All Wrong

Written for https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/category/word-of-the-day/

‘Granddad. Can you help me with my maths homework?’

‘Bring it over, and I’ll see what I can do.’

He looked at the paper and worked out the question. His grandson, Jack, shook his head.

‘You’re doing it all wrong.’

‘This is how I multiplied numbers when I was a boy. Check on the calculator and you will find the answer is correct.’

Jack turned the paper over. He drew a grid across the page and added the numbers. ‘This is how my teacher showed me.’

‘Why don’t you work out the question your way, and see if you get the correct answer.’

Jack looked down at the page, his smile fixed, and added the tens and units in separate sections. He added all the numbers and checked his working out against his granddads.

‘You see! The same answer. Although your way is much easier. How about we do the same for each of your questions? I reckon we will finish before supper. We could make it a race? The loser will wash up. We could eat raspberry ripple ice-cream for pudding.’

‘You’re on Granddad.’