Curriculum

How will we progress throughout the year?

• We always start with the basics. We teach every kid the fundamentals of forming a strong argument and then supporting that argument throughout a debate round.

• We then move on to teaching effective research strategies. Debate resolutions are typically ambiguous. This means learning as much as possible about a debate topic to handle the round!

• Finally we teach off-the-cuff thinking. Besides a prewritten case (which students write by themselves) every speech in a debate round is improvised. We help kids learn to think on their feet and eloquently express their thoughts in argument forms.

What kind of debate do we do?

Our curriculum teaches our students the basics of Public Forum (PF) Debate. This is the same type of debate practiced at the high school and is popular country wide too.

Public Forum debate is set up in a 2v2 format, meaning students will be partnered up with other students and debate other partnerships. This teaches them the crucial skills of teamwork, communication, leadership, and organization. Partnerships will change throughout the year and will be assigned by instructors, to ensure that students learn to work with different people. This is the same system we do at the High School, and ensures that students find someone they work well with instead of just partnering with their best friends. (Before assigning partnerships, we will take into account student opinions and never partner them with someone they explicitly say they do not want to work with)

PF topics are focused on hot-button issues, so students will stay educated and up-to-date on current news and events. This is not only a great way to build a basis background knowledge for both school and later in life, but also teaches kids to digest what they read and hear effectively.

Overall, debate is a great stepping stone to get ready for education and life after middle school!