the right is my creation. I stole her horse and "colorized" it with black marble. I love the silhouette it creates!

I used to get a little upset with the amount of time she spent on Howrse until I really figured out what she does on there. A lot of it is good life lessons...and she has learned a lot about marketing, and making money. The kid has always been good with cash and wants MORE but this game has taught her a lot too.

I've been reading a lot about the national education standards that are being developed. Since they have been largely silent on how these might affect homeschoolers, I'm watching very carefully. I'm really not against standards in general. I remember being amazed when I became aware of the difference between states. I forget what curriculum program I was using but you could see the standards for various states and apply them to what your child had learned/would be learning. Alabama had next to nothing compared to Michigan. That doesn't seem right but I don't like the idea of a national blanket either. I'd also be curious to know if they have any homeschoolers helping to develop their standards. We seem to do a pretty good job educating our children...

Motocross: It's finally time for the big race this weekend!! The trailer is packed and ready to go. Motocross Boy got his school work done and is more than ready to go. The boys went to pick up the 85 today and it's ready to go again. We'll watch the rain and weather forecast and pray that the thumb area gets minimal rain so we can go racing on Sunday!!! Besides, I have that new camera I have to test out!!