Kids learn AI by catching it being wrong.
Every kids' AI product has the AI grading the kid. Bot Catchers flips it: the kid grades the AI.
Kids love catching a computer in a mistake
That is the whole program. The thing kids want to do, catch it, is the thing they need to learn, check it. So every session is built around trying to prove the AI wrong, and the habit of checking comes along for free.
Under every answer sits the Truth Meter. A kid rates what Nova said: Correct, Partly right, Not sure yet, or Wrong. To call it Wrong, they have to show their work.
That work is the Two Source Rule. Important answers get checked in two places that aren't AI: a book, a trusted website, or a grown-up who knows. Another AI doesn't count. Wrong plus two sources equals a Catch, and every Catch goes in the kid's Catch Log. The cohort keeps a total, and nobody loses points. The total is the number everybody cheers.
Nova is built to be checked
Nova is the AI helper inside the NextGen Sandbox, built on Claude. It is friendly, it is helpful, and it is still wrong sometimes. Nova never claims to be sure, and it ends every fact with a "Check it:" line. Catching the misses is the whole program.
Every question a kid asks goes through four checks before they see an answer.
- Privacy check on the kid's own device. Private information is never sent and never saved.
- Question screen. The question is checked before it is answered.
- Answer with kid rules. Nova answers with rules written for 9 to 11 year olds.
- Answer screen. The answer is checked again before the kid sees it.
Each question runs through Claude three times before a kid sees an answer.
A grown-up is nearby for every session. There is a daily question cap. No browsing, no photo uploads, no chatting with other people. Parents see everything.
Eight sessions, about an hour each
Every session runs the same five steps.
- Think
- Ask Nova
- Verify
- Build
- Explain
Meet Nova
What AI is and isn't, the lab rules, why Nova has to be checked. Kids make an "AI Is / AI Isn't" poster and open their Catch Log.
First Catch
The Two Source Rule and the Truth Meter. Kids make a "Fact or Fib" family quiz and log their first real Catches.
Better Questions
The Prompt Recipe and climbing the Prompt Ladder. Kids make a 5-fact poster from their best prompt.
Helper, Not the Boss
Your ideas first, and being honest about what AI did. Kids make a short story or comic with a credit line.
Does Nova Know Philly?
Where AI is confident and wrong about your own world: your block, your rec center, Black Philadelphia history. Kids make Fact Book pages, 3 checked Philly facts each.
AI knows a lot about the world and surprisingly little about yours. Kids ask Nova about their neighborhood, a place they go every week, a Philadelphia person or event they're proud of, and a piece of Black Philadelphia history. Then they check with a grown-up who was there, a library book, the Free Library's website, a museum site, or a neighborhood organization. Some answers will be right. Some will be vague. Some will be flat wrong. Every checked fact, right or caught, becomes a Fact Book page. The lesson is not "AI is bad." It's "AI doesn't know your block unless somebody checks."
Spot the Tricks
Private info, fake pictures, what to do when something feels off. Kids make a safety tip card for a younger kid.
Build Week
Planning a project and building version 1. Kids finish their Fact Book pages.
Demo Day
Finishing, practicing, presenting. Each kid gives a 2-minute demo, the Fact Book launches, and everyone gets certified.
The Philly Kids' Fact Book
A printed zine of facts about Philadelphia, each one checked by a kid, with the kid's first name on it. Pages come out of Week 5 and get finished in Week 7.
It launches at Demo Day. Every kid gets a printed copy with their name in it. Copies also go to families, partners, and funders, so the people who helped can hold what the kids made.
What kids walk away with
By the end of Week 8, a kid can:
- Explain what a chatbot is and that it makes mistakes
- Check an answer two ways
- Write a four-part prompt
- Tell help from doing the work
- Name private info that stays out
- Spot signs a picture or story is fake
- Finish one project and explain it
That is what the certificate says. It is handed out at Demo Day with the cohort's Catch total read aloud. Level 2 (ages 11 to 13) and Level 3 (13 and up) are planned, not built.
Built, not yet run
The curriculum, the Sandbox, and Nova are built. No kid has gone through the program yet, so there are no results to report. We only report real numbers.
When the home test runs, we'll say what happened here, including what didn't work.
Help run the first cohort
Four things make the first group cohort happen. Pick the one that fits you.
A partner with space
A rec center, library, church, or school in Philadelphia with a room, a few tables, and Wi-Fi for eight sessions.
Partner with usVolunteers who work in tech
Help run a session. You get the plan and the materials. You bring what you know and sit with the kids while they check Nova's work.
VolunteerSponsors for the first cohort
Gifts pay for laptops, printed Fact Books, snacks, and certificates for the first cohort.
Sponsor a kidAdvisors
If you have run youth programs or worked on AI safety, a conversation helps. Tell us what we're missing before the first cohort.
Get in touchFamilies: the interest list is open. Put your name down and we'll email you when the first cohort has a date and a place.
Get on the interest list