AI Skill: Photo input
The Scenario: Your child’s brought home a worksheet using a method you don’t recognise and they need help. AI can explain the method from a photo of the worksheet, clearly enough for you to actually help.
What you need
- ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini on your phone
- The homework book or worksheet
- About three minutes
How to do it
- Open the ChatGPT app, tap the + icon, choose Camera.
- Photograph just the specific problem (not the whole page if there are personal details).
- Paste this prompt:
I’m a parent helping my [child’s age]-year-old with homework. Attached is a photo of their worksheet, for [subject, e.g. “maths” / “English” / “science”].
[Optional: The method they’re being taught at school for this is called [method name]. Please use this method specifically, even if another approach would also work.]
Please explain:
1. What the question is actually asking, in plain terms.
2. The method or steps to work through it, explained as if to an adult who’s forgotten or never learned this approach
3. A worked example using one of the questions from the worksheet, showing each step
4. The answer
I’m going to use this to help my child myself, not give them the answer directly, so explain the method clearly enough that I can guide them through it rather than just tell them what to write.
5. Read through with your child. Talk it through together.
Good to know
- If the AI misreads a question, which can be common with photos taken at an angle, faint pencil, or worksheets that mix images and text, just retype the question instead of relying on the photo.
- Different schools teach different methods for the same type of problem (e.g. “bar modelling” vs “column method” for the same sum). If you know the method name, include it and it’ll save a confusing mismatch with what your child’s been taught.
- Most worksheets don’t contain personal information, but check there’s no name, school name, or other identifying detail in the photo before you upload it.
- The explanation is for you, not your child. Read it yourself first, then explain it in your own words, that’s usually more useful for them than reading the AI’s explanation aloud.
Take it further
- Ask for a second, simpler example once you’ve understood the method, so you’ve got a fresh one to test your child with afterwards.
- If your child got a question wrong, photograph their working out (not just the question) and ask the AI to spot where the method went wrong, rather than just giving the right answer.
- Save the method explanation somewhere so you can find it again next time the same topic comes up as schools often return to the same methods across the year.