Fostering the development of creative problem solving is an ongoing challenge in our schools. Students need opportunities to solve problems, think creatively, experiment, and work with data throughout the year.
Invention education is a proven way to teach disciplined inventive thinking in the classroom. Inventive thinking is necessary to build an innovative, entrepreneurial and diverse workforce to meet our country’s future needs!
Invention Education puts science, engineering design, robotics, coding, making, and other skills into action!
Our Program
The invention education curriculum is a K-8, 10-week program taught in the classroom. The Open Source curriculum, shared with us through the 34-year old Connecticut Invention Convention, is Next Generation Science Standard/Common Core aligned, and utilizes a construct that asks students to identify a problem in their own lives, or that of their families’, employ problem solving and creative thinking processes to solve the problem, develop an invention idea, and finally build a prototype of the solution.
Teachers are trained on curricular resources, then tailor the lessons to the requirements of their student body. In-school lessons are activities that can be attached to any subject, including Science, History, Math, Art, and Music coursework. About one hour a week is devoted to in-school mentoring, and the rest is done at home, often with parental help. At the end of the program, students come together to present their inventions and celebrate their creative problem-solving accomplishments.