Ancient Origins

Copyright: KBkids.com

Ancient Origins is a program which allows your older children to study the origins of modern man in-depth. The readability level of this program makes it appropriate for high school aged students, or those with a high school level reading ability.

Ancient Origins follows the trail of mans' progression from the farthest reaches known, to the year 500 AD. Information deals more with the foundations and development of societies and individuals rather than historical events and participants. An interactive timeline allows your children to select any time of particular interest, or follow along from the beginning to the end of the timeline. Following in any straight path is very difficult, however, because of the manner in which information is presented.

A globe on the left side of the screen lets you select different geographical regions. Timelines on the right side of the screen allow you to select a time period to study. Clicking on any of the timelines brings up an introductory text box which is read aloud. These introductions deal with broad areas of study, such as Western Asian Man two thousand years ago. Once within these broad areas, the information is presented in a web format. These webs look much like a spider web with one bit of information linking to another around a spoke. From the center of the Etruscans web, for example, your child can jump to burial rites, lifestyles, Carthaginians and more. Sometimes one web bumps into another creating a 'link' between two areas of study. This is a great way to study a subject if you are not determined to plod through in a straight course.

Each of the webbed information boxes lead to either a text screen, an interactive map, a sound clip, or even a virtual reality tour of a tomb or excavation site (although these are of limited value). The text reads much like a typical encyclopedia, and may not hold the interest of kids who do not have an immediate desire or need to understand the subject. The ability to bookmark topics or copy text and graphics makes this a good program for creating reports. It is possible to search for specific subjects, but not by typing in a word. You must scan through a list of subjects in order to find exactly what you are looking for.

Because Ancient Origins deals only with the origins of man, and only through the sixth century AD, it's usefulness is limited to report writing and exploration of mans' origins. This may be just the right product for a child with strong interest in this area, but will not have a lot of general appeal. The text is rather difficult, and at times the vast amount of information leaves you feeling a bit lost. There is no sure trail through the information, and the exploration at times feels half hazard. The text is a bit on the dry side and rather academic.

Will Ancient Origins be a program that draws your children back on it's own? Probably not. The information is very good and thorough, but rather 'stuffy.' For a reference program, however it is well constructed.

Bottom Line: A good reference tool for a specific report or area of particular interest, but not a program the general public will run to their nearest software store for.

 

Ratings: (based on KBkids.com's 4 star rating system)

Overall: 2

BrainGain: 3

FunFactor: 1 1/2

EasePlease: 2

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