We recently attended a speech and debate regional competition put on by the National Christian Forensic & Communication Association or NCFCA. Our homeschool group is considering starting a team. Here is the link if you want to check it out yourself:
http://www.ncfca.org/
The competition was very impressive. Kids 9-19 compete in different kinds of speeches and debates. I went with some members of our homeschool group down to Indy to observe for the day. My daughters thoroughly enjoyed watching. My oldest is definitely ready to sign up.
I was honestly blown away by the sessions that I watched. These kids were poised, well-spoken, professional, knowledgeable and extremely well prepared. The boys were in suits and the girls were in nice skirts. They were toting around large crates of research and binders. The debates were intense. You could tell that the participants knew their topic. The speeches that I witnessed were some of the creative/ theatrical type. Some were dramatic, some informative and one in particular was so funny that I couldn't stop laughing. I sat in on that one with 3- 12 year old girls and they talked about that speech all night.
If you have kids interested in speech and debate, I would highly recommend the NCFCA. It is a big commitment. They meet and research all fall to prepare for competition season. Some people go wild and travel far and wide to competitions, but you don't have to. I know we couldn't commit to that much. I think any student who is planning a career in a field where speeches, presentations, research, interviews or teamwork are involved would benefit from being a part of this organization.
Bookworm has competed on a First Lego League (FLL) robotics team for years. She has loved it. FLL is a wonderful organization. The NCFCA seems like a natural progression for high school for her. She can take what she learned doing research and public speaking from Lego robotics and amp up into a higher level program. It will help prepare her for college and beyond.
She still gets her robotics in. My husband is teaching a high school robotics class in our home.
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