Learning the basic math concept of tallying can be tricky when you're first starting out. But one teacher from Pennsylvania thought a recent homework assignment would really help it "stick" with her class of kindergartners. Technically, it did — but it also led to one unexpectedly hilarious mishap.
The little "faux pas" (if you can even call it that) was shared by a mom named Tara
Tara, who declined to share her last name, told TODAY Parents that she regularly greets her twin daughters after school and looks through their homework folders to see what they're up to.
Most days, it's typical kindergarten stuff (some arts and crafts, addition worksheets … that sort of thing). But Tara pulled out her daughter Izzy's homework folder and found herself fighting back screams of laughter.
Among other things, Tara found a worksheet on tallying
"The assignment was to ask a question that [the kindergartner] could survey high school students to practice tally marks and counting," the mom recalled.
But when she took a closer look at her daughter Izzy's "question," Tara was … well, stunned.
You see, the question her daughter had chosen to ask was an innocent one
She merely wanted to poll high schoolers on whether or not they liked peanuts.
But to do so, the 6-year-old had to write out the question herself on a lined piece of paper — and she had never really written the word "peanuts" before.
"We are now looking for a spelling tutor if anyone is available." https://t.co/n68jErVYBJ
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 16, 2022
Using the tools her teacher gave her, Izzy first started by sounding out the word
The only problem is, she was off by a few very important letters — and in the process, she inadvertently wound up writing a question of an entirely different nature.
There before her, in large, block letters, Tara saw the question her daughter had posed to a group of high schoolers: "DO YOU LIKE PENIS?"
That's right — *PENIS*
Right below Izzy's question, her teacher wrote out the intended word — peanuts — to show the little girl how it's really spelled.
But clearly, Izzy was none the wiser, and popped it in her homework folder without realizing the significance of her blunder.
"She was so excited because they made the trip over to some high school students to ask her survey question," Tara told TODAY. "Seeing that her teacher corrected the incorrect spelling to the correct, I figured there had to be something."
Naturally, the mom was amused
In fact, she told the outlet that she had a pretty hard time "keeping a straight face" as she looked over the assignment.
Unsurprisingly, all seven high schoolers who participated in the survey apparently replied with a resounding "YES."
That said, it's unclear whether the teens actually read the question on the worksheet themselves, or if Izzy read it aloud (and presumably said "peanuts").
Either way, it was the laugh Tara didn't know she needed
And apparently, it provided the same kind of entertainment to Izzy's teacher.
The following day, Tara received an email from the kindergarten teacher, which gave a little more background into what happened. And clearly, she got a major kick out of it too.
"Good afternoon!" the email read. "So, this afternoon we were learning how to write survey questions in math. I got a good laugh out of Isabelle’s question and wonderful kid writing! Hope it brings laughter to your evening as well!"
Now that the worksheet has gone viral, it's bringing laughter to a lot of people's evenings. And, according to Tara, it's also given her a new mission …
“We are now looking for a spelling tutor if anyone is available," the mom joked.
