@futurebird I'm gonna be brief because I'm a parent, not a teacher, but this experience rhymes with mine.

what I tend to do is respond in a way that addresses the existence of a good question without answering it. even if the response equates to "I'm doing something so I'm not ready to help with that yet", I try to encourage the aspect of wondering. so for example "you've stumbled on a surprise part of the lesson! it's ok, keep following along while i get everyone there."

or something. I'm just a guy.