Your child can solve the problem. Can they explain it to the room?
Technical skills build the future. Communication skills lead it.
A leadership and communication class with groups for grades 3 to 12, live online. Your child learns to read something carefully, decide whether it holds up, and defend what they think in front of people who disagree. No matter what they pursue after graduation, these skills will matter.
What your child makes this year
- A proposal for an idea of their own, presented to a group.
- An opinion piece, defended in a debate, arguing the side they were handed.
- A plan for a problem that has already gone wrong, defended under hard questions.
- A full set of writing for a project of their own, presented publicly.
Laid out like the one page summaries students write every week.
The gap that keeps growing
A student who can solve a problem but cannot explain it hits a limit. That gap compounds in group projects, in interviews, in any room where your child needs to be heard. This course closes it.
What school already covers
Getting the right answer. Writing for a teacher who already knows the subject. Presenting to classmates who have to be there.
What this course covers
Judging whether an argument is any good before repeating it. Being understood by someone who is not an expert. Holding a position under questioning, and reevaluating the part they cannot defend.
The year, in four quarters
Each quarter adds one demand, ends in a piece of writing, and asks your child to stand behind it in public.
The Visionary
Coming up with an idea and making the case for it.
What they learn
Picking a problem they actually care about. Getting an audience interested right away. Explaining something complicated to someone who knows nothing about it.
What they write
A proposal for an idea of their own.
How they defend it
A presentation to the group.
The Diplomat
Debate, and the questions new technology raises. Weighing an argument they did not choose.
What they learn
The difference between an opinion and an argument: a point, the evidence under it, and the reasoning between them. How to spot a weak argument.
What they write
An opinion piece, the kind a newspaper would run.
How they defend it
A live debate where they are handed a side, often the one they disagree with.
The Strategist
Making a call before all the facts are in, then delivering bad news without losing people's trust.
What they learn
Telling the truth with numbers. Deciding what to say before anyone has the full picture. One assignment is written in class, with no AI and no notes.
What they write
A plan of action built from messy, incomplete information.
How they defend it
A mock press conference.
The Founder
The final project. A full campaign for something of their own.
What they learn
Sounding like themselves across very different kinds of writing. Writing to someone busy and important. Holding an audience through a long presentation.
What they write
The proposal, a public announcement, and a recommendation.
How they defend it
A public presentation, with questions from the audience.
Three habits, every week, all year
Students read a serious article at home, then come to class ready to discuss it and defend what they took from it. That second part cannot be faked or handed to a computer.
The Executive Briefing
Homework, every week
One article on business, technology, or the news, boiled down to a single page before class.
- The main pointWhat the writer is arguing, in one sentence of their own.
- The evidenceTwo things the writer leans on, and where one came from.
- The blind spotSomething the writer never dealt with.
- The discussion questionA question that gets the whole group talking. Students learn to ask ones that open up a debate, not ones with a yes or no answer.
Summing up is the easiest part, so it earns the fewest points. Finding what the writer left out earns the most.
The Boardroom Seminar
In class, every other week
A discussion run like a business meeting. The teacher chairs, the students are the board, and every claim has to be backed up by pointing at the article.
The teacher opens with a student's question, tracks who has not spoken, and closes by asking someone to make the best case for the side they argued against.
Understanding gets proven in front of classmates, not checked on a worksheet. Skimming shows.
The Hot Seat
In class, non-seminar weeks only
Two or three students get a question they did not see coming, about the reading or their own project. Camera on, no notes, answer on the spot.
Graded on composure and specifics, never on being right.
Answering a question nobody prepared you for is the one thing no tool can do for them. So they practice it weekly.
Articles come from magazines and newspapers like Wired, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and TechCrunch, chosen to suit their age and swapped out as the news changes.
What changes, by grade
Same four quarters, same three habits. What changes is the length, the reading level, and the thinking: first telling an argument apart from information, then testing whether it holds, then deciding what to do about it.
Nerve and habit
A child who has spoken up and been listened to many times stops treating it as scary. That is the goal at this age.
- Speaks to a group without reading off a page.
- Tells what an article says apart from what it is arguing. Everything later depends on this one.
- Asks a question worth answering instead of waiting to be called on.
- Says when something does not add up, instead of assuming the adult who wrote it is right.
- Answers a question on the spot, unprepared.
- Argues a side they do not agree with, and discovers that people who disagree have reasons.
- Writes plenty on their own, more than the older groups, because they are still building the basics.
How the year is sized at this level
- Weekly page
- Main point, one piece of evidence, one question
- Reading
- Short news and science pieces for this age, plus simplified adult articles
- Hot Seat
- A short answer, with a moment to think first
- Quarter 1
- A one page proposal
- Quarter 2
- A short opinion piece
- Quarter 3
- A one page "what happened and what now"
- Quarter 4
- A three part project
You will notice it at the dinner table first. They start finishing a whole thought instead of trailing off.
Structure and reasoning
The age where opinions get strong and the reasoning under them stays thin. The year works on the reasoning.
- Makes a case that holds up: a clear point, real evidence, an honest answer to the strongest objection.
