A seemingly innocent homework question for a year one student has caused quite the stir amongst parents in an online community.
It all started when a mom shared her six-year-old daughter’s homework in a Facebook group, asking for opinions on a particularly puzzling question. The post sparked a flurry of theories, with over 4000 people chiming in with their take on the task.
The question in question read, “Which word is odd one out?” and provided the options of friend, toothbrush, desk, silver, and egg.
Some parents argued that ‘friend’ was the odd one out, pointing out that it’s not a physical object like the other options. However, the word ‘silver’ seemed to garner most of the attention.
While some parents claimed it was an adjective, others believed it was both a noun and an adjective. Some even argued that ‘silver’ was simply a bad choice as it could be interpreted as a noun if it was a physical object.
This homework question completely stumped the mother of a child in first grade.
Can you figure it out? pic.twitter.com/E2cm2WbGEK
— Dr. Jebra Faushay (@JebraFaushay) December 9, 2023
On the other hand, some parents thought ‘egg’ was the odd one out as it was the only edible option. “Not saying little people wouldn’t eat or try to eat the other objects, but they are not food,” one parent explained.
Interestingly, ‘toothbrush’ also received some votes for being the only word without an ‘e’, a compound word, and the only item not typically shared.
After the influx of responses, the mom edited her post with an important update, revealing that the question was actually aimed at testing children’s knowledge of vowel sounds. So, in fact, the odd one out was ‘desk’ as the only word without a long ‘e’ sound.
The homework question certainly caused quite the discussion amongst parents, showing the different perspectives and interpretations that can arise even from a seemingly straightforward question.
