Can you solve this 7-year-old’s hard maths question?

Can you solve it?

A 7-year-old's maths question has gone viral after leaving parents and students perplexed. A mother first shared the question in a closed Facebook group to ask for help while correcting her child's homework. She shared a picture of the question, which read:

"There are 49 dogs signed up to compete in the dog show. There are 36 more small dogs than large dogs signed up to compete. How many small dogs are signed up to compete?"

Apparently, everyone is making the same mistake when trying to figure it out. Most people are subtracting 36 from 42 to get 13, meaning there were 36 small dogs and 13 big dogs. But, this would be wrong because it states that there are 36 more small dogs than big dogs. So, what is the answer? The mother tries to give some help by saying, "The district worded it wrong. The answer would be 42.5, though, if done at an age-appropriate grade." She came to the conclusion of 42.5 after asking the teacher for the answer. According to the teacher, you subtract 36 from 49 giving you 13, but then you have to divide that in half (6.5) and add that to 36 to get 42.5. Therefore, there would be 42.5 small dogs and 6.5 big dogs. Don't worry, we're still lost too.