Reference items for high schoolers?

[Wee Pip]

Hi guys! I don't have a high schooler (it'll be awhile yet!) but I'm trying to gather some good reference materials for all age groups. I'm leading a Mini Office Workshop for homeschool moms and hope to make this a valuable resource for all the age groups. So...

 

What sort of things does your high schooler need to refer to?

 

I was thinking along the lines of grammar parts of speech, common algebra formulas, anything sciency that you might use. Anything that would be handy to have on hand, without having to pull out a textbook, dictionary, or reference book. Any suggestions? I've found a ton of reference material for K-3rd for Mini Offices, but I could imagine this being a great tool for the older kids, too! Thanks!

[HollyinNNV]

Well I have a couple different atlases. However, my personal favorite is my historical atlas. You can look and see the political divisions from different historical periods. It also shows cities that no longer exist (or now go by different names). It also shows immigration/emigration patterns and gives great information that is hard to find elsewhere. We have referred to it many times.

Holly

[periwinkle]

The Synonym Finder by Rodale

[laughing lioness]

Thesaurus. Rhyming dictionary. Atlas.

[Wee Pip]

Ok, so what kind of reference info would you use if you were limited to 1-3 pages? You know, like a Cheat Sheet? What would be on your high schooler's Cheat Sheet? Thanks for the ideas, so far! Needing to limit it to just a few pages of something:)

[Sharon in MD]

A laminated or at least in a sheet protector copy of the periodic table....invaluable around here.

 

I'll add more if I think of them.

[MaryM]

Unit circle and trig identities would be helpful....

[8filltheheart]

The number one reference we have needed has been MLA documentation rules.

[lllll]

Same as most of the others posted. We also own 3 different sets of encyclopedias which dc refer to frequently. Also, Unabridged Webster's Dictionaries. I'm drawing a blank here at the library and it's about time to go, so I'll write up something at home and ask dh to post it.

[lllll]

Hi guys! I don't have a high schooler (it'll be awhile yet!) but I'm trying to gather some good reference materials for all age groups. I'm leading a Mini Office Workshop for homeschool moms and hope to make this a valuable resource for all the age groups. So...

 

What sort of things does your high schooler need to refer to?

 

I was thinking along the lines of grammar parts of speech, common algebra formulas, anything sciency that you might use. Anything that would be handy to have on hand, without having to pull out a textbook, dictionary, or reference book. Any suggestions? I've found a ton of reference material for K-3rd for Mini Offices, but I could imagine this being a great tool for the older kids, too! Thanks!

 

Here is the list I said I would type up. It is arranged by subject. I wouldn’t call it thorough, but it might be a good jumping-off place. Although we use and have more books than this, I tried to include only the books we seem to open again and again. I’ve put asterisks beside the skeleton list which I would work on if I personally were just beginning hs’ing (=younger kids). If I think of anything I forgot, I’ll tack it on later. I hope you got plenty of other ideas from others, too, because this list seems somehow incomplete to me. Not sure why. FWIW.

 

GENERAL:

 

**encyclopedias – We own 3 sets: 1993 World Book, 1979 Britannica Macropedia, and 1944 Britannica. Paid several hundred dollars for WB (least useful), $10 for Macro at discard pile in library (very useful), and owner of a used bookstore in NH gave us the 1944 Brit. for free (most useful). If I’d known what I know now, I’d never have wasted money on the new set. Just get used sets at used book sales/stores. In fact, most of us actually prefer the 1944 Brit. If we want current info, we look other places like the internet and library.

 

**dictionaries – We own several of the one-volume, unabridged “Webster’s Third New International Dictionary†(buy used). We also have various smaller dictionaries around. And we have a set of the “Oxford English Dictionary†(20 volumes, not for just starting hs’ing, usually).

 

**Synonym Finder, thesaurus, etc.

 

**globes, atlases, maps, raised relief maps, etc.

 

**timelines – secular and Christian

 

WTM, WEM, HTRAB (**WTM for beginning)

 

Oxford Companion to Classical Literature by Sir Paul Harvey (1957) – defines those endless, crazy names and places in the Great Books so you can actually keep up with the plot instead of fretting over who’s who and where’s where.

 

Great Books – we own 2 sets: 1991 and 1952 versions. Each include “Syntopicons†in the first 2-3 volumes. I compared one of the ancient’s writings and I prefer the 1952 version. The 1991 version seemed more ‘dumbed-down’ to me.

 

 

 

MATH:

 

dictionaries - Mathematics Dictionary edited by James and James (1949). This was the best one I could find. We own others, but they seem shallow and sloppy next to this one.

 

history – many, to read through over the years.

