Hey, It's Jade! and family

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

WonderMaps Review

When I was given the opportunity to review WonderMaps, I was pretty excited.  I am not so great at geography, so any help I can get FINDING things is definitely appreciated.  I especially liked the idea of being able to have historical and Biblical maps to use along with our studies!  I received the link to download the maps to my computer and it was so quick and easy to install!

War of 1812 Battles
As it was downloading, I told my husband what I knew about the program.  That we would be able to customize all kinds of maps, having them fully details or not at all details so they can be filled in as a "test."  Also, that it includes lots of different maps and options.  My husband jokingly said, "Yeah, well, can you find me a map of what America looked like in 1812?"  Within about 30-seconds of having the program downloaded, I turned to him and said, "Well, actually, yes I can.  Here you go!"  Haha.  It was amazing!

Click! Click! Click!
WonderMaps offers historical maps with lots I showed the program to my son, Preston, who is 5 3/4.  He had such a blast clicking on all the options and taking them off.

Some of the layers you can add or remove are "city names," "capitals," "rivers," "color" and more!  This makes it easy to customize and get exactly what kind of map you want.  You need a full-color, labeled map to teach a lesson, you got it!  You need a blank map for the kids to color and fill in, you got that too!  And, best of all, it's so easy... just click the layers on or off.  I am really impressed with the user-friendly style of this program.

Jonah's Journey!
We talked about Jonah's journey, and the program already had a map created that we could use showing where Jonah started, where he fled to (and ran into the whale!) and then, where he ended up in Nineveh.  So great to go along with our Bible studies and make it more come alive!  The program includes many Biblical maps, including Abraham's journeys, Jesus' ministry, Paul's ministry and so many more interesting treks.  It also includes thematic maps that can assist in lessons about the Chinese Dynasties, Native American locations, Explorers and this program has specific maps that can be used alongside The Mystery of History and All American History curricula.

Bright Ideas Press, the creators of WonderMaps, have really thought of it all.  This is a great program for anyone to have, especially if you enjoy teaching your kids at home. It's wonderful to have so many educational resources at your finger tips that you don't even have to go Googling for!

Timberdoodle is a fun site for all kinds of homeschooling resources, manipulatives, games and more.  Check out their facebook page for news, sales and promos!  Check out their free homeschool catalog too!

Because Mom SaidAs a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of WonderMaps in exchange for a frank and unbiased review.  The words written above are my own, honest opinion.

2 comments:

Mary said...

Great review! I just posted mine too. Where did you find the "Because Mom Said" graphic?

Joanne said...

That sounds really cool... I just put a huge map of the world up in the playroom and Elise is facinated with it! Who knew that maps would be so entertaining to young kids!