Homework can be difficult at any age, with some questions that students and parents simply don't know the answer to.
Recently, a mom took to Reddit using the “Funny” subreddit to share what her first-grade daughter wrote in response to one of her homework problems.
The worksheet was full of math problems that the children had to solve using various methods. One question required him to add 19 and 45 and then explain how he got his answer while the question said, “Say how you know.”
She responded to the question by writing, “I just know.” Her mother found the answer so funny that she posted a photo of the completed assignment and wrote, “I guess my daughter doesn't mind these questions.”
After the post, many people took to the comments to debate whether or not “showing your work” is a valuable skill. Some commenters recalled being upset with the concept during their own childhood.
“This makes me realize why I hated math so much when I was a kid in college,” one comment began. “WHY do I have to explain and complicate things so much more than they are? “I always learned a lot more by doing than by listening and trying to explain everything.”
Another commenter agreed, writing: “Same. I did all the calculations directly in my head. In the same way, it could explain why 1+1=2 is exactly what it is. Having to explain how you did things often involved 'lying' and describing in a much slower, longer way just to keep the teacher happy.”
Other commenters noted that although the concept may be tedious, it is necessary in other areas of life.
One commenter wrote: “I know it can be frustrating to solve the problem, especially if it's an easy problem, but the problem is that there are a lot of basic things about math that people think they understand but actually don't.” , and if we are not forced to explain our reasoning, we end up just making things up and doing calculations based on feelings. Which never works.”
Once the homework was delivered, the mother revealed in an interview with news week about what happened next.
“She came back with that answer surrounded by the teacher. “I thought it was funny because it was so typical of her, but I also always felt the same way about those math questions growing up,” he told the outlet.
Although he found his daughter's response amusing, he talked to her about it and asked her why she had written “I just know” on her homework. Her daughter's response was once again: “I don't know. “I just know.”
He added that “they talked about it until she had something better to write.” The father wasn't originally planning to share the response on social media, but after showing his daughter's response to her husband, he suggested they share it.
“Honestly, I thought it wouldn't be much,” the mother said. “I thought maybe some people would laugh and disappear.” Instead, the post went viral and received more than 11,000 upvotes.
Although she said there seemed to be “a lot of debate” and “strong opinions” on the topic, that wasn't something she intended when she first posted her daughter's response.
