Internet users have been left baffled by a first-grader’s homework shared on social media.
The Reddit post shared by user u/bun_not shows a photo of the assignment. It read: “There are 7 toy planes. There are 15 toy boats. How many fewer toy planes are there than toy boats?”
Her 6‑ or 7‑year‑old son answered ‘eight,’ but the work came back marked as wrong.
“We did his math homework together. Today it came back marked as incorrect,” the poster wrote. “I am so irked by this because I feel like when you look at the example at the top of the page it’s clear that this is how you’re supposed to do it.”
Teacher marked my son’s homework as incorrect. I disagree.
by u/bun_not in mildlyinfuriating
She ended her post by asking: “I know it’s a stupid hill to die on but. am I [being] crazy here?”
The January 15 post exploded almost immediately, gaining more than 6,900 upvotes in under 24 hours and attracting over 1,200 comments, most of which sided with the confused mom.
Reddit Reacts
One user wrote: “No, you’re not crazy, the teacher is just wrong. The example clearly shows that the label next to the boxes is for what they are, not for how many there are.”
Another posted: “My daughter is 15 now. I can’t tell you how many times I tried to help her with her elementary school homework and it ended up in arguments because she said the teacher told them to do it differently than the instructions. She was invariably right.”
A third user added: “It just looks like the teacher made a mistake. They’re human, too. No need to get upset, just talk to the teacher to clarify.”
And one of many teachers offered insight from the classroom: “I’m a teacher. The first thing I told my class of students on my first day with them (day 1 of grade 2, they’re now mid-way through grade 4) is that I love mistakes. I told them mistakes help us learn. We screw up, we reflect, we do better next time.
“As part of that, I have a ‘no eraser’ rule. You can’t learn from a mistake you can’t see. You make a mistake, you just put a line through it and try again.
“On top of that, I told them that they will make mistakes, because everybody does. Therefore, I will also (and lord knows do I make plenty lol). I told them I’ll let them know their mistakes so they can try again and get better, and they’re allowed to do the same with me.”
What Research Says About Mistakes and Kids’ Confidence
A 2024 study of 231 mothers of 8-year-olds conducted by researchers in New Zealand found that the way parents talk to their children after a disappointment can significantly shape how afraid those children are of making mistakes.
The researchers added that, when mothers skipped over their child’s emotions and moved straight into action plans, kids tended to feel more pressure and a heightened fear of getting things wrong.
In contrast, when moms acknowledged their child’s feelings and talked about how they could solve future problems together, that fear noticeably declined.
Yet many mothers in the study rarely validated their child’s emotions, avoided discussing next steps, or overlooked chances for collaborative problem solving—suggesting that even small changes in everyday conversations could make a meaningful difference in how children learn to handle setbacks.
Newsweek reached out to u/bun_not for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.
References
Peterson, Elizabeth R., et al. “How Mothers Talk to Their Children about Failure, Mistakes and Setbacks Is Related to Their Children’s Fear of Failure.” The British Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 95, no. 1, Mar. 2025, pp. 124—42. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12685.