To despair at my dc sometimes

[CeliaFate]

They've got tests this week. We've been going over some practice papers. Dd in particular is struggling with maths, so I gave her some easy mental maths questions (she's 13) to help get her brain in gear. The second question was 9+3. She answered 11.
Ds was asked to name popular modes of transport to a festival to gain an idea of how many tickets were sold. He answered car and aeroplane.

Jesus H Christ. They're intelligent kids. Dh and I want to bang our heads on a brick wall.

Tell me it's not just our dc who give stupid answers!

Nope - my kids give stupid answers also.

mine too and my screamingly intelligent daughter messed up a maths question about gas bills i had to explain to her how to work it out and im really bad at maths (but im experienced in gas bills )

This is what happens when you over study. It's like rereading the same word over and over until it makes no sense.

Interesting, PrincessBabyCat I'd never thought of it like that. I'll back off a bit and see what happens.

Sometimes the easy questions are when they switch their brains off. I remember dd2, who is an expert in this doing a complicated maths question aged about 5yo. Wordy question, and she showed me her answer. She'd worked out correctly what to do.

12 x 3 = 36
36 / 2 = 18
18 -1 = 12... I pointed to the last answer and she immediately jumped in with "11... no 14... 15..." Uses brain when all else fails...

Yep, sometimes they just cannot be arsed and just babble the first load of crap which enters the space between their ears. If they sat and actually thought about it they would probably get it right.

My DS is as guilty as this as the next kid and will say anything just to answer the question so he can get back on his x box. He has been doing tests this week at school (year 7) although he only told me after the first day. As long as they come up with sensible answers in the actual class room I try not to worry too much.