Scaffolding

There was an educational psychologist by the name of Lev Vygotsky that believed there was a “zone of proximal development” whereby one person who had acquired a skill would lead someone without a skill through this zone until the second person also acquired the skill.

This strategy is known as scaffolding and it is a great way to help children learn.

There is any easy way to remember the steps:  ROES

R stands for REMEMBER

O stands for OBSERVE

E stands for ENHANCE and

S stands for SUPPORT

Remember the steps of O E and S.

OBSERVE:

1. what your child is interested in
2. how they go about it
3.  “what is it?” (describe object)
4. “what does it do?” (describe action)

For example: 

“You have chosen the yellow scarf.  It is silky against your skin.” (describe object)

“Swish swish swish it goes in the air in front of you.”  (describe the action)

ENHANCE:

1. build on the child’s interest
2. use open ended questions
3. challenge without showing them
4. describe and validate their choices

For Example:

1. “Where else can you swish it?”
2. (open ended question)
3. “Can you swish it behind your back?”
4. (challenge without showing them)“Over your shoulder behind your head.  That’s a creative way to swish.”(describe and validate choices)

SUPPORT:

1. make connections to something familiar
2. information building
3. imaginative play
4. challenge new actions and tie to
5. imaginative play
6. repeat and draw conclusions

For example:

“It’s almost like a little bee darting through the garden.”  (open ended question)

“Bees like to gather nectar from flowers to make honey.”  (information building)

“Why don’t we buzz over to a flower.” (imaginative play)

“It’s almost like a little bee darting through the garden.” (open ended question)

“Bees like to gather nectar from flowers to make honey.” (information building)

“Why don’t we buzz over to a flower.” (challenge new actions and tie to imaginative play)

“Where are there more flowers?  What else could be a flower?” (repeat)

“Where is the beehive?  Near the cupboard?  Great, let’s go there and use all of our nectar to make some honey.” (come to a conclusion)