Worksheet meant for nursery-aged kids so hard the answer is 'ridiculous'

23 December 2023 , 15:00

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This seemingly easy maths problem has stumped parents and pupils (Image: Facebook)

A seemingly easy maths homework question has left parents and pupils baffled.

As a school pupil, there is nothing more annoying than coming home from a long day of school to a heap of homework. Even worse is spending hours on one question you cannot solve. But most of the time mums and dads can offer their help on how to work out the difficult problem.

But one question has left many seriously scratching their heads. Studies have proved that the more you exercise your brain by solving hard puzzles and brainteasers, the smarter you tend to be. So why not brush up on your skills and see if you can figure out the answer to this seemingly easy yet hard question?

In 2017, New York mum Royce Winnick took to social media to share a photograph of her five-year-old's homework sheet after the pair were unable to work the sum out. She dubbed the questions "ridiculous" and too hard for a child of her daughter's age to work out.

A mum and daughter were left stumped by an image of a man supposed to be 'Ken' from Barbie (Facebook)

The top of the sheet asks the student to trace the letter T - both capitalised and lower case - before getting the individual to use the T-sounds in a challenging question.

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The problem-solving exercise asks students to "tap out the word in the picture and write out the sounds we hear". The four pictures showcase a bathtub, the number 10, a spinning top, and a scene of a rabbit family.

While the first answers were simply "tub", "ten", and "top", the last one showed a drawing of rabbits with no clear T-word description. Winnick's daughter initially thought the answer was rabbit, before settling on "pet". Her teacher marked her answer as "OK", despite the answer being incorrect.

Speaking to the Huffington Post, the mum said: "The real answer was 'vet' which makes no sense."

Later in the booklet the worksheet focuses on the letter K. Again, students are asked to trace the letter before having to solve a similar problem - showing a picture of a little boy, a medical kit, a family portrait, and a man dressed smartly.

Royce Winnick said the second problem "also had ridiculous answers". She added: "The answers to the two bottom ones are kin and Ken. Again, how is a five-year-old supposed to know that?"

Did you manage to solve the worksheet? Share your answers in the comments below.

Lucy Marshall