I am currently taking early childhood care education as my college major. I am learning about ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development), and scaffolding the the development in early childhood.How would you explain, and define scaffolding
Maybe this will help: scaffolding is the support provided by adults working with a child to help promote and extend development of knowledge and skills. It can mean asking appropriate questions to help extend a child's thought process, or providing suitable activities to help a child learn through hands-on activities. Look it up in your textbook and read the definition and apply it to my explanation above for a deeper understanding, and don't be afraid to ask your instructor questions like this! That's what s/he is there for!
Scaffolding basically means being the support (a scaffold is a support) in the child's learning. A preschooler can do a range of things. He or she will have mastered some things already and there will also be things that are beyond what he or she can do. When playing with the preschooler, you want to make sure that what's going on falls in that range (zone of proximal development). Don't give him or her something that's too easy or too hard to do, but play games that make them think a little and use what he or she already knows to take it a bit further. I hope I'm not confusing you more. In one sentence..scaffolding is supporting the child in learning something new based on what they already can do or know.
