When They Challenge Me

6yo was working through area problems involving triangles. He decided to challenge me with a weird polygon.

I said: I don't think I can solve it like that, but if you make the shape on the geo board, I should be able to. So he made it with the yellow elastic band and waited. Then I thought out loud. Wrote every step, subtracting triangles from the rectangle containing the shape. I went slowly. He started finishing my sentences.

I try not to solve problems kids ask about. I try to guide them instead so they do it themselves. But a challenge they me is different, because they didn't want to solve it themselves. They want to test me to see if I can.

So I take these moments, because watching an adult actually work through something is rarer than it should be. Explaining and demonstrating are performances, but solving and thinking out loud is real. When he hands me the problem, he'll watch. So I make it worth watching by sharing everything including the hesitations and the dead ends.