When Gadsden, Alabama dad Gary found himself stumped by his son’s first-grade English homework, he knew he had to turn to the internet for help.
Posting under the handle u/Thin_Butterscotch827 on Reddit, Gary sought assistance with an assignment that had already caused plenty of frustration. A study by tech company Narbis found that 63% of parents feel stressed over their children’s homework, and Gary’s experience only added to this statistic.
After his son completed most of the homework, Gary stepped in to help with the last two questions. The task involved filling in the blanks for ten sentences with words like fist, fast, puff, pass, hiss, mess, less, gas, mass, and class. While some sentences were straightforward—like “The snake will _____ at you” (hiss) and “Let’s clean up this ____” (mess)—things took a turn at the sixth sentence: “What’s the _____ of the pen?” Gary was stumped; “mass” didn’t feel right for first grade.
Other sentences, like “I love my _____” and “our ____ has white stars,” left Gary scratching his head. Unsure of how to proceed, he posted a picture of the homework online, asking, “My son’s 1st grade homework has stumped me entirely. 8/10 solved I think?”
Reddit/U/Thin_Butterscotch827
Gary wanted to avoid being “that parent” who oversteps while being misinformed. His fellow Redditors quickly chimed in, echoing his confusion and calling the assignment ridiculous. One notable sentence—”there are _____ boys than girls”—was especially criticized, with many pointing out the grammatically incorrect answer “less.”
Ultimately, it appeared that the assignment contained errors. One user suggested that “mass” might work for the pen sentence but questioned how a first grader could even grasp the concept. For the ninth sentence, a user noted, “flag” made more sense than any word on the list.
Although Gary didn’t uncover the exact answers he sought, he found comfort in knowing others shared his frustration. “It was a relief to know I wasn’t just dumb,” he remarked, acknowledging the likely mistakes in the sheet.
By sharing his experience, Gary hopes to encourage educators to be more diligent when crafting homework assignments. “They’ve been relatively fine, but a few of these clearly had issues,” he noted.