Ages 6–16 · One hour · Hands on the tools

Teach a kid
to fix it.

Real household tools, real household repairs, taught one hour at a time. Fourteen classes take a kid from this is a Phillips to patching drywall, swapping a toilet flapper and hanging a TV on the studs.

ESA families welcome Empowerment Scholarship Account · ask about reimbursement
Class length
60 minutes
Group size
Up to 10 kids
Parents
Stay in the room
Every kid
Touches the tool

What the hour actually looks like

Same shape every time

Kids settle faster when the hour is predictable. Every class — drywall, toilets, doors — runs on the same five beats, so a kid who has been once already knows what happens next.

Tool Rules

Call-and-response, out loud, every single class. Nobody skips it and nobody is too old for it.

The tool, up close

What it is, what it is actually for, and the one way people get hurt with it.

Stations

Small groups rotate through hands-on stations. No demo-only hour — everybody drives a screw, patches a hole, turns a valve.

Stop and Ask

Scenario cards. “The drill is smoking.” “Water is coming up, not down.” Knowing when to go get an adult is a taught skill, not a personality trait.

Count them back

Every tool counted back into the box out loud before anyone leaves. It is how the shop stays safe and how kids learn that cleanup is part of the job.

The curriculum · 14 classes · 3 levels

From the toolbox to the whole house

Classes work standalone — take one, take all fourteen. Taken in order they build: you cannot patch drywall until you can measure, and you cannot hang a TV until you understand anchors.

Seven screw drive types drawn head-on: flathead, Phillips, Pozidriv, Robertson square, hex, Torx and tri-wing.
Class 3The shape on top tells you the driver. Kids learn to look at the head before they reach for anything — which is why Phillips and Pozidriv get taught side by side.
Level 1

Foundations

The four classes everything else stands on.
01Meet the ToolboxName every tool in the box, and learn which end to hold.
02Measure TwiceRead a tape and mark a line someone else could cut to.
03Fasteners 101Nail, screw or bolt — pick the right one and know why the pilot hole matters.
04Power Drill & DriverBits, clutch, both hands on the tool. Earn the drill license.Ages 10+ · Drill license
Level 2

Real Repairs

The five things that actually break in a house.
05Anchors & Hanging ThingsFind the stud, pick the anchor, hang something that stays up.
06Fixing a Hole in DrywallMatch the fix to the hole, fill a ding, feather it, set a mesh patch.
07How to Hang a TVStuds, brackets, and the weight rating nobody reads.
08Toilet TroubleshootingOpen the tank, name every part, stop it running.
09Sink TroubleshootingClear the trap, work the shut-off, fix the stopper that will not seal.
Level 3

Finish & Independence

Making it look right, then doing it without you.
10Doors & HardwareStop the squeak, fix the sagging door, swap a handle, make it latch.
11Caulk, Spackle & Paint Touch-UpThe finish work that decides whether a repair still looks like one.
12Flat-Pack & Furniture AssemblyRead the diagram, build it square, then strap it to the wall.
13Home Safety BasicsBreakers, GFCI and the water shut-off — what to do before the adult arrives.
14Capstone Fix-It DayBring something broken. Diagnose it, fix it, explain how you knew.Bring a broken thing

Look inside a class

Drawn on purpose

Every class is built around figures drawn from scratch for this course — not clip art and not a manufacturer's catalogue page. Kids get the printed sheet to take home, so the explanation does not leave when the hour does.

One inch of a tape measure drawn up close, showing how line length maps to a half, quarter, eighth and sixteenth of an inch.
Class 2The shorter the line, the smaller the piece. Six-to-nines work in whole inches, ten-to-thirteens to the quarter, fourteen-plus to the sixteenth.
Cross-sections through wood comparing how a nail, a screw and a bolt each hold two pieces together.
Class 3A nail is squeezed, a screw bites, a bolt clamps. Cut the wood open and the difference stops being a vocabulary lesson.
Cutaway of a bathroom sink showing the lift rod, clevis, spring clip, pivot rod and ball, and the pop-up stopper.
Class 9Pull the rod up and the plug goes down, because the pivot rod is a lever and the ball is its fulcrum — the same idea as the hammer claw from Class 1. Nearly every pop-up complaint in a house comes down to one screw.
Labelled drawing of a plumb bob showing the string, eye, cap, body and point, with a note on each part.
Class 1A weight on a string was the answer long before anything needed electricity. The fourteen-to-sixteens get the proof: W = mg, a string can only pull along its own length, so at rest it lies exactly along gravity.

