Is your high schooler showing an interest in formal debate? Well maybe you’re thinking that she doesn’t need to get any better at arguing than she already is! Join Michael Farris as he discusses a helpful resource with author Christy Shipe, on this edition of Home School Heartbeat.
Mike Farris: Christy, you’ve created a great set of tools to help parents equip their children in formal debate. Describe it for our listeners.
Christy: Well, I have written two textbooks. The first one is called An Introduction to Policy Debate, and it’s for the beginning high school debater. It’s been out for about fifteen years, but recently we completely rewrote it so it’s in a new, fresh edition with discussion questions and exercises that help reinforce the material. And then, we just created a DVD set that goes along with this textbook, so it’s the Introduction to Policy Debate DVD set. It’s brand new, there’s a lecture that amplifies each chapter in the textbook, and there’s two full sample debate rounds on this DVD, so it’s a great resource for teachers and students alike, especially homeschool students who may not have access to a debate coach. And then finally, there’s another textbook called Taking the Next Step. It teaches more advanced debate theory and it includes both policy and value debate. And there’s also a complete teacher’s manual that goes with that textbook.
Mike Farris: Christy, it’s great to watch debate become a passion of yours, and your enthusiasm has inspired many students, some of whom I’ve coached into national champions at the college level. I’m Mike Farris.
