A Parent’s Guide to Smarter Learning with AI

written by Nabeel Tirmazi

When my son started his A-Levels this year, I persuaded him to chose Law with Economics and Business, a bold choice for someone who’d never read a legal text before. He had no idea what statute, precedent, or mens rea even meant. Like most beginners, he saw law as a wall of complex words and endless cases, while thinking to change the subject to something easier and ‘relatable’.

As a parent who works with AI tools daily, I wanted to make his first experience with the subject smoother, and smarter. Instead of handing him a pile of notes, I taught him how to learn Law strategically, using NotebookLM, Grok, and Gemini, guided by one core mindset: Think like a lawyer, not like a memorizer.

Step 1: Breaking the Textbook Down

The first rule I gave him: “Never upload the whole textbook at once.”

Law is dense, and each chapter introduces new terms, examples, and arguments. If you throw it all into one notebook, even the AI gets confused.

So I split his Law textbook into clean PDFs, one chapter per file. I gave him idea to use Ilovepdf.com to extract chapters from the text book.

Each chapter became its own world: The English Legal System, Sources of Law, Criminal Liability, and so on.

This structure helped NotebookLM focus better and made each notebook manageable, one concept, one learning goal.

Step 2: Building the “Learning Ecosystem”

Once the PDFs were ready, I didn’t stop at the textbook. I asked Grok and Gemini to find extra resources related to each chapter, open-access articles, short YouTube lectures, and explainers.

I uploaded those into the same notebook, creating a small “learning ecosystem” for every topic.

Each notebook now had:

• The chapter PDF
• A few relevant external readings or videos
• Space for AI chats, quizzes, and summaries

It felt like having a digital tutor that stayed inside the topic boundaries, not wandering off into unrelated details.

Step 3: Preparing Before Class: Learning to Ask, Not Absorb

Before each lecture, I told my son to spend 20–30 minutes on NotebookLM.

The goal wasn’t to learn everything, it was to prime his mind with curiosity.

Here’s the pre-class routine I suggested:

1. Watch the NotebookLM video overview of that chapter.
2. Read the summary and note three confusing points.
3. Ask the AI questions like:
   • “What debates exist around this topic?”
   • “What should I listen for in class to understand this better?”
   • “Can you give me a real-life example of this law?”

By doing this, he walked into class already curious and mentally engaged. He wasn’t a blank slate anymore, he was ready to connect the dots.

Step 4: After Class: Turning Notes Into Knowledge

After each lecture, I guided him through three simple NotebookLM tasks:

1. Summarize his class notes in plain English.
2. Ask NotebookLM to compare his notes with the chapter source:
   • “What concepts did I miss?”
   • “Explain this section more clearly.”
3. Generate practice scenarios:
   • “Give me two short examples where this rule applies.”

That’s when his real learning happened. Instead of rereading, he was refining and applying, the key to mastering Law.

Step 5: The Study Toolkit: Quizzes, Mind Maps, and Overviews

We created a consistent rhythm for every topic:

• Quiz: “Generate 10 questions based on this chapter.”
• Mind Map: “Show how the main ideas connect.”
• Audio Summary: “Make a short explanation I can listen to before bed.”

These became his three anchors: test, visualize, and review.
By repeating them weekly, he built both comprehension and recall.

Step 6: The “Neural Triangulation Strategy”

Somewhere along this journey, I came across a Reddit post that introduced something called the Neural Triangulation Strategy.

It instantly clicked with me. The post described how asking questions from multiple perspectives, analytical, creative, and skeptical, can significantly reduce confirmation bias and deepen understanding.

I loved that idea and adapted it for my son as the Three Hats Rule.

Step 7: Wearing the Three Hats

I told him, “Every time you study a new topic, wear these three hats.”

1. The Analyst: Study it like a strict researcher. Ask, “What’s the evidence and logic behind this?”
2. The Strategist: Think like a creative planner. Ask, “How can this rule apply in real-life situations?”
3. The Skeptic: Play devil’s advocate. Ask, “Where might this argument fall apart?”

That small shift changed how he read. He wasn’t just consuming information, he was challenging it.
It trained him to think the way real lawyers do: always testing assumptions from multiple angles.

Step 8: Weekly Study Rhythm

Here’s the full weekly cycle we followed:

• Day 1: Pre-class warm-up (overview video + three questions).
• Day 2: Attend lecture.
• Day 3: Review class notes and refine with NotebookLM.
• Day 4: Quiz and mind map.
• Day 5: Apply the Three Hats or Trio Frameworks in discussion or writing.

This rhythm combined structure with variety, no burnout, no cramming.

Step 10: Why It Works

I explained to him that neuroscience backs this up.
When you look at a problem from multiple angles, analytical, creative, skeptical, you activate different brain systems: executive control, default mode, and salience networks.

That mental “cross-talk” builds stronger understanding and retention.
In simple terms: your brain connects dots faster when it’s challenged from different directions.

Step 11: The Results

A few weeks in, something shifted.
He wasn’t afraid of legal jargon anymore. When I asked him about “judicial precedent,” he didn’t parrot the definition. He explained it, gave an example, and then questioned whether all precedents should be binding.

