Looking here for advice, I never took biology at high school as Physics was the other choice. I am sure that many on the board probably studied it and related biotech fields to a high level and that some have homeschooled or after schooled their kids passing on what they learned.

I have decided to buy a microscope; I intend to use it to learn more about the world around me AND hopefully innoculate my DD10 with the wonder of it all.

In particular, I have decided to better learn to distinguish amongst the Boletes that grew locally and sometimes the identification can get down to the level of using the shape, size and colour of the spores to identify them. Hence the need for a microscope. I also think that my DD10 would also enjoy tooling around on the microscope too :-)

What books would you recommend? I am looking for sites with some good curricula or at least some guided explorations and some recommended sites for buying reagents, slides, 'care products' etc.

Posting here in the hope that replies to this thread serve others too down the road in addition to my DD and I in the shorter term...

Thanks Portia! This stuff looks really absorbing :-)

We're currently using Foldscopes, which have the ability to display digitally. Not the highest quality microscope, but certainly good enough for DS3.75's current needs.