Most homeschoolers are very frugal and must make their homeschool budget stretch as far as possible. My family is no exception and I think long and hard about investing in curriculum and tools for our learning experiences. My two youngest boys are very science oriented and are naturally inquisitive about the world around them so purchasing a quality microscope made sense as we entered the middle school science years.
Sonlight Ultra Microscope -Investing in High School Science
Our family aims to get the most value for the dollar. So which microscope would we buy?
The decision was not easy but after much research and thought, we decided to purchase the Sonlight Ultra Microscope. With a price tag of $240 this was a decision not made lightly! We wanted to provide the best equipment for our sons even as homeschoolers. Taking into account the useful life (six years in our case), our cost per year would be $40. Our high school science plans would be greatly enhanced with this investment and could provide college-prep level lab work throughout the high school years.
Actual image we took through the eyepiece of river sand.
Now after using this microscope for many years, I can with confidence say that it was an investment that paid off in a growing knowledge of the world right under our noses. Our eyes were opened to a complete new dimension of study, fascinating and wonderful.
Features Our Family Have Found Valuable:
- Sturdy, durable construction. This is not a toy microscope and from the moment you pull it out of the box you know it is built to last.
- The ease of aligning the slides. The mechanics of the slide platform are easy to adjust with the up-down and side-to-side knobs positioned for easy use. Going from coarse to fine adjustment is easy and the object stays in your field of vision. This feature cuts down on frustration. View Sonlight’s YouTube.com video showing Features and Benefits.
- The light does not get hot and we can use this microscope for a long time without the slides getting hot or drying out too fast. This is especially important when working with wet objects like those you find in a pond.
- The eyepiece swivels around so we can show each other what we see in the microscope as we gather around the table.
- The magnification has been plenty high enough that we can see amazing details of our subject (40x, 100x, and 400x lenses).
- We used this microscope in our biology, marine biology, chemistry, and human anatomy studies during high school.
Check the Sonlight website for their complete description and warranty.
Our family highly recommends this product for your homeschool science courses.
Written by Barb-Harmony Art Mom. I blog at Harmony Art Mom and am the creator of Harmony Fine Arts. I would love for you to join us for the Outdoor Hour Challenges at the Handbook of Nature Study.
-originally published April 2012
Barb McCoy- Harmony Art Mom writes about homeschooling their teens on her blog Harmony Art Mom. and taking family outdoor adventures on her other blog, Handbook of Nature Study. She is the author and host for the Outdoor Hour Challenge and a series of ebooks helping families get started with simple nature study. Barb also founded Harmony Fine Arts which helps homeschoolers with their art and music appreciation.
I appreciate all the benefits you list. The light does not get hot, the eyepiece swivels, it’s not a toy, growing knowledge of the world under our noses… Definitely sounds like a great investment we could use for our five! Thanks for this.