A mum so baffled by her son's homework has been asking strangers for their help to solve it so he doesn't hand it in blank. The woman has taken to social media to seek answers to the "confusing" maths problem after spending a good while trying to figure it out herself.
Sharing a picture of it on Reddit, she wrote: "Confused by kid's math homework... make it make sense?" The question reads: "Mr Rankin found a rare 1937 penny for sale. The cost of the penny is $280. He has decided to save $4 each week to buy the penny. What process can he use to decide if he will have enough money to buy the penny in 12 weeks?"
It then gives four possible answers - and encourages the student to select the correct one by circling either A, B, C or D.
It continues: "A - Use the basic fact 28 ÷ 4, then multiply the quotient by 10.
"B - Use the basic fact 12 ÷ 4, then multiply the quotient by 10.
"C - Use the basic fact 28 ÷ 4, then multiply the quotient by 100.
"D - Use the basic fact 12 ÷ 4, then multiply the quotient by 100."
Although the question is aimed at children in grade 4, who are between nine and 10-years-old, many adults still struggled to answer it.
One user said: "Horrendous wording on the problem."
Another user added: "I'm thankful that my teachers never did stuff like this. I preferred how my teacher taught me."
A third user said: "Because saying that 48<280 just isn't sexy enough."
However, another user, who worked out the right answer, said: "A is the right answer. It'll take him 70 weeks to save up the money.
"I get what they're trying to teach and it's a useful math skill, but it's presented horribly.
"I really wish that they'd write this out using numbers, instead of words. If I see 280/4 = (28/4)*10 = 70, it makes sense to me immediately.
"If I see the wording provided in A, I have to blink several times to understand it.
"I speak English fluently - word-heavy math is much worse for students who are also learning English."
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