Your First AI Conversation: Set Up Claude and Grok for Free (AI Academy for Moms, Lesson 3)

Module 1 · Lesson 3 of 5 · About 15 minutes · Free accounts

Today you set up both helpers and hand each one a real job. Have your list of three time-eaters from Lesson 1 nearby.

Step 1: Set up Claude

1. Go to claude.ai on your computer, or download the Claude app on your phone.
2. Sign up with your email or Google account. Choose the free plan.
3. You’ll land on a page with a box that says something like “How can I help you today?” That box is where you type.

Step 2: Set up Grok

1. Go to grok.com, or download the Grok app.
2. Sign up with your email, Google, Apple or X account. You can start free.
3. Same idea: there’s a box at the bottom. Type there.

Tip: put both apps next to each other on your phone’s home screen. You’ll be bouncing between them all course.

Step 3: Your first message to Claude

Pick the most annoying item on your list. Type it in like you’d text a friend who happens to be very organized. Don’t worry about wording. For example:

I have three kids, soccer Tuesday and Thursday, piano Wednesday, and my husband travels Monday to Wednesday this week. Help me figure out a dinner plan that doesn’t involve the drive-through every night.

Read what comes back. Then do the most important thing in this whole lesson: reply to it. Tell it what’s wrong. “My middle one won’t eat anything with sauce.” “Tuesday we don’t get home until 7.” Watch it fix the plan.

That back-and-forth is the whole skill. The first answer is a draft. The third answer is usually the good one.

Step 4: Your first message to Grok

Now ask Grok something that needs current information. For example:

What are moms saying this month about the best lunchboxes that actually keep food cold? Give me the top three and why.

Notice that Grok can pull in what people are posting right now. Then try the tag-team habit from Lesson 2: copy Grok’s answer, paste it into Claude, and ask, “What here might be wrong or missing?”

If something goes weird

• The answer is way too long. Say “shorter” or “just give me the list.”
• It misunderstood. Don’t start over. Just say what you meant.
• It says you’ve hit your limit. That’s the free plan’s daily cap. Switch to the other helper, or come back in a few hours.
• You want a fresh start. Click “New chat.” Each chat is separate.

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