Who has used "Mapping the World by Heart"?

[lamppost]

Who has used "Mapping the World by Heart" (which I have discovered is not the same thing as "Mapping the World with Art")?

 

I noticed it's 24% off for the next week through Homeschool Buyers Co-op, plus free shipping for US orders.

 

https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/mappingtheworldbyheart/?source=138339

 

 

Thoughts? Worth it?

[Dmmetler]

My DD did it as part of a class. She really did get to the point that she could draw a pretty accurate map of the world by memory by the end of the year, as well as learning a lot about the various regions and countries. She also has developed a major interest in biogeography (and the instructor was able/willing to let DD branch off from the human geography to focusing more on the animals).

[EKS]

I bought Mapping the World by Heart.  All it is is lists of places and some maps.  It doesn't actually tell you how to teach someone to map the world by heart.  (It could have changed--I bought it over 10 years ago.)  We never used it because I couldn't figure out how to implement it.  Definitely not worth the money I paid for it.

 

I own Mapping the World with Art.  I also never used it because we ran out of time, but it is very obvious how to implement it.  It is everything I had hoped Mapping the World by Heart would be and more.

 

 

[BatmansWife]

What EKS says above is what I read in all the reviews before buying Mapping the World with Art (the Ellen McHenry one--I always have to look up which one is which). Mapping the World with Art was excellent, and my daughter learned very well with it and enjoyed it. She used it independently as an 8th grader.

I also agree.  I read a lot of reviews for both and would definitely choose Art over Heart.  

 

I actually have Mapping the World by Art...somewhere.  Our school bought it for my son, but he ended up not using it.  Now I want it for my daughter...but I can't even find it.  Leave it to me to lose something like.  How that's possible...I have no idea.   :rolleyes:

 

ETA: I just checked the prices.  Art is cheaper than the sale price of Heart, so that's an added bonus.  

You can go HERE and see a couple of video samples.  

Edited August 25, 2016 by BatmansWife

[vaquitita]

So glad I read this thread. I've heard of both of these, but hadn't really looked in to them. I watched the video for Mapping the World with Art and I really liked it. It seemed to break it down in a way that even my non drawer could do it. I don't have time to add daily geography... Does this work if I just pick out an area that corresponds with history? I'm sure I could, but is it easy to do is my question? Or are the lessons interdependent?

[Jennifer132]

I looked at it, but ultimately went with Visualize World Geography (which, unfortunately is expensive, but imo the workbooks and guide are not needed. Just the DVD and printing blank maps off the internet for testing). Mapping the World with Art does not teach all the countries; if I'm correct, the final project is mapping only the continents by heart. Mapping the World by Heart, otoh, teaches all the countries, but has terrible reviews. VWG, doesn't teach how to draw the countries, but it is excellent at helping to visualize and memorize the countries on the map. I watched the Africa DVD once and I now can take a blank political map of Africa and name every country by heart. I could see how it would be pretty easy after memorizing the countries to learn to free hand the map. That's what I plan to learn to do. And then teach it to my kids.

 

Eta: I will say that VWG has very cheesy graphics and some people might be turned off by that. Whenever I watch it I have to laugh because the mnemonics are so silly and the graphics are so bad. I think the person who made VWG could stand to re-do the DVDs and make the quality better. That being said, it really does work, and for me, that's the most important thing.

Edited August 25, 2016 by Jennifer132

[lamppost]

Where are you guys finding the reviews for these products?

[Mrs Twain]

My kids did two lessons of Art, but then we didn't have enough time to dedicate to it and dropped it.

 

The other issue I had with Art was that I didn't see any review built into the program. My kids drew lovely maps of Egypt and Greece, but how would they ever remember how to draw them in the future?

 

I found this program for learning to draw the world, and it is the first program I have had success with:

http://map-of-the-whole-world.weebly.com/

 

It takes us five or ten minutes per day. After a little more than a year, my son and I can draw seven continents, USA, Central America, South America, Europe, and half of Asia. This year we would like to finish off the program with the rest of Asia, Australia/Oceana, Africa, and Canada. (Apologies to the Canadians for listing your country last, but I just noticed that the website has that new country map available!)

[BatmansWife]

Where are you guys finding the reviews for these products?

When I want to read reviews, I usually check all of these places:

 

Homeschool Reviews (they have a couple reviews for Heart, but not Art)

Rainbow Resource (often has customer reviews of products, but not always)

CBD usually has reviews (they don't seem to have reviews for Heart or Art though)

Cathy Duffy Reviews (anyone else been around long enough to remember when her reviews were in books and you had to buy the book...internet wasn't the thing back then.  :lol: )

Amazon

Youtube

And I also just google the title, such as: Mapping the World by Art Reviews.  Often there's a blog post or something.  HTH

Edited August 30, 2016 by BatmansWife

[Alessandra]

I bought Mapping the World by Heart. All it is is lists of places and some maps. It doesn't actually tell you how to teach someone to map the world by heart. (It could have changed--I bought it over 10 years ago.) We never used it because I couldn't figure out how to implement it. Definitely not worth the money I paid for it.

 

I own Mapping the World with Art. I also never used it because we ran out of time, but it is very obvious how to implement it. It is everything I had hoped Mapping the World by Heart would be and more.

This.

 

I bought the By Heart book and returned it. (I hardly ever return stuff btw.) I thought it would have easy ways to remember the shapes of continents, then add in natural features and do on. But it was just lists, similar to what you could find on google. I could not not believe how little content you got for the price.

 

ETA

*After* I bought t, I found negative reviews on WTM. :-(

Edited August 30, 2016 by Alessandra

[Meriwether]

I bought Mapping the World by Heart.  All it is is lists of places and some maps.  It doesn't actually tell you how to teach someone to map the world by heart.  (It could have changed--I bought it over 10 years ago.)  We never used it because I couldn't figure out how to implement it.  Definitely not worth the money I paid for it.

 

I own Mapping the World with Art.  I also never used it because we ran out of time, but it is very obvious how to implement it.  It is everything I had hoped Mapping the World by Heart would be and more.

This.