jlsgrant
This user hasn't shared any biographical information
Homepage: http://mindfulramblings.com
Geocaching: Not for the faint of heart!
Posted in Nature on May 20, 2011
I was doing a little blog surfing the other day, and came I across a homeschooling blog that included some great ideas for using fun technology resources. Through the years, we have really enjoyed using educational games for Nintendo DS, Wii, and now iPhone and iPad apps.
Among this blogger’s ideas, many of which we have used at some point in our homeschooling journey, she listed one of her favorites as a Geocaching app for iPhone. I was so excited! I’ve always wanted to try geocaching. 🙂 So I downloaded the free introductory app to give it a try, plugged in my current location (at home), and a list of three nearby caches popped up!! One cache is even located on a road I frequently walk down on my morning walk. It is peaceful there…you can hear the birds chirping and the frogs croaking, among other sounds…
This morning, I put on my walking shoes, grabbed my phone, fired up my new geocaching app, and headed for my prize.
I followed the red compass arrow to my targeted location and came to the spot in this picture. The app informed me I had to go 43 feet west to get to the cache. Hmm….not sure I really want to venture off the road and into the ravine, especially with no trail to follow.
There are often noises down in the ravine when I walk by and today is no different. One time, I even heard something that I think may have been a “Yetti.” Not sure, but it sounded big. Today it sounded like this:
So I stood there for awhile, thinking about what may lurk therein; certainly poisonous snakes and spiders, definitely large insects, and possibly large reptiles! Just as I decided that the cache could not possibly be worth risking life and limb, a lady in a black pick up truck drove past. She got half-way up the road, then her tail lights started glowing bright white! She was definitely coming back for me! She rolled down her window and gave me some words of advise:
“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you, just last night there was a Copperhead right up in the middle of the road and they can be very agressive!” I thanked her for her wisdom and headed home….without my priceless cache!
I guess if I’m going to take up Geocaching, I may need to purchase some good snake proof boots and maybe a shot gun!
Hmmm….don’t you wonder what’s in that cache??
WonderMaps by Bright Ideas Press
Posted in Book & Product Reviews on May 16, 2011
For the last month or so, we’ve had the opportunity to use a new product by Bright Ideas Press. (Bright Ideas is home to The Mystery of History, All American History and Illuminations, just to name a few of their popular products.) Their newest product, WonderMaps, is an amazing new product designed to fulfill all your needs for maps! Whether you are studying History or Geography, this versatile, easy to use product may be just what you’ve been looking for.
Here’s what the fine folks at Bright Ideas have to say about WonderMaps:
“Geography and map skills add richness to any lesson. Whether it’s history, literature, science, current events or Bible, maps play an integral role in thoroughly understanding the topic at hand. With WonderMaps’ made-to-order geography materials at your fingertips, there’s no more skipping map studies due to a lack of preparation time and resources! What is WonderMaps? It’s a customizable collection of over 350 different maps. With nearly endless possibilities, WonderMaps makes it easy to regularly integrate map study into a variety of lessons and make the most of every learning opportunity.”
This incredible resource is easy to use and couldn’t be more versatile! You can create maps for whatever you’re studying with as much or as little information as you’d like, with just the click of your mouse!
Please take a few minutes to watch this video tutorial and you’ll see what I mean:
So here’s a quick example to show you the simplicity of it….Say you’re studying Australia, you just navigate to the World Continents section, click the continent Oceania, then click Australia.
Here’s what you’ll see…
Now, let’s say you want to produce a blank map for your students to fill in and label for themselves. All you need to do is click the layers, that’s the list on the left, to remove what you don’t want on their map. In this example, I decided to remove just about everything except for the country and state boarders and rivers. I also left the city locations, so the major cities would be simpler to label. Here is what you’ll get:

All that’s left to do is print! That’s kind of amazing, right?
But that’s not everything! There is also a collection of 125 historical maps, and thematic maps for such things as Explorers, Native Americans, 20th Century Treaties and more!
Simply put, I think my mapping needs have been met for the next several years! So here’s my opinion:
We love it! 🙂
![]()
Available at:
Price: $49.95, (Subscribers of TOS watch for coupon code for 20% Off)
Product Type: CD or PDF Download
Age: Middle School +, and/or Teacher Resource
Other Products:
Illuminations, Mystery of History, All American History, and many others
![]()
Disclaimer: Members of the TOS Homeschool Crew were given copies of this product in exchange for their honest opinions. No other compensation of anykind has been received.







