Education Resources Blog

As educators, we know one of the more challenging times in a secondary-aged student's life can be preparing for adulthood after high school. This can be especially true for students with disabilities. To say that leaving a support system which feels safe and familiar is overwhelming and scary is an understatement. Fortunately, there are services available through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that disabled students and their parents can continue to rely on to help with a smooth transition into postsecondary education or training, employment, and independent living. The Adult Transition Program (ATP) at Community High School District 218 in Oak Lawn, IL serves a mission to do just that, and with the help of the VariQuest® Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Suite, their students with disabilities are learning valuable real-world skills, while building confidence, courage and spirit!

Have you ever wondered why we choose to work for VariQuest? We've got a whole team of dedicated employees and in our new promotional video series, #variquestvalue, you can hear their unique stories and perspective on our brand and the value our products and services bring to our customers!

With all of our advances in the science field and access to more research tools than ever before, we have come to learn more about our human activities' negative impact on the earth. So how can we teach our students to preserve and protect it for future generations? Ecosystems is a science unit that will spark a child’s interest in our earth and the ever-present need to make it better for all living creatures. Complete with a "write-the-room"-style assessment and “All About” posters to create and share with others, students will participate in discussions on ways the class can work together to have a positive impact on the earth. As we at VariQuest put a spotlight on kinesthetic and project-based learning, this unit provides hands-on activities and games that will make the discovery of ecosystems more meaningful.

40 years ago, would you have predicted that every household in America would have a need for a computer? 20 years ago, would you have predicted that every person would need to surf the internet on a phone - a mobile phone? Probably not. It's hard to imagine a world where every household would have a 3D printer, but that time could feasibly come sooner than we think.

With an emphasis on CTE programs in schools on the rise, so too are student-based enterprises - where students can brainstorm ideas, design and develop products, market their offerings, monitor inventory, balance finances, and nurture patronage - covering many of the 16 Career Clusters and developing students' real world skills. Such is the case at Higgins Middle School in Peabody, Massachusetts, where the students are tasked with running a multi-service print shop fully equipped with VariQuest® Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Tools.

3D Printing is a relatively new concept in education curriculum - but it engages all kinds of learners, and instills real-world critical thinking and innovative problem-solving 21st century skills. Seems to be a no-brainer for an educator looking to breathe new life into a STEM curriculum. At Holly Grove Elementary School in Holly Springs, North Carolina, Ms. Jennifer Starkey, a technology teacher, has been thrilled to watch her students design, create, and learn when the VariQuest Trifecta™ 800 3D Printer brings their ideas to life - which has made her classroom the most popular in the school. With over 1,100 students in grades K-6, including some Pre-K and special education students, Ms. Starkey needed a solution to engage every learner. Starting with her 2nd, 4th, and 5th graders, who are fully immersed in the 3D printing hands-on learning tasks, the classroom has turned out some pretty amazing projects as they Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Improve, and Share (The Engingeering Design Cycle). It's easy to see how 3D Printing is benefiting education at Holly Grove...

Tuesday, November 7th at 9:00am CT The focus of student achievement has extended beyond reading and math scores and shifted to a “learning by doing, making, building, and discovering” approach. Despite the fact that this resurgence in experiential learning is supported by recent brain-based research about cognition, problem-solving, and innovation, females are still under-represented in STEM-based programs and careers. Join us on Tuesday, November 7th for a free professional development webinar at 9am CT, and learn about this often-discussed hot topic.

Until recently, we believed that intelligence and creativity were fixed traits. We now know differently. The capacity to learn, solve problems and be creative is hardwired into our brains – we either tap into it and nurture it, or we don’t. Join us for an informative professional development webinar series hosted by Dr. Melissa Hughes, author of "Happy Hour With Einstein", and STEM Fuse, creators of STEM:IT, where we will explore these concepts and how to infuse this knowledge into your classroom curriculum to nurture more active, engaged students.

We're at it again, and just in time for the start of the 2016-17 school year! In partnership with The Curriculum Corner, VariQuest® brings you the Opinion Writing Unit for Intermediate Classrooms.

Q: What do you get when you cross a writing-intensive workshop with visual and kinesthetic learning? A: VariQuest's & The Curriculum Corner's Punctuation Writing Unit In conjunction with The Curriculum Corner, VariQuest Visual & Kinesthetic Learning Tools has developed a punctuation unit of study focused on primary classrooms. Punctuation is a unit that should be taught within the context of real writing, and can be very effective when presented within the framework of a workshop model. However, more hands-on activities that accompany direct instruction can certainly help to increase student engagement and retention for young learners.