The use of Kinaesthetic Activities as art therapy tools to improve performance in pre-reading and pre-writing among kindergarten pupils

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July, 2015
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Abstract
This study was conducted to find out the existing teaching strategies for teaching at the kindergarten, their usage in the classroom as well as their impact on pupils’ performance. The study sought to identify instructional materials and activities that teachers of KNUST Nursery School engaged the pupils in when teaching the English alphabet and their related sounds, as well as the challenges associated with them and what teachers do to manage such challenges. The study employed the qualitative research approach to critically study the Curriculum and Handbook for Pre-School Education, both of which guide the teachers in order to find out the existing strategies used in teaching the letters and sounds of the alphabet. Observation, questionnaire and interview were used to identify and study how teachers employ the existing strategies, activities and instructional materials in the classroom and their impact on the pupils’ performance in pre-reading and pre-writing. The major findings of the study indicated that the KG 1 and KG2 teachers in the school were not abreast with current strategies because their lessons centred mostly on patterns, joining of patterns and songs were used to teach the letter names and sounds. They employ child centred teaching approaches with play activities in the teaching and learning of the alphabet and sounds. Because some of the pupils had challenges writing the letters accurately, new art based activities were introduced for the teaching and learning of the alphabet and their sounds which made the pupils very active in class and got them fully involved. The activities motivated them to work sometimes without supervision and on the playground. At the end of the study, pupils’ showed positive signs of improvement in their reading and writing of the alphabets. To improve the pupils performance, it is recommended that the Kindergarten teachers be trained to use the kinesthetic teaching and learning strategies and related instructional materials to teach their pupils to learn to read and write the letters of the English alphabet and recognise them by their sounds.
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A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Philosophy (Art Education),
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