June 2, 2026
The Sweet Spot in Learning
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
Last week I saw the magic of ZPD. What I introduced to my friend was not too hard, not too easy, but just right. It reminded me of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears when she is in pursuit of “just right” in her life: “just right” bed, “just right” porridge, “just right” chair. I think we are all searching for “just right” when we are teaching new skills. We all want to be on the path to greater change and greater learning, both within ourselves and our little friends.
When a child is learning in their ZPD, he or she is engaged in tasks that can be learned with assistance from a communicative partner. I introduced an idea to teach negatives that I learned from my Meaningful Speech course. I brought 2 cups and a pom pom. I hid the pom pom under one of the cups and moved the cups around. I picked one up and said, “It’s not there.” I picked up another, “It’s not there.” And then the final cup and said, “There it is!” My little friend loved the game and used the language modeled. I provided the support as he learned the concept.
This happens to be the same little friend from a previous post who involved me in his rocket ship tent to be an astronaut. Again, I found myself in the tent. This time he used the language he had just learned and applied it in a new way:
“Astronaut, where are you? He’s not there.” (As he looked outside the tent.) I then said “I found it!”
It was such fun to see the generalization of a concept I had just taught him! He was so engaged and it took little effort on my heart because the skill I was modeling was in his ZPD. The skill was not too hard, not too easy, but just right.
I encourage you to explore ZPD in your own life with tasks you are learning. Do you have the right support to expand your understanding? Do you only focus on tasks that are in your comfort zone and which you can already do? Or do you attempt tasks that you cannot do alone and give up? It is important when exploring ZPD with our little friends that we truly understand how children develop, and then use ZPD to help them maximize their learning in a support environment.
Here’s to finding “just right” this week!