Homework helper that teaches, not solves
Paste a homework problem — get a Socratic question sequence you read aloud, that nudges your kid to the answer without you giving it away.
When to use this
It’s Tuesday at 7:30pm. Your kid is crying over a math problem you also can’t immediately solve. You’re tempted to either (a) just tell them the answer, or (b) say “ask your teacher tomorrow.”
There’s a third option: a Socratic sequence. The questions in this prompt are calibrated to keep your kid in the productive struggle zone — frustrated enough to think, not frustrated enough to give up.
When NOT to use this
Don’t use this if your kid is melting down. The Socratic method requires a baseline of regulation. If they’re crying, that’s a signal to stop the homework, not push harder with cleverer questions.
Don’t use this for IEP-mandated homework support without checking the IEP. If your kid has accommodations like “homework reduced by 50%,” AI doesn’t know that — but the IEP does.
Authoring notes
- The “if they say… / if they get it…” branching is the most important structure. Without it, you get a flat list of questions that breaks the moment your kid says something unexpected.
- For reading homework, paste the actual passage — generic Socratic questions about “tone” land worse than questions tied to specific lines.
- This pairs especially well with Khanmigo for math: read the questions to your child, then hand them Khanmigo for the actual problem-solving back-and-forth if you need to step away.
Example output
WHAT THIS PROBLEM IS REALLY ABOUT
This is a fractions question testing whether your child sees that 2/4 and 1/2 are the same amount, just written differently. The math is "equivalent fractions" — but the real skill is being able to imagine pieces of a whole.
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
Listen for whether they explain *why* the two fractions are equal — if they just say "they're the same", they may have memorized but not understood.
SOCRATIC QUESTIONS
- "If we cut a pizza into 4 pieces and you eat 2, how much pizza did you eat?"
- If they say "2 pieces": "Right — but how much of the whole pizza is that? Is it half? Less than half?"
- If they get it: "Now — if we cut a different pizza into 2 pieces and you ate 1, how much would you have eaten?"
…
Pairs well with
Khanmigo
★Tutors & Study Companions
Khan Academy's AI tutor — Socratic, never gives away the answer, free for teachers.
Socratic by Google
Tutors & Study Companions
Snap a homework photo and get explainers, videos and step-by-step results across subjects.
NotebookLM
★Content Creation
Google's AI research notebook — upload your sources, get briefs, study guides and audio "podcasts".
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