Week 0

One move, four times. Everything here asks your child to say what they think before they find out. That is the entire week. The paper airplanes are just the excuse.

We do it that way because of something that happens to all of us: once you know the answer, your memory of what you thought quietly edits itself to match. I knew that. Almost nobody did. A guess said out loud, or written down, is the only kind that can be checked later — and a child who can check their own guesses is doing something a child who reads answers never gets to do.

Why an airplane and not a worksheet. Because a hallway does not give partial credit. If the plane goes five metres, it went five metres — no adult had to decide that, including you. That kind of feedback is rare in a child’s week and it is the most honest kind there is.

What your job is. Hold the tape measure. Read the lines we have written for you. Then be quiet for ten seconds — actually count them. Almost everything a child says in this week comes out in the gap after the first answer, and the gap only exists if you leave it.

What your job is not. Judging. There are no scores here, no streaks, nothing to get right. If your child picks the plane that loses, the week worked exactly as designed.