As children work through each of the Big Six steps, they need to think about what they need to do, and then they need to find appropriate ways to do it. Children should be encouraged to be as independent as possible, but they will often have difficulty beginning an assignment because they are confused about what is expected of them. Whatever the reason is for their inability to get started, students have the ultimate responsibility for getting their work done. When parents act as coaches, they can help their children assume this responsibility by engaging them in conversation about what is expected of them, and then by guiding them throughout the assignment using the Big Six Skills. Assignments provide students with an opportunity to review and practice new material, to correct errors in understanding and production, and to assess levels of mastery.
Every assignment is an information problem that can be solved using the Big Six.
For instance, the goal of many assignments is to have the students practice a skill taught in class. The parent can help the child identify information sources and suggest ways to get them. For instance, the public television network may have a homework hotline, the public library may have study guides, or a neighborhood child may be in the same class. The Big Six approach recognizes the benefits of technology in education because computers are tools that help organize information. Software programs do a variety of functions such as edit written work, check grammar and spelling, chart and graph quantities, and construct outlines.