Homework headache ignites parental fury: ‘Teach your kid that adults can be wrong too’

Homework can often be a source of contention between students, parents, and teachers, especially when there's a disagreement over the answers.

Recently, a seemingly straightforward English assignment has sparked a fiery debate among parents who question the accuracy of a teacher's correction.


The homework was for a year two class, where students were asked to identify the correct synonym for various words.

The word that caused the uproar was 'ideal'. The options given were 'sweet', 'nice', 'perfect', 'identical', and 'interesting'.

The student, believing they understood the task, circled 'perfect' as the synonym for 'ideal'. However, the teacher marked this as incorrect, indicating that 'interesting' was the 'correct' synonym.


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A photo of a young child’s homework was shared online, confusing parents as the seemingly correct answer was marked wrong. Image Source: Reddit / UnbelieverCrow / OllieSDdog

This decision left one parent baffled and asking, ‘Am I crazy?’

They took to social media to share their frustration and seek validation from other parents.

They weren't disappointed, as the online community rallied to their side, expressing their disbelief and anger over the teacher's choice.


One person commented, ‘“Interesting” is not even a synonym to “ideal”. Completely different meanings.’

Another added, ‘“Ideal” does not work with “interesting” as a synonym. I'm mad for you.’

‘At least it's a good opportunity to teach your kid that adults can be wrong too,’ a third user added.

The mother, seeking clarity rather than conflict, emailed the teacher to discuss the matter.

She expressed that she wasn't angry but simply confused by the correction.

How the teacher responded was not revealed.


Another parent shared their confusion over their year one’s ‘unreasonably complicated’ homework.

The worksheet asked the child to identify items from illustrations and write their names down.

The task was made more challenging by stipulating that no words could be longer than four letters.

The first three questions, featuring a tub, the number ‘10’, and a spinning top, were straightforward enough.


But a question on a rabbit stumped both the child and the parent, prompting a plea for help on social media.

The parent shared a photo of the worksheet, which focused on the letter ‘T’ and his son's previous answers.

‘What 3-4 letter word is this?’ he asked.

The post received an outpouring of support and suggestions, highlighting the collective effort of the internet trying to navigate the complexities of this child’s homework.

No clear answer emerged from the post’s comment section, and no update to the post was made.


These stories are just the latest additions to a series of accounts detailing children's homework inaccuracies or assignments deemed ‘overly complicated’.

This year one’s homework has sparked a heated discussion online, with many parents offering different interpretations and justifications for various answers to the assignment. You can read more about the story here.
Key Takeaways
  • A child's English homework answer was mistakenly marked incorrect by the teacher, causing frustration among parents.
  • The homework involved finding the correct synonym for the word 'ideal', with 'perfect' being the choice that was marked wrong.
  • After sharing the incident on social media, other parents and users agreed that ‘perfect’ was the correct synonym for ‘ideal’.
  • Confusion also arose over another child's worksheet, which featured an 'unreasonably complicated' task, sparking discussion among parents online.
Have you or your family members experienced similar homework headaches? How did you handle the situation? Share your stories and advice in the comments below!
 
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for heaven's sake what will be left of this country? US thinks we are Little America and does with our people whatever they want, UK isn't much better, China wants to take us over because they haven't enough room for their people eg taking over land and sea. THIS IS AUSTRALIA and all should speak OUR language.When I was at school we could choose French or Latin as another language now it's so bad the kids and many adults cannot spell using English. As for 'CHOOKS" that applies to both hens and roosters.
 
Chooks? Thems wimmin hens where I cum from. Nowt laik a goo' roas' chook.

Does one roast a rooster or roost a roaster?

I never could write in correct dialect. As for Latin; that is an incredibly useful language to have been taught as it is the root language for English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian. If one wants to try to understand any of those, Latin is the starting point. Our problem is that it is taught as a dead language.

If Chinese kids can learn Chinese, I can't see why ours can't; it is useful to understand the language of one's competitor/owner/servant, which is why no doubt kids in PR China, and indeed Vietnam, are taught English (Pomanian).
 
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Chooks? Thems wimmin hens where I cum from. Nowt laik a goo' roas' chook.

I never could write in correct dialect. As for Latin; that is an incredibly useful language to have been taught as it is the root language for English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian. If one wants to try to understand any of those, Latin is the starting point. Our problem is that it is taught as a dead language.

If Chinese kids can learn Chinese, I can't see why ours can't; it is useful to understand the language of one's competitor/owner, which is why no doubt kids in PR China, and indeed Vietnam, are taught English (Pomanian).
I didn't learn any languages at school but I had 13 penfriends as a child (no Yank, Pom or Kiwi) and even today I have friends of 17 nationalities, Even the Doctor says "BURMA" not Myanmar, my helper's family are from Belgium and I speak English to my friend in Thailand. Why should we learn Chinese?
 
