Parents of homeschooling kids should seriously consider investing in a real microscope. Although there are many benefits that homeschooling brings to your kids, one thing it definitely doesn’t give your kids is access to a school’s laboratory. Buying a real microscope can help enhance and facilitate your child’s science studies, letting him bring to life the experiments discussed in his textbooks and modules.

Homeschooling Microscopes According to Grade Level
There is a “minimum” type of homeschooling microscope appropriate for your kid’s current educational level. The minimum type of homeschooling microscope would allow your kid to perform the experiments discussed in his textbook but he won’t be able to do anything more than that.

Primary School Grade – Children still in primary school would find a monocular compound microscope more than adequate. Most kids at this age range won’t have any interest to expand their knowledge in science because they’re more interested in play time and other fun recreational activities. There are of course a few geniuses with marked interest in sciences, kids who have more fun developing their minds than spending time outdoors with their playmates. if your kid displays similar tendencies then you should seriously think of investing in a high-end microscope to encourage his interest and help it develop.

Middle School and High School Grade – At this stage, your kid would have more use for a binocular microscope. Of course, you can always go for an upgraded version if you’ve noticed how your child has a strong preference for scientific studies.

College and University Grade – Kids at this age range may already have the means to buy their own school equipment, but it’s almost a certainty that none of them will refuse if you wish to give them a homeschooling microscope. A compound binocular and stereo microscope will more than do for most students at this age, but your kid might require something more than that if he’s majoring in fields like microbiology, pathology, forensic science, and other fields that make extensive use of microscopes.

Tips on Buying a Microscope for Your Homeschooling Kid

Tip #1 Understand the difference between compound and stereo microscopes. Compound microscopes are capable of low and high power magnifications and they are mostly used in various fields of science. Stereo microscopes on the other hand operate mostly at low power magnification and are utilized more in the industry.

Tip #2 If you expect your child to make use of his microscope for more than a few hours each day, it’s better to invest in a binocular microscope. This will allow him to make use of both his eyes and avoid placing strain on only one eye.

Tip #3 Buy a microscope with a built-in eyepiece camera or buy an eyepiece camera accessory. Eyepiece cameras allow your child to record and store photos of his samples. It will help you save in electricity and ease the burden on your child’s shoulders. Instead of having to switch on the microscope every time he needs to view the sample, all he needs is to look at the photo in his computer or have it printed and from there, he can peruse the photos as long as he wishes.

A microscope camera will also allow him to send proof of his experiments to his school and possibly reducing the number of times he needs to meet up with his professor.

Tip #4 Determine what kind of illumination systems your child would mostly need. If you don’t want him to spend longer time on preparing his samples, you can invest in a microscope with phase contrast illumination and which allows him to view invisible organisms with ease. Other kinds of illumination that your child may need would be fluorescent and epifluorescent illumination, polarized light, reflected and transmitted reflection, and the most expensive of all, electronic microscopy. The last uses electron beams instead of light rays to make a sample visible.

Tip #5 Never buy a microscope that costs less than $200. Such models are usually of low quality and do not have a durable design. Never buy a microscope with plastic parts or one that doesn’t adhere to DIN standards.

Tip #6 Invest in a microscope that allows separate controls for fine and coarse adjustment. Separate controls let users obtain the most precise level of adjustment and positioning for your microscope stage and sample. A nine-year-old child may not be able to appreciate it at the moment but give him a few years and he’s sure to thank you for your foresight. Here is a link to the article