 

20yod says cheat sheets – conversion tables, formulas, units of measure, time zones, etc.

 

**math books – many books, many versions, from old to new. Even though focus is on one main book, helps to see how other authors present the material. Can also work problems from other books. And if it’s a lousy book, use it to help them see the difference between a good book and a lousy book.

 

 

LOGIC:

 

History – several, to read through over the years

 

20yod says diagrams of the common forms in “P and Q†form

 

**Logic books and programs – lots

 

 

 

SPELLING:

 

**Word Speller and Divider by Barnes and Noble, or something similar. One for each dc.

 

 

GRAMMAR:

 

**Handbooks – ABeka, R&S, etc

 

Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (ds calls this “the grammar Bibleâ€)

 

**Diagramming books by Eugene Moutoux (search net) - helps cement concepts after completing a grammar program. Answers in back of book.

 

 

WRITING/RHETORIC:

 

**Dictionaries, thesaurus, word speller, synonym books, etc.

 

25yos says: Dictionary and thesaurus in collaboration: hunt down synonyms for an overused word by means of the thesaurus, then use dict. to check the precise definition of these synonyms.

 

 

[lllll]

HISTORY:

 

**Maps – 20yod says especially maps of the same region at several different and widespread epochs in history (ex. Europe in the 1800’s and Europe under the Roman reign)

 

The Timetables of History

 

The Encyclopedia of Ancient Civilizations of the Near East and Mediterranean by Haywood

 

Oxford Illustrated Encyclopedia

 

Basic Communism by Carson

 

Basic American Government by Carson

 

Constitutional Law for Christian Students by Michael Farris, Esq.

 

**Mostly good library books.

 

 

SCIENCE:

 

Dictionaries for the particular subject (ex. physics or biology or chemistry…). Oxford publishes good ones.

 

History – several, to read through over the years

 

The Timetables of Science by Hellemans and Bunch (1988)

 

Van Nostrand’s Scientific Encyclopedia (big one-volume book)

 

**Many field guides. Here are some topics of the guides which we currently own: birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, insects, trees, animal tracks, clouds and storms, weather, mushrooms, etc.

 

**Many, many library books on many, many subjects (both kiddie and adult books).

 

 

ART:

 

**Drawing Textbook by Bruce McIntyre (?). Sorry. They’ve used so many different things over the years, but this is the only one which stands out that I know they have all referred to time and time again. The rest come and go. Also, they never did much with the history and I never pushed it. I’m just glad they can draw and some can even paint and do clay fairly well.

 

 

MUSIC:

 

**Dictionaries – of symbols (where symbol serves as entry word), and Latin (for understanding the Italian guide words)

 

The Oxford Companion to Music (1955) – large one-volume book.

 

Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments by C.P.E. Bach (William Mitchell, editor and translator, 1949).

 

Once again, like the art, they just emphasized playing an instrument and reading the music.

 

 

LATIN:

 

**Dictionaries, charts of declensions and verbs and such (make own or buy), grammars, various texts, Bible in Latin …

 

 

OTHER LANGUAGES:

 

**Dictionaries and same as for Latin. When I looked on our dc’s shelves, they all had many dictionaries, a grammar or two, a few audio programs, and a few had audio Bibles in their language of choice.

 

15yod says the “Teach Yourself _______†series from the 1940’s through the 1960’s or so, are very good [if used with other programs (library?) to pick up the spoken part]. She says the older books have lots of exercises and readings and some answers in the back. The newer versions of this series are not as good because the emphasis is more on scattered conversations with little organized grammar, and some don’t give the English to other lang translation in the word index.

 

 

GREEK:

 

Interlinear Greek New Testament by Green

 

Dictionaries, etc.

 

 

BIBLE:

 

**Many versions (KJV, Amplified, etc.)

 

**MacArthur Study Bible

 

Modern Reader’s Bible

 

**Dictionaries, timeline, maps, atlases, etc.

 

**Concordances (Strong’s….) – for original Greek and Hebrew, and for researching specific topics.

 

Interlinear Bible, Hebrew-English. 3 volumes

 

 

**Good, old encyclopedias (the 1944 Britannica is often useful for Bible topics)

 

**Many good history books.

 

Hermeneutics books (Terry, etc.)

 

**The Tabernacle of God in the Wilderness of Sinai

 

**Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of World Religions - large, one-volume book, packed with information and surprisingly thorough

 

 

OTHER:

 

**How Things Work (dc still refer to this and other books like it)

 

Service Etiquette (U.S. Naval Institute) by Harral and Swartz (1959, 1963). 20yod picked this up at a used bookstore and says it’s much better than the other huge books on manners. More concise and practical and less flowery and silly.