Beginners Telescope

strong>beginners telescope
A good beginners telescope?

Hi All:

I have a son that will be turning 6 on October 1, 2009. I am a single mother and funds are limited, the one thing my son would really like for his birthday is a telescope.
Would anyone be able to direct me as to what kind of telescope I should purchase for him and are the expensive?
Thanks all!!!!

I think you already really know the answer: age six is really too young to use a telescope effectively. All it is really going to be is a toy. Nothing wrong with that but obviously it means it probably isn't worth get a fancy "serious" scope.

Of all the cheap scopes by far and away the best is the Galilieoscope at https://www.galileoscope.org/gs/products . This is very much built to a price, but it was designed by a consortium of astronomy bodies for raising awareness rather than as a money making exercise. As a result it performs much better than scopes several times its price, although you will need to buy a Camera Tripod for it separately. It is still fairly limited but you are not spending $200 or more on a "serious" scope. The scope comes in kit form as a learning exercise so you may need to help him put it together - don't worry, it really is very straightforward, almost like a Lego kit, but it may be beyond a 6 year old.

Standard warnings about kids with telescopes apply - if your child is using it during the day watch him like a hawk to make sure he never tries to look at the Sun with it.