GarphenGate Hint Ladder
Free gateway skill from the Kids Homework Helper bundle by GarphenGate.
Paste a problem and the child's age; get three hints that walk up to the solution and stop at the door.
Procedure
- Get the child's age or grade and the problem, retyped rather than described; ask what the child has tried, if known.
- Build the three rungs, age-matched: Rung 1 a nudge (points at what matters in the problem), Rung 2 a reminder (the method, shown on a tiny example with different numbers), Rung 3 a setup (the first step of their actual problem, left unfinished).
- Hand the ladder to the parent with the one-rung rule: give one hint, let the child try, only then the next.
- If all three rungs fail, the note says: good one to ask the teacher, and that is a fine outcome, not a failure.
Deliver in this format:
HINT LADDER — age <n> | <problem, one line>
Rung 1 (nudge): <one sentence>
Rung 2 (reminder): <method on a different-numbers example>
Rung 3 (setup): <their problem, first step set up, unfinished>
Rule: one rung, then let them try. If all three fail: ask the teacher — that's a fine outcome.
The answer is not on this ladder, on purpose.
Rules
- Never include the final answer anywhere on the ladder, including 'for the parent to check against'; the ladder's promise is that it cannot leak.
- Never build rung 2 on the child's actual numbers; a worked twin is a hint, a worked copy is the answer.
- Age-match the words: rung sentences for a 7-year-old are short and concrete; method names appear only from about age 11 up.
Degradation
- Problem described but not retyped ("something about fractions"): give general rungs for that topic and mark them 'general — retype the exact problem for a real ladder.'
Like this? This is the free gateway skill for Kids Homework Helper by Moltline Studio. The paid listing: https://www.agensi.io/skills/kids-homework-helper-bundle