Crew's Quarters: Bright Ideas Press- Illuminations

Every now and then, we get an item to review that defies summary in a few paragraphs. Illuminations by Bright Ideas Press is one such product. 

The reason it is difficult to be concise is the vast scope of the product. Using Mystery of History as the History spine, Illuminations weaves it along with several other Bright Ideas Press publications with additional curriculum to create a complete and multi-level program for the entire family. 
When I say complete, I mean complete! Illuminations covers:
Bible
History
Literature
Grammar
Spelling
Copy Work
Geography
and
Science


Illuminations is a full, rich program but, as such, requires a bit of work to get up to speed. There is a great deal of material included. Fortunately, it has a friendly interface to make getting underway as quick as possible. Once installed on the computer, the teacher can access plans by subject or by week. Everything is laid out in an easy to use manner. Schedule grids are available to help with planning. I would prefer to actually have bound books to hold rather than have to access manuals on the computer. However, I did find that the computer interface was easy to navigate with some practice. 


Illuminations is a thorough and well laid out program that is well geared for grades 3-8. This is a bonus for large families. Illuminations 2 has just been made available. Illuminations 1 is available in CD  ($185) or Download ($165). There is an additional charge for extra components (Literature and Read Aloud selections, for instance.)  Fellow reviewers share their thoughts here. Pop in and see what they have to say.


Disclaimer: This product was provided free of charge for review purposes. No other compensation is provided.