Manosh Roy

In early childhood education, scaffolding involves providing the right kind of assistance when a child is working to accomplish a task. The idea was coined by the psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who emphasized the importance of apprenticeship and instruction in early cognitive development.

While there are many ways to offer support to a child, such as giving specific instructions, providing demonstrations, or offering general encouragement, no single strategy has proven to be superior. Instead, parents and early childhood educators are most successful in helping children when they vary their strategy according to the progress the child is making.