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AI can help you prepare an explanation, choose a useful hint or create a small amount of focused maths practice.
It should work as a planning tool for you rather than teaching or speaking directly to your child. You decide which ideas to use and how to explain, ask or practise them together.
The prompts below cover five situations parents often face when helping children with maths. Each uses a Role, Instruction, Context, Output structure to help the chatbot produce a more useful response.
You can use them with most general-purpose AI chatbots, including free versions. Responses vary between tools, so read and check everything before using it with your child.
Children should not enter these prompts or use a general-purpose chatbot themselves. For children under 13, use an adult’s account and remain in control throughout.
Before using the prompts
Replace the words in square brackets with details about the maths problem.
The Context section helps the chatbot match its response to what your child already understands and where they are getting stuck.
Useful context can include:
- Your child’s approximate age.
- The maths topic.
- What your child can already do.
- The step causing difficulty.
- The method or vocabulary used at school.
- The type of help you want to give.
Leave out your child’s name, school, date of birth, address, diagnosis, medical information and other identifying details.
Describe the learning situation rather than your child’s identity.
Copy and paste the whole prompt, including the section headings. Replace the bracketed text and then check the response.
For more help with this structure, read our guide to Better Prompting for Parents
1. Prepare another way to explain a maths idea
Use this prompt when your child has already heard an explanation but the idea has not yet made sense.
The chatbot will prepare another explanation for you to check, adapt and share in your own words.
Prompt
Role
Act as a planning assistant for a parent supporting a primary-school child with maths.
Instruction
Help me prepare a simple way to explain [MATHS IDEA] to my child. Give me wording I can use in my own conversation with them.
Do not address the child directly or ask the child to interact with you.
Context
My child is approximately [AGE] years old.
They already understand [WHAT THEY CAN DO], but they become stuck when [EXACT POINT OF DIFFICULTY].
Their school uses [METHOD, MODEL OR VOCABULARY, IF KNOWN].
Do not assume anything about the child’s ability or needs beyond the information provided.
Output
Give me a short explanation I can say to my child, followed by one practical example I can demonstrate using household objects.
Example context
My child is approximately eight years old. They understand that a fraction describes part of a whole, but they do not understand why two quarters are equal to one half. They have used fraction bars at school.
2. Prepare a helpful hint without revealing the answer
Use this prompt when your child is stuck but still needs to work through the problem themselves.
The chatbot will suggest a hint for you to give. Your child does not need to see or use the chatbot.
Prompt
Role
Act as a planning assistant for a parent who wants to support a child’s mathematical thinking without solving the problem for them.
Instruction
Help me decide what question or hint I should give my child next.
Do not solve the problem for the child, address the child directly or ask them to interact with you.
Context
The problem is:
[PASTE OR DESCRIBE THE PROBLEM]
My child can already [RELEVANT SKILL], but appears to become stuck at [STEP OR IDEA].
The method they are expected to use is [METHOD, IF KNOWN].
Remove any names, school details or other personal information before including a worksheet question.
Output
Give me one helpful question or hint that I can say to my child. Do not reveal the answer unless I ask for it separately.
3. Understand where a maths mistake may have come from
Use this prompt when your child has attempted a question and you want to understand their reasoning before correcting the answer.
The AI response is for you. Compare its suggestion with your child’s explanation before deciding what to ask next.
Prompt
Role
Act as a planning assistant helping a parent interpret a child’s maths working.
Instruction
Look at the question and the child’s attempt. Suggest the most likely point where the reasoning went wrong.
Help me prepare a question that I can ask the child myself. Do not address the child directly.
Context
The question is:
[QUESTION]
The child’s working is:
[CHILD’S WORKING]
The child appears to understand [KNOWN STRENGTH], but may be confused about [POSSIBLE DIFFICULTY, IF KNOWN].
Do not diagnose a learning difficulty or make general claims about the child’s ability.
Output
Explain where the reasoning may have gone wrong and give me one calm question I can ask to help my child notice the mistake themselves.
4. Prepare focused maths practice
Use this prompt when your child needs a few carefully chosen questions rather than a long worksheet.
The chatbot will create material for you. Check every question and answer before deciding what to use.
Prompt
Role
Act as a planning assistant for a parent preparing a short primary-school maths practice activity.
Instruction
Create a small set of questions that I can choose from and use with my child about [MATHS TOPIC].
Do not ask the child to answer through the chatbot or address the questions directly to them.
Context
My child is approximately [AGE] years old.
They can currently [CURRENT SKILL].
They are working towards [NEXT SKILL].
They become stuck when [SPECIFIC DIFFICULTY].
Use [NUMBER RANGE, TIMES TABLES, FRACTION TYPES OR OTHER LIMITS].
Do not use or request personal information about the child.
Output
Create five practice questions for me to give my child, beginning at their current level and gradually becoming more difficult. Put the checked answers in a separate parent section.
5. Prepare questions for breaking down a maths word problem
Use this prompt when your child can perform the calculation but finds it difficult to understand what a word problem is asking.
The chatbot will prepare questions for you to use in your own conversation. Ask them one at a time and give your child time to think.
Prompt
Role
Act as a planning assistant for a parent helping a child understand a maths word problem.
Instruction
Help me prepare questions that I can ask my child to guide them through the problem.
Do not explain the problem directly to the child, choose the calculation for them or ask them to interact with you.
Context
The problem is:
[WORD PROBLEM]
My child can usually [RELEVANT CALCULATION], but has difficulty [DECIDING WHAT THE QUESTION IS ASKING, CHOOSING AN OPERATION OR IDENTIFYING IMPORTANT INFORMATION].
They have been taught to use [METHOD, DRAWING OR MODEL, IF KNOWN].
Remove any names or identifying details before including a problem based on the child or their school.
Output
Give me three questions I can ask to help my child identify what the problem is asking and decide how to approach it. Do not reveal the calculation or answer.
How to give useful context
Useful context can be brief. Include:
- What your child can already do.
- The step where they get stuck.
- The method or vocabulary used at school, if known.
- The type of help you want to prepare.
For example:
A nine-year-old child can share objects equally between small groups but becomes confused when division is written using the ÷ symbol. Help me prepare an explanation using counters.
Avoid labels such as “bad at maths”. Leave out names, school details, diagnoses, medical information and other private details.
Describe the learning problem rather than the child’s identity.
A quick context check
Before sending your prompt, ask:
- Have I explained what my child is learning?
- Have I said what they can already do?
- Have I described the step causing difficulty?
- Have I explained what support I want to prepare?
- Have I removed names and identifying details?
- Have I left out diagnoses and sensitive information?
Useful follow-up instructions
A short follow-up instruction can make the response more suitable:
Make the explanation easier for me to say aloud.
Use smaller numbers.
Give me an example I can demonstrate with building blocks.
Do not reveal the answer. Suggest another hint I can give.
Create another question using the same skill.
Explain which part I should watch for when my child answers.
Check the calculation and explain how you checked it.
Add more detail about the learning problem when needed, but do not add personal information.
Use AI as your helper, not your child’s teacher
These prompts can help you prepare explanations, questions and practice. They are not designed to place your child in a direct conversation with a general-purpose chatbot.
Do not use them to complete homework, produce work for your child to submit or replace advice from your child’s teacher.
AI can make mathematical mistakes. Read every response, check the calculations and make sure the suggested method matches what your child is learning at school.
The chatbot supplies ideas for you to assess. You decide what is suitable, explain the idea and talk through the maths with your child.
Describe what your child understands, explain where they are stuck and ask the chatbot to help you prepare what to do next.
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