Questioning..

Varun was stuck with a problem in Maths. Earlier I would tell him to ask his father as I had a belief that I am really bad at maths :-)) Now, I tell him,' Great! let's have a look at it' Yep, I have improved.

So, we sat together and when I had a look at the problem, there was a venn diagram with different numbers in it ... I had no clue what to do. I decided that I would just ask questions and have the belief that he will find a way of doing it. The questions started:
what are some of the things which come to your mind when you see this diagram
How do you think they might be related
Can you put them down in paper and explain to me etc.. Then we actually went through the question (multiple choice).
So, what according to you are they wanting here
what are you thinking about it etc..
He started explaining and trying it out but we were still not getting it. He himself struck down two choices as not being possible and gave an explanation for that.
My response,' So, you have zeroed down on two possibilities, does it seem more workable now?'
His answer,' I think it will be easier for me now'
We were still stuck, then I told him,'Let's just put whatever data has been given down and check whether we can see a connection'
We did that and he kept staring at it for a minute and said,'Oh! I got it, it was so so simple'
We did it! We did it!
Then he explained to me and yes! I learnt how to do the problem.
We also discussed what had helped him in the process and he shared that writing it down made him see it more clearly. He also reflected that many times he would try to do the problem in his mind which was confusing.
We talked about how we could use different strategies at different times instead of sticking on to just one way of doing it.
I learnt it is not necessary to know everything to teach but to have an open mind to explore and not get caught with the right or the wrong answer. He also felt comfortable that I was working with him at his level and not from the level of 'I know it'.