That’s when I realized, he wasn’t just learning Law; he was thinking in Law.

Step 12: The Real Lesson

If you’re helping a student start something new, whether it’s Law, Economics, or Literature, here’s what I learned from this experiment:

• Structure the material before handing it to AI.
• Prime curiosity before class; reinforce understanding after.
• Don’t settle for one perspective, triangulate your thinking.

AI tools like NotebookLM, Grok, and Gemini can do amazing things, but their real power lies in how you use them.
They’re not replacements for thinking, they’re amplifiers of it.

And for my son, that meant turning Law from a textbook subject into a living conversation, one where every chapter feels like an argument waiting to be understood.

If you’ve read this far and want to try this approach for yourself or your kids, I have put together a set of AI study prompts you can use for any subject, from science to literature. These prompts follow the same method I used with my son: prepare before class, learn actively during, and think deeply afterward. You can use them with NotebookLM, Gemini, ChatGPT, or any AI tool you prefer, the goal is the same: to turn studying into real understanding, not just memorization.

BEFORE CLASS – “Prepare Your Mind”

Goal: Prime curiosity and walk into class with the right questions.

Prompts:

1. “Give me a short overview of this chapter as if I’m completely new to it.”
2. “List five key questions I should keep in mind while attending the lecture.”
3. “Explain what this topic connects to in real life ,where would I see it applied?”
4. “What are the most common misconceptions students have about this chapter?”
5. “Summarize this topic in 10 bullet points so I can preview it before class.”
6. “If I had to ask my teacher three smart questions about this topic, what should they be?”

Bonus for science subjects:

“What core formulas, definitions, or diagrams should I recognize before class?”

DURING / AFTER CLASS – “Build Understanding”

Goal: Turn class notes into clarity.

Prompts:

1. “Compare my notes with the uploaded chapter and tell me what I missed.”
2. “Summarize this material as if explaining it to a friend who missed class.”
3. “Create a 10-question quiz based on these notes ,mix easy, medium, and hard questions.”
4. “Generate a mind map linking all key terms, formulas, and examples.”
5. “Turn this topic into a short study guide with definitions, key points, and examples.”
6. “Explain this concept with a real-world analogy.”
7. “Make a 3-minute video script summarizing the main ideas.”

💡 Bonus for humanities subjects:

“Give me two opposing viewpoints about this topic and show their reasoning.”

DEEPER LEARNING – “Neural Triangulation Prompts”

Goal: Activate analytical, creative, and skeptical thinking.

Prompts:
1. Analytical Lens:

“Analyze this chapter like a research scholar checking for logical consistency and evidence.”

2. Creative Lens:

“Interpret this topic as a creative strategist ,what non-obvious connections or applications do you see?”

3. Skeptical Lens:

“Question everything in this material like a critic ,what assumptions or weaknesses do you find?”

Combo prompt:

“Give me three perspectives ,analytical, creative, and skeptical ,on this topic, then summarize where they agree or differ.”

THE TRIO FRAMEWORK – “Think Like a Team”

You can adapt your “Trio Thinking” model for any subject.

Example 1: Science – “Is this experiment valid?”

• The Researcher: Is the method sound?
• The Technician: Are the results reproducible?
• The Philosopher: What does this say about nature or causation?

Prompt:

“Use the Researcher-Technician-Philosopher trio to evaluate this experiment.”

Example 2: History – “Was this decision justified?”

• The Historian: What actually happened?
• The Ethicist: Was it morally right?
• The Economist: What were its social or financial consequences?

Prompt:

“Evaluate this historical event from the perspectives of a Historian, Ethicist, and Economist.”

Example 3: Literature – “What makes this story meaningful?”

• The Author: What was the message?
• The Critic: How effective was the storytelling?
• The Psychologist: How do the characters reflect human behavior?

Prompt:

“Analyze this story from the viewpoints of an Author, Critic, and Psychologist.”

Example 4: Economics – “Will this policy work?”

• The Analyst: What data supports it?
• The Strategist: How can it be implemented effectively?
• The Skeptic: What could go wrong?

Prompt:

“Examine this economic policy through analytical, strategic, and skeptical lenses.”

BONUS – CROSS-SUBJECT THINKING PROMPTS

These work beautifully across any discipline:

• “Explain this topic using the Feynman technique ,as if I were five.”
• “Create three analogies from different fields (e.g., sports, nature, business) to explain this concept.”
• “Generate a mind map connecting this topic to what I studied last week.”
• “Predict three questions an examiner might ask about this material.”
• “Write a short dialogue between a supporter and critic of this concept.”

REVISION CYCLE PROMPTS

Use these weekly to strengthen memory and reflection:

1. “Summarize this entire week’s learning into 10 key takeaways.”
2. “List the top 5 areas I still seem unsure about based on my quiz answers.”
3. “Create a rapid-fire Q&A list I can review in 5 minutes.”
4. “Turn this week’s lessons into a set of flashcards.”
5. “Explain this week’s content as if I were teaching it to my younger sibling.”