I'm helping my nephew with his algebra homework, and we're both just following the worked examples in mathematics from his textbook. He can mimic the steps, but when a slightly different problem comes up, he's completely lost. Are these examples actually teaching the underlying concept, or just training him to recognize a pattern?
That question comes up a lot in math class. The worked examples are meant to teach the underlying concept rather than just mimic steps.
Sometimes you can spot the pattern and still miss the idea behind it which is the point of showing several variants.
Try turning a new problem into the same idea told in plain language and then write your own steps from that understanding.
If you are stuck you can separate the idea from the numbers and explain in simple terms what needs to happen first.
Some teachers mix explanations with drills so you see why a move works and not just that it works this helps a lot with the concept in focus.
If you want we can work on a small set of fresh problems and highlight the core concept each time.