Public Speaking, for homeschoolers

Someone was asking about this on the WTM boards, so I thought I'd share a bit about what we have done.

A couple years ago, a few families from our group participated in a local science fair for homeschoolers. Each child was given a chance to talk about their project, but very few were able to do more than mumble a couple words. A friend and I were struck with the same concern, and idea.

We came up with a public speaking group. After tossing around several rules, regulations, and restrictions, we backed off and made it as simple as possible.

All ages, grades, and abilities are welcome. Although we offer seasonal ideas, you are welcome to speak on any topic. We have not found the need to set time limits or split our group into younger/older ages, although this might be necessary as the group grows.

The youngest kids, even down to two or three year olds, will usually do a show and tell, or answer leading questions about their favorite book. Older kids sometimes read passages from a book, recite a poem, read from a composition, or give an oral report on a science or history topic they are studying.

We meet once each month at a local church. The kids help with setting up and cleaning up the room. Families take turns bring a simple snack.

With seven to nine families participating, we usually spend at least half an hour with the speaking portion, then have free play and snacks for another hour.

For now, this set up is working very well for us. I hope that as our kids get older, we might have some interested in formal types of speech, such as impromptu or persuasive speaking, or debate.

After doing this program for a year we held our own science fair, and the differences in the kids' speaking abilities was amazing.

I hope this gives you some ideas you could use with your own group!