Children play in their zone of actual development
and push themselves to move to the next step
in their learning. They reinforce the skills they
have mastered through repetition and practice.
In this example, the children chose not to make a
shopping list for the store, possibly because it is
slightly too difficult for them to do independently.
The educator must decide whether her goal for
this group is to have them write independently,
using the strategies they have already developed.
First, the educator must determine what the
children know about writing and what they can
be expected to accomplish. If the task is too hard
or the children are not sufficiently motivated,
the educator may choose to leave that goal for
another opportunity (child focused), or to model
the task (educator directed) to show them what it
would look like. However, if the educator decides
this is an ideal guided learning opportunity, she
may choose to initiate the task from either the