“I didn't know that idea.”
Learn the missing concept or technique.
A reasoning debugger for contest math
Don't just correct
the answer.
Repair the reasoning.
Find the pattern behind a missed problem. Work on what broke. Then check whether the idea holds on mathematics you haven't seen.
For serious secondary-school contest practice.
Start with a problem, not a dashboard of scores.
Incorrect
The method was familiar.
The cue was missed.
Student's approach
“I knew complementary counting, but I tried to count every case directly.”
Proposed root cause
Recognition
The technique was familiar. The cue to use it went unnoticed.
Repair prompt Name the cue before counting.Cold retryPassed
Near transferPassed
Medium transferNot yet passed
Solving the original again is only the first check.
The problem with moving on“I understand the solution”
“I understand the solution”
isn't the same as “I can do it.”
Reading a solution can make the insight feel obvious. The useful question is whether you'll find it independently next time.
An unfinished review
Miss → Read the solution → Move on
The SolveTrace loop
Miss → Diagnose → Repair
→ Retry cold → Test on unseen problems
Evidence beyond the original
A correct retry is a start.
A new problem asks more.
SolveTrace keeps re-solving and transfer separate, so you can see exactly what a repair has survived.
- 01
Original
Find the first meaningful failure.
- 02
Cold retry
The same problem, later. No hints or previous work.
- 03
Near transfer
The same idea with different surface details.
- 04
Medium transfer
The same structure with less obvious cues.
- 05
Far transfer
The principle in a substantially different setting.
Wrong is not one category
Different misses.
Different work to do.
A missing technique needs a different response from a technique you knew but didn't recognize.
Explore the eight failure categories →“I knew it. I didn't see it.”
Learn the cue that makes the idea useful.
“My route led nowhere.”
Reconsider the high-level approach.
“The route was right. A step wasn't.”
Locate the arithmetic or bookkeeping slip.
For students
Every miss should
tell you something.
Build a record of the reasoning patterns worth training, with a clear next action when you return.
See the student experience →For parents
See what practice
is actually changing.
Understand recurring errors, repair evidence and what still needs testing. More useful than a worksheet count.
See the parent experience →Start with one problem
Make your next miss useful.
Solve independently. Review your reasoning. Know what to test next.