As a Grade 2 teacher, before receiving training from KREASI Morotai on the literacy and numeracy club (catch-up club), Umian still used a simple teaching approach. She often wrote lessons on the blackboard and asked students to copy or read what was written. While this method helped students learn, Umian felt that the learning process was not always engaging for some of the children.
Before the literacy and numeracy club was introduced at her school, Umian had already tried creating several simple learning materials. However, the use of these materials was still limited and not very varied.
After participating in the literacy and numeracy club mentor training provided by KREASI Morotai, Umian gradually began to change the way she taught. The literacy and numeracy club itself is an additional learning activity designed to support children who are still experiencing difficulties in reading, writing, and counting.
The presence of the club encouraged Umian to use learning media and teaching aids more frequently during lessons.
“Since becoming a mentor for the literacy and numeracy club, I have become more creative in making various teaching materials. Now, children do not only learn from what is written on the blackboard, but also through more interactive activities,” Umian said.
In the literacy sessions of the club, children who were still struggling with learning began by recognizing letters. Umian created learning materials using cardboard cut into small circles. On each piece of cardboard, she wrote letters of the alphabet, both uppercase and lowercase. Each letter was written separately so that children could hold and arrange them on their own.
Through this activity, the children appeared more enthusiastic about learning to recognize letters. They could pick up the letter cards, arrange them, and try reading together.
“With the letter recognition learning media, children become more enthusiastic and find it easier to recognize letters. However, the activity still needs to be repeated regularly so that children do not simply memorize the order of letters but truly understand letters from A to Z, both their pronunciation and their shapes,” Umian explained.
In literacy learning, Umian also uses pictures printed from the internet and pasted onto cardboard. For example, she