AI Course/PARENT_MENTOR_GUIDE.md

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PARENT_MENTOR_GUIDE.md

PARENT_MENTOR_GUIDE.md

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Parent / Mentor Guide

How To Support Without Micromanaging

Your job is to create structure, attention, and encouragement. Your job is not to become the student's compiler.

Helpful support:

  • Ask the student to explain what they are building this week.
  • Ask what changed after an experiment.
  • Ask what confused them and how they investigated it.
  • Celebrate persistence, not just correctness.

Unhelpful support:

  • Taking over the keyboard too quickly
  • Turning every session into a quiz
  • Treating errors like failure instead of part of the process

Weekly Questions To Ask

Use 3 to 5 of these each week:

  • What was the main thing you built?
  • What part felt easy?
  • What part felt confusing?
  • What did you change on purpose?
  • What result surprised you?
  • If you had to teach this week to a friend, what would you say?
  • What do you want help with next?

How To Evaluate Progress

Look for these signals:

  • The student can explain code they ran.
  • The student is changing code, not just copying it.
  • The student is getting calmer around bugs.
  • The student can compare two experiments.
  • The student starts using vocabulary more precisely.

Do not expect polished expertise after 12 weeks. Expect growing confidence, clearer explanations, and stronger experimentation habits.

How To Handle Frustration

If the student is stuck:

  1. Ask them to show the smallest failing example.
  2. Ask what they expected to happen.
  3. Ask what one next test would be.

If the student is deeply frustrated, stop chasing the full solution. Reduce the goal. A smaller win is better than an exhausted session.

What A Good Week Looks Like

A good week does not need to be perfect. It should include:

  • one finished deliverable
  • one concrete experiment
  • one written reflection
  • one short explanation in the student's own words

Final Project Support

During the final two weeks, help the student protect scope. The best final project is not the flashiest one. It is the one that gets completed, explained, and improved thoughtfully.

Co-Author Feedback

Jake should be treated as a contributor, not just a consumer. Ask for feedback in two lanes:

  • Course feedback: Was this week well-paced, clear, interesting, and challenging enough?
  • Product feedback: Did OnPoint help or get in the way?

Useful weekly prompt:

  • What should we keep?
  • What should we change?
  • What should we add?
  • What should we remove?

If the student gives vague feedback, ask for one specific example from the week.