Adapt Scaffolding to Early Childhood

The article I read was Adapt Scaffolding to Early Childhood. I chose to read this article because my field of study is Early Childhood Education and I like learning as much as I can about the field. This article discusses scaffolding which is an instructional technique that helps guide students to a stronger understanding of an educational topic and being more independent in the learning process. The article discusses modeling the expectations and letting the student practice meeting those expectations before letting them venture out on their own in the learning process. It is helpful for both the student, and the educator if the educator documents lessons in the form of photos, this will help the child see their learning progress and it will also help the educator see where the student is at in the learning process.

In the scaffolding process, the educator must learn the strengths of each of his/her students. This will help build on the learning process and the educator can build lessons based on the strengths of each child which will build on their skills. In the early childhood classroom this can be done with hands on learning, and the educator asking the students questions which begins the process of the children thinking on their own about the hands on lessons. Once you know what your students strengths are and where they are in their learning process, you can begin pushing them to learn more and question the what and why of the lesson being taught. Scaffolding helps children learn in different ways, it helps push them to want to know more and to be more independent in the learning process.

Reaction/Point of View

While reading this article I would have to agree with everything that was said. This is such a great way to get children not only to learn but to start taking more of an independent role in their learning. I believe as an educator we should learn what our student's strengths and interests are whether we are using the scaffolding technique or not. Knowing the student's strengths and interests can be helpful in knowing which lessons may interest them more, if one lesson isn't the most interesting to them then finding a way to make it more interesting. I think documenting the learning process in photographs is a great idea, young children love looking at photos and to see themselves learning gets them excited to learn.

How to Use Information

I would use this information is setting up lesson plans and activities for the early childhood classroom. I would use this information to find ways to get the students to start asking themselves questions while they are learning such as why am I learning this and what comes next. I could use this information while setting up the classroom as well, putting up some posters with photos that help them learn what things to be looking for while learning in any lesson and what questions to ask in any lesson. The information in this article helps me as a future educator learn the steps/process of scaffolding and how to model this technique. Documenting the learning process for children is so important, using photos for young kids is something I would do.

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