We have grown to really enjoy the products from Bright Ideas Press such as A Young Scholar’s Guide to Composers and Mystery of History. When I heard that we would have the opportunity to review their brand new Wondermaps program, I jumped at the chance. I mean it had 350 maps that were interactive and printable. Oh, the possibilities started tumbling through my mind.
Wondermaps includes:
- 60+ maps of the world
- 60+ maps of the USA
- 125 historical maps, including 25 biblical maps
- The complete map sets from The Mystery of History vols. I–III and All American History vols. I & II
The first thing that I checked out was the Mystery of History maps. I was so excited to have the printable maps with answer keys for easy use. There was even a key to let me know how many of each map I would need to print for Munchkin’s age group. These maps alone made our schooling just a little easier.
Next, I jumped into checking out some of the interactive/customizable features of the other maps. I really liked that I could print with or without labels and in black and white or color. Some of the other customizable features include:
- historical or modern-day maps
- outline, reference, political, or topographical maps
- black-and-white or color maps
- features including: names, borders, rivers, cities, physical features, and graticules
You can see some of the features highlighted in this video:
I must be honest and say that I have not fully utilized the program at this time. We’ve been using the MOH maps and playing with some of the other features, but we have not incorporated the maps into our studies as fully as I would like. I look forward to using these maps in a variety of ways when life settles down more around our house.
Munchkin likes just playing with the different maps, so I can see learning taking place even when she doesn’t realized it. **wink** There is just something about the interactive/customizable aspect of the program that she thinks is cool. I personally like that I can print out the maps and take them with us. We’re not tied to the computer for the map work even though this is a computer program. I think it’s great that I can decide which features to add to the map and which features to leave off the map. It’s like having my own little map library.
Bright Ideas Press Wondermaps is available on cd for $49.95. It requires Adobe reader 9.1 version or higher to run. It works on both MAC and PC.
I received a downloaded copy of Wondermaps as a member of the TOS Crew to help facilitate the writing of a frank and honest review. A positive review is not guaranteed, and all opinions are my own.
