Raising future-ready kids / The program

AI-Ready Families, session by session

Five live sessions over five weeks. Parents leave with their family's controls set up, a plan for each child's age, and an agreement the whole family has signed. Kids join in through a short activity at home each week.

5 sessions75–90 minutes each
Liveonline for companies, in person for schools
Up to 50 familiesper group, split by child's age
Ages 5–17five age bands
Ask about a session
week1

What your kids are actually doing with AI

Replace worry with facts: how children really use AI, and how it works underneath.

We cover

  • The latest numbers: 86% of US kids aged 9–17 use AI, mostly for looking things up and homework (Common Sense Media, Pew)
  • How a chatbot works, in plain words: it predicts the next word, so it can sound sure and still be wrong
  • Where AI already sits in your home: phones, search, smart speakers, school accounts, games
  • What kids should understand at each age, based on AI4K12 and the EC–OECD AI literacy framework

We do, live

  • The sorting game: parents become the "AI" and learn to classify from examples, then see how lopsided examples create bias
  • Each parent maps their child's current AI use on a one-page sheet

You leave with

  • A clear picture of your child's AI world
  • The age-band guide for your family

At home this week: "Spot the AI" hunt. Your child finds every device or app at home that uses AI, and you talk about what each one does.

week2

The setup lab: controls on your own phones

Bring your phone. Leave with your family's settings actually done, and an honest view of what controls can't do.

Four layers of protection, set up in order

  1. The app's own teen settings. For example, linking your account to your teen's ChatGPT, quiet hours, turning off memory, and alerts.
  2. Phone and tablet controls. Apple Screen Time, Google Family Link, Microsoft Family Safety: block or time-limit AI apps and features.
  3. An optional monitoring app, and the honest truth about what these can and can't see today.
  4. A question for the school. School accounts (like Gemini in Google Classroom) follow school settings, not yours.
AppMinimum ageWhat you can switch onWhat you can't do
ChatGPT13+Link accounts, quiet hours, memory/voice/image off, study mode, safety alertsRead the chats
GeminiUnder 13 via Family LinkTurn it on or off; email when first usedSee chats; change school settings
Copilot13+Block or time-limit through Family SafetyGet safety alerts
Meta AITeen accountsSee topic categories in Family CenterTurn the assistant off; read chats
Snapchat My AI13+Disable My AI in Family CenterSee My AI chats
Apple IntelligenceChild accountsBlock writing tools, image creation, ChatGPT extensionBlock every third-party AI app at once
Claude18+ onlyNot for children

Settings checked October 2026 and refreshed before every group, because these apps change often.

The key message: parents get alerts, not visibility, and independent tests found the alerts can fail (Common Sense Media, Oct 2026). Controls help. The conversation at home is the real protection.

week3

Learning, not cheating

Turn AI into a tutor that makes your child think, instead of a machine that hands over answers.

We cover

  • The research: AI tutors that make students work doubled learning gains, while plain answer-giving left students worse off once AI was removed (Harvard, 2025; PNAS, 2025)
  • Tutor and study modes, and how to set them as the default
  • Prompts that teach: "Don't give me the answer, ask me questions until I get it"
  • Your school's AI policy, and how to talk to teachers about it

We do, live

  • Train a simple model with free Teachable Machine on lopsided examples, then ask "why did it get it wrong?"
  • "Catch the hallucination": find the confident mistake in an AI answer

You leave with

  • A "think first, then AI" homework routine
  • A set of tutor prompts for each age

At home this week: your child solves one homework problem first, then uses AI only to check it and explains the answer back to you.

week4

The hard conversations

Be ready for the topics kids rarely bring up on their own: AI companions, fake images, pressure online and feeling low.

We cover

  • AI "companions" and emotional reliance: why experts say none under 18 (APA, AAP)
  • Deepfakes and sextortion: what's happening to children (Thorn, NCMEC) and the 48-hour takedown route
  • Warning signs: sleep changes, withdrawal, choosing AI over friends or interests
  • Privacy: what never to share with AI

We do, live

  • Practice the "you won't be in trouble" script, out loud, in pairs
  • Role-play the five questions experts recommend: "How are you using AI? Can you show me? How does it make you feel?"

You leave with

  • Conversation scripts for your child's age
  • Who to call and where to report, saved on your phone

At home this week: a 10-minute "show me" chat. Your child shows you how they use AI, and you only ask questions.

week5

Raising future-ready kids

Move from protection to preparation: the skills and ways of thinking your child will need in 5, 10 and 15 years.

We cover

  • Twenty future skills in four groups: thinking, self, people and doing (WEF Future of Jobs 2025)
  • Mental models by age, in words children understand
  • Building with AI: small projects that develop agency and imagination
  • Home habits that build thinking: the dinner question, debate night, allowing boredom

We do, live

  • Each family drafts its AI agreement, matched to each child's age
  • Plan one project your child will build with AI in the next month

You leave with

  • A signed family AI agreement to revisit each term
  • A 90-day plan of habits and one family project
  • The printable activity books: all three books, ages 5–17

After the program: a short update each quarter on what changed in the apps and their controls, so your settings stay current.

Ways to run it

For companies

A family benefit for employees, run online across offices. Full five weeks, or a single lunchtime session with the setup checklist.

For schools and parent groups

A parent evening or two-session workshop, in person. In India, linked to the new CBSE AI curriculum from Class 3.

For individual parents

Open online groups. Alumni and student rate available.

Ask about a session Back to the parent guide