- Finds what a writer left out. It is the hardest part of the weekly assignment and carries the most points.
- Judges whether a source is worth believing: who wrote it, what they wanted, what they left unsaid.
- Traces a number back to where it came from.
- Recognizes a bad argument used on them, and stops using one themselves.
- Takes a question they did not see coming and answers it without notes.
- Argues the side they oppose and explains why that side believes it.
- Writes to a deadline without falling apart when the information is incomplete.
How the year is sized at this level
- Weekly page
- All four parts
- Reading
- Adult articles, some simplified
- Hot Seat
- A cold question, no warning
- Quarter 1
- A full written proposal
- Quarter 2
- A full opinion piece
- Quarter 3
- A plan of action
- Quarter 4
- A complete project package
Where it shows up: class presentations, science fair, student government, debate, and the first time a teacher says they sounded like an adult.
Judgment and authority
They are about to be judged by adults who do not know them: admissions officers, interviewers, supervisors. This is a year of practice for that conversation.
- Presents to a group of adults and handles skeptical follow up questions without losing the thread.
- Changes their mind when the evidence says to, and can say what would change it. That habit is the difference between thinking and defending an opinion they already had.
- Judges an argument on its merits, not on whether they like where it lands. Including a smooth one written by a computer.
- Backs up their own claims, and says plainly which ones they cannot.
- Explains their own work, whether code, research, robotics, or a business idea, so someone outside the field can act on it.
- Uses AI in the open: says what they used it for, and defends every change they made.
- Writes quickly under pressure with incomplete facts, and stands behind it.
- Tells the story of their own work in a way that carries into interviews and applications.
How the year is sized at this level
- Weekly page
- All four parts, adult sources
- Reading
- Adult articles, nothing simplified
- Hot Seat
- A cold question, with follow ups
- Quarter 1
- A full proposal with sources
- Quarter 2
- A full opinion piece
- Quarter 3
- A plan of action with the numbers behind it
- Quarter 4
- A complete project package
Where it shows up: college and scholarship interviews, internship applications, leadership roles, and every conversation where an adult decides how seriously to take them.
Where AI fits
Your child is going to use these tools. Banning them teaches kids to hide it. We teach them to check the work and answer for what they hand in.
- Using it is allowedStudents may use AI on any assignment unless that week says otherwise.
- Saying so is requiredEvery assignment includes one line: what they used it for, and what they changed.
- Defending it is the testAny sentence can be questioned out loud. "I don't know, it wrote that" is the only answer that fails.
- Two things are always their ownThe Hot Seat, and any writing done in class.
- One assignment requires itOn the final project, the announcement must be AI drafted first. Students turn in both versions and defend every change.
We do not ban it. We require them to say they used it and defend what they changed, because checking the work is the skill they will be hired for.
Students still write plenty on their own, the younger ones most of all.
What is left at the end
A year produces a body of work, a public performance, and a way of thinking.
The portfolio
A proposal, an opinion piece, a plan of action, a full project package, and a stack of thirty-plus weekly one-pagers. Every piece revised after being defended out loud. Concrete communication skills useful for future college applications, scholarship interviews, and internships.
The showcase
A public presentation with real questions from a real audience. Four smaller ones lead up to it, so it is not their first.
The thinking
A year of being asked where a number came from, what the writer left out, and what would change their mind. Your child stops taking arguments at face value, including their own.
Questions parents ask
Is my fourth grader really reading The Wall Street Journal?
Not the full articles. Younger students get short news and science pieces written for their age, plus simplified versions of the adult ones. The weekly page is the same at every level, so a child who starts young arrives in high school already fluent in it.
My child is shy. Is the Hot Seat going to be miserable?
Quiet students tend to value it most. It is short, it comes around often, and nothing rides on any one turn. The youngest get a moment to gather their thoughts first. Graded on composure and specifics, never on being right, so there is no way to fail by not knowing something.
Are you just going to let them use AI to write everything?
They can use it, they have to say so, and then they defend what they handed in, sentence by sentence, in front of people. "I don't know, it wrote that" is the only answer that fails. Class writing and the Hot Seat are always their own.
How much homework is it?
One article and one page of writing each week. Heavier before a quarter project is due. Built to fit alongside a full school load and activities like competition math or coding.
Won't the debates get political?
Students are handed a side rather than choosing one, which is the safeguard. They are graded on the argument and the evidence, not the conclusion. Topics stay on technology, business, and the questions those raise.
Can a student join partway through?
Usually. Each quarter stands on its own, so the natural entry points are the second and third. Get in touch and we will tell you what your child needs to catch up on.
How does a speaking class work online?
Better than most parents expect. Classes are small, cameras are on, and every student speaks every week. There is no back row to hide in. The discussion, the Hot Seat, and all four presentations happen live, and the showcase is online so family can watch from anywhere.
Reserve a seat
Classes are small so every student speaks every week. Tell us your child's grade and we will point you to the right one.
learn@thinking-feet.com · Call (980) 292-1441 · Text (980) 272-1639