Why this matters for a parent: the curriculum is written down — a run of show to the minute, a materials list, and the specific things that go wrong. You are not booking an hour of someone winging it.

Build days · 90 minutes · Something to take home

Leave with a thing you made

Standalone build sessions, no prior class required. Kits come pre-cut — there are no power saws in any youth session — so the ninety minutes go into layout, fastening and finishing.

A

Planter Box

Cedar. Measure, square it up, fasten, plant it the same week.

Ages 6–16
B

Bird House

Angles, a roof that sheds water, and a hole sized for a specific bird.

Ages 6–16
C

Tool Tote

The box the rest of the course lives in. Handle, dividers, their name on it.

Ages 6–16
D

Step Stool

First build that has to hold a person. We talk about why that changes things.

Ages 6–16
E

Sawhorse

Splayed legs, gussets, real geometry. Built in pairs because it takes four hands.

Ages 10–16 · In pairs
F

Key & Mail Rack

Goes straight on the wall at home — which means it has to find a stud.

Ages 6–16
G

Bird Feeder

Build it, hang it, and learn where it has to go so birds don't hit the window.

Ages 6–16

New · Car Basics elective · Ages 10–16

The other thing
nobody teaches

A car is the first expensive, dangerous thing a teenager gets handed, and most of them are handed the keys without ever being shown how to look at it. These classes start at ten, not six — the rest of the course runs from six.

Car Basics 1

The Five-Point Walkaround

60 minutes · Ages 10–16 · On my car

Pilots walk all the way round an aircraft before every flight, in the same order, looking for anything different from last time. A driver can do the same in five minutes. Tires, lights, glass, fluids, dashboard — find the tire sticker, check tread with a penny, read the fluid levels, sort the warning lights by color.

The rule is check, don’t fix. Nobody adds air, oil or coolant. Nothing gets topped up, tightened or repaired. They look, read and report, and an adult decides what happens next. The hood is adult-opened and the only thing a student pulls out is the dipstick.

Take homeThe Walkaround Check Card, and their penny.

Special Session H

Swap Your Wiper Blades

60 minutes · Ages 10–16 · On your own car

The first time they fix something on a car instead of just checking it — and a deliberately small one. Engine off, hood shut, no fluids. Tell a worn blade from a good one, work out whether your car takes whole blades or refills, get the old one off and the new one on without letting the arm snap back onto the glass, then test it on wet glass.

One family per car with an adult at that car throughout, and I move between them. Everyone writes down their own sizes so the next swap takes ten minutes on the driveway.

You bringNew blades sized for your car, unopened and with the receipt · the owner’s manual · a bath towel. A week before, you get a sheet telling you how to find the right size.

Still being written: a flat-tire class and a dead-battery class. Pricing for the car elective is [ set the price ] — ask when you book and I’ll tell you what the next date is.

Three age bands · One curriculum

A six-year-old and a
sixteen-year-old, same hour

Every class is written in three bands. Same subject, different job, different tool in hand — so siblings can take the same class without one of them being bored or lost.

6–9

Helpers

Name it, hold it, hand it over correctly. Hand tools only. Success is vocabulary and grip.

10–13

Builders

Run the step start to finish with an adult watching. Earns the drill license.

14–16

Apprentices

Diagnose before they touch anything, then do the repair and explain why it worked.

Earned, not given

License · Ages 10+

Drill & Driver

Earned in Class 4 by demonstrating it, not by turning ten. Required before any drill touches a hand.

License · Ages 14+

Utility Knife

The highest bar in the course. In every class below it, the knife is instructor-only — no exceptions, no “just this once.”

For parents

How we keep this safe

The honest answer to “are you handing my kid a power tool?” is: eventually, once they have shown they can, with an adult at their shoulder. Here is everything else.

