AN OVERVIEW OF THE EARLY LITERACY SKILL OF KINDERGARTNERS IN SURABAYA, INDONESIA: A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATION OF RESULTS FROM OBSERVATIONS AND GROUP DISCUSSIONS

Abstract

Early literacy is an important abilities that must b possessed in early childhood because can affect children's success in elementary school. this study examines the description of early literacy skills of Kindergarten children conducted in a Kindergarten in Surabaya, Indonesia. The research method uses qualitative research with a case study approaches. The unit of analysis in this study is students in class A and class B and teachers. FGDs were conducted with ten teachers (mean age 48.8 years ), with the criteria of having taught for at least three years. As well as observations related to early literacy skills in kindergarten children totalling 70 (mean age 5.2 years). The results showed that based on the observations made by the researcher for one week with students in class A and class B, the student’s early literacy skills that were still lagging were the interest in reading and expressive communication skills. In expressive communication, some students still cannot imitate the simple sentences conveyed by the teacher, some still need help answering simple questions from the teacher, and some still need more confidence and have difficulty retelling simple stories/experiences/events. In reading interest, children tend to think books are boring, stop pretending to read them, and then put them down. Based on the FGD with teachers said that literacy skills, because children are often trained, are starting to be able to read, but that is for children who are often given repetition from their parents too. Parents are also required to be involved in early literacy, but for parents who do not retrain at home, sometimes there are still those who still need to memorize letters. Interest in reading has yet to emerge much because interest in reading is still lacking.