Example/Explanation: Say you are capable of doing all kinds of math. You can add, multiply, etc., but you get to something more frustratingly difficult- for simplicity's sake let's say PEMDAS. You know how to do all of the things involved, but you don't know about exponents yet. You need someone else to teach you how to use exponents, but you can do the rest of it just fine. Thus, when a more learned person in the area teaches it to you, you've reached the ZPD since they are adding onto skills you already have.
