[_cbsz]

I TAed the second programming class (EECS 280) at UMich for 5 semesters. The canonical reply to "is this code right?" or "my code doesn't work" is "how have you tested it?" or "how do you know it doesn't work?", to be sure that the students are not using the TA as an oracle for correctness. (This causes bad reviews from students, but that's the price of tough love.)

Applying to this situation, I would recommend stubbornly requiring your sister to produce "certificates" that she has tried the incremental steps on the way to the solution. "What are you covering in the course?" "Have you done the assigned reading?" "What did you try that didn't work?" "why didn't you try X?" etc.

[Chocobean]

If only all teachers would like like you TAed, we'd have more kids who have learned how to troubleshoot instead of circle the right answer on a multiple choice

[Chocobean]

If only all teachers would like like you TAed, we'd have more kids who have learned how to troubleshoot instead of circle the right answer on a multiple choice