The things people actually ask

Are you a licensed school?

No. Socratic Guides AI Academy is in formation and is not a licensed school. Pilot operations are subject to Tennessee regulatory review and approval. Until that is complete, families remain responsible for their own compliance with Tennessee homeschool or umbrella-school requirements, and we will say so plainly in any enrollment conversation.

What will it cost?

Tuition for the pilot cohort has not been set, because the pilot budget is not yet closed. The intent is that cost is not the filter: sponsor and donor funding is being raised specifically so that seats can be offered on need-based terms. When numbers exist, they will be published on this site rather than quoted privately at different levels to different families.

What ages is this for?

The first cohort is planned for roughly ages 5 to 7, with the age band intended to expand as the program grows and as evidence supports it. The premise is that the habit of questioning can be started earlier than most schooling assumes. If your student is outside that band and the fit seems obvious to you, write anyway and say why.

Why start as young as 5 to 7?

This is a pilot hypothesis, not a settled position. The working claim is that the recursive-habit of questioning — follow the answer with a better question — is a motor skill of the mind, and like other motor skills it is easier to lay down early than to retrofit later. We chose 5 to 7 to test that claim at the age band where most schooling has not yet taught a child that answers are the point. Status: hypothesis, untested in our setting. Falsifier: if the first cohort cannot sustain a guided line of questioning at a developmentally fair bar, the age premise is wrong and we will say so and revise.

What would make you expand to older ages?

Expansion is gated on evidence, not demand. Before adding an age band we would want to see, from our own cohort records: (1) a guide-observed baseline of questioning that holds across students, not only the strongest one or two; (2) family-reported carryover — the student keeps asking at home, unprompted; and (3) a matched-comparison signal on whatever outcome we commit to measuring for that band, with the result surviving a pre-registered prediction rather than a post-hoc read. If we reach those bars, we extend upward. If we do not, we hold the band, publish the negative result, and keep the program small until the evidence moves.

Is this religious or secular?

Neither posture is imposed. Religious questions are treated as real questions, examined with the same rigor as any other, and students are not steered toward or away from a conclusion. We do not run devotional instruction, and we do not run anti-religious instruction. A guide who cannot hold that line is not a guide here.

How is the AI companion constrained?

It is configured to withhold conclusions. It returns questions, structure, counterexamples, and sources; it does not produce finished answers, essays, or solutions for the student to submit. Sessions are logged and reviewable by the family. A human guide is present for the work — the AI is an instrument the guide and student use together, never a substitute for either.

Does the AI see or store my child's personal information?

The design intent is that no student personal data is used to train any external model, and that transcripts stay in the Academy's own records. Specific vendors and retention terms will be published before any student session runs. See the privacy page for what applies to this website today.

What about the 41% memory figure?

It came from small external studies and it is not our result. We treat it as an untested hypothesis for our setting and label it that way everywhere it appears. If our own matched-cohort recall testing shows no reliable difference, we will publish that.

Can we visit?

There is no site to visit yet. The Academy is in formation and has not secured an instructional facility; the founder's home is private family property, not a school location, and is not open to visitors. When a day-use site is secured, visits will be scheduled and purpose-specific. We do not run tours, retreats, camps, or residencies.

How small is small?

The first cohort is capped so that every guide knows every student. Growth follows published evidence, not demand.

What if I think the argument is wrong?

Say so. The weakest point in the case is the conversation we most want to have, and that is true for parents, sponsors, and critics equally.

Still unanswered? Write to us — a person reads every message.