Parents stay

Not a drop-off

You stay in the room. Bring a coffee and a chair — most parents end up learning the drywall patch too.

Never

No power saws

No saw of any kind in any youth session. Every build-day kit arrives pre-cut.

Gated

Licenses before tools

Drill at 10+, utility knife at 14+, and both are earned by demonstration in class before they are used.

Every class

Stop and Ask cards

We rehearse the moment it goes wrong. Kids practice walking away and getting an adult — out loud, in front of everyone.

Every class

Eye protection

Provided and worn by everyone in the room, including the adults, including during cleanup.

Before you start

Waiver & media release

Signed once per family before the first class. You get it to read beforehand, in plain English, and it says exactly what the risks are.

Dates

Classes go out a few weeks ahead

Tell me your kids’ ages and I will send the next few dates that suit them. Online booking opens the moment the schedule is posted.

Ask for the next dates

Pricing

What it costs

Materials are included in every class price — no kit fee at the door, nothing to buy beforehand. The one exception is the wiper-blade session, where you buy blades for your own car; everything else is on me.

Sibling discount and the six-week series price are set per cohort — ask when you book.
FormatLengthWhat you getPrice
Single class60 minAny one of the fourteen. The easiest way to try it.$35PER STUDENT
Six-week series6 × 60 minOne level, start to finish, same group of kids each week.$210PER STUDENT
Build day90 minMaterials and the finished object to take home.$75PER STUDENT
Homeschool day program3 hrWeekday mornings, three classes back to back.$105PER STUDENT
Private event2 hrBirthdays, scout troops, co-ops. We come to you, up to 10 kids.$650FLAT RATE

Who is teaching

Built by an engineer
who is also a dad

Instructor
Soroosh Majidi
Day job
Aerospace systems engineer
Field
Crewed spacecraft & habitats
Kids of his own
Four
Based in
Phoenix, Arizona

I spend my working life on systems where a person's safety depends on a procedure being written clearly enough that someone can follow it under pressure. Then I come home to four kids who cannot hang a picture.

That gap is what this is. Not a craft class and not a woodworking club — a short, repeatable course in the tools and repairs that every adult is quietly expected to already know, taught with the same care I would put into a procedure somebody has to get right the first time.

Every class is written down: a run of show to the minute, a materials list, the specific things that go wrong and what to do about them. My own kids were the first students, and they are still the toughest audience I have.

Before you book

Questions parents ask

Do I have to stay?

Yes. Classes are parent-attended, not drop-off. You do not have to participate — plenty of parents sit at the back and answer email — but you stay in the room.

My kid has never touched a tool. Is that a problem?

That is the intended student. Class 1 starts at “this is a Phillips and this is a flathead.” Nobody is behind.

Do the classes have to be taken in order?

No. Every class stands alone. They do build on each other, so if you are taking several, going in order gets more out of them — but you can start anywhere.

Can my 7-year-old and my 14-year-old take the same class?

Yes, and it works well. Each class is written in three age bands, so they are working on the same subject at different levels in the same room.

We use an Arizona ESA. Does that work here?

Instruction and curriculum are both allowable ESA expenses, so classes like these are the kind of thing an account is meant to cover. Say so when you book and I will walk you through the receipt side and what your account needs from me.

What should they bring?

Closed-toe shoes and hair tied back. Everything else — tools, materials, eye protection — is here.

Will you come to us?

Yes, for private events, co-ops, scout troops and birthday parties. Two hours, up to ten kids, we bring the whole shop. You provide a table and a floor we can sweep.

What if we have to cancel?

Plans change — just tell me. Cancel any time up to 24 hours before and there is nothing to pay. Inside 24 hours I have usually already cut the materials for your child, so let me know as early as you can. There is no cancellation fee.

Next step

Come build something

Tell me your kids' ages and what you want them to be able to do, and I will tell you which class to start with. If you use an Arizona ESA, say so and I will walk you through it.

Email
soroosh@kidstradeacademy.com
Phone / text
(480) 256-2381
Where
[ neighborhood or venue ], Phoenix AZ
Booking
[ booking link goes here ]
ESA
Using an Arizona ESA? Say so and I will sort the paperwork with you.