I didn't learn any languages at school but I had 13 penfriends as a child (no Yank, Pom or Kiwi) and even today I have friends of 17 nationalities, Even the Doctor says "BURMA" not Myanmar, my helper's family are from Belgium and I speak English to my friend in Thailand. Why should we learn Chinese?
sounds like a Scot to me lol
 
I didn't learn any languages at school but I had 13 penfriends as a child (no Yank, Pom or Kiwi) and even today I have friends of 17 nationalities, Even the Doctor says "BURMA" not Myanmar, my helper's family are from Belgium and I speak English to my friend in Thailand. Why should we learn Chinese?
Why not? One good non-nationalitic reason, please.

Learning a tonal language where the tone is essential for understanding the word, as well as Chinese writing, would certainly stimulate the young Australian brain; which may be why so many early-career Chinese cientists are so heavily involved in leading aspects of scientific research in the USA.
 
Chooks? Thems wimmin hens where I cum from. Nowt laik a goo' roas' chook.

Does one roast a rooster or roost a roaster?

I never could write in correct dialect. As for Latin; that is an incredibly useful language to have been taught as it is the root language for English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian. If one wants to try to understand any of those, Latin is the starting point. Our problem is that it is taught as a dead language.

If Chinese kids can learn Chinese, I can't see why ours can't; it is useful to understand the language of one's competitor/owner/servant, which is why no doubt kids in PR China, and indeed Vietnam, are taught English (Pomanian).
My school also taught Latin or French, although we didn't get a choice and my class were taught French . That is when I discovered I have no aptitude for languages.
Used to average about 90 in most subjects, got 56 for French.🤷
 
Why not? One good non-nationalitic reason, please.

Learning a tonal language where the tone is essential for understanding the word, as well as Chinese writing, would certainly stimulate the young Australian brain; which may be why so many early-career Chinese cientists are so heavily involved in leading aspects of scientific research in the USA.
"why not?" but Why? I do not understand your point. Could you dumb it down for me please?
 
My school also taught Latin or French, although we didn't get a choice and my class were taught French . That is when I discovered I have no aptitude for languages.
Used to average about 90 in most subjects, got 56 for French.🤷
Every human being has an aptitude for languages. I have lived and worked with people who may speak 4 languages but can't read or write. Our problem is that we teach such stuff as Latin and French when the brain is too old, that is at and after puberty. Catch a child shortly after birth and before 7-8 years old and they will learn any language at their mother's knee, as long as that language is used daily at home. Writing it comes a bit later, preferably by 6 years old. As for my French/Latin education; the first bored me stupid for 5 years and had peculiar non-English noises that I was never taught how to master, and the second had one interesting year out of five. However I was a teenager at the time.
 
Every human being has an aptitude for languages. I have lived and worked with people who may speak 4 languages but can't read or write. Our problem is that we teach such stuff as Latin and French when the brain is too old, that is at and after puberty. Catch a child shortly after birth and before 7-8 years old and they will learn any language at their mother's knee, as long as that language is used daily at home. Writing it comes a bit later, preferably by 6 years old. As for my French/Latin education; the first bored me stupid for 5 years and had peculiar non-English noises that I was never taught how to master, and the second had one interesting year out of five. However I was a teenager at the time.
Yes, the younger they learn, the easier it is to learn, but what is the point if no-one speaks it at home?
 
1) So we can communicate more easily.
2) It stimulates the young and growing brain.
1) Not sure how many of us need to communicate with a Chinese person very often in our daily lives;
2) Many things stimulate the young and growing brain, does not need to be another language unless there is a specific reason...a musical instrument perhaps would most likely be a lifelong enjoyment
 
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I learnt German at highschool. My 2 children learnt Japanese every year in primary school. One of my sons understands Spanish due to being with Dominican Republicans in America.
 
Why not? One good non-nationalitic reason, please.

Learning a tonal language where the tone is essential for understanding the word, as well as Chinese writing, would certainly stimulate the young Australian brain; which may be why so many early-career Chinese cientists are so heavily involved in leading aspects of scientific research in the USA.
You referring to "Scot"? I love the accent, music. pipes and the way you wrote this sounded to my brain like the sound of a Scot.
Rob, I'm not trying to be rude but are you by any chance Chinese? I have nothing against Chinese and, in fact, grew up with many Chinese people, especially the market gardeners at North Ryde NSW. I have the greatest respect for people of all nationalities as those who know me well can tell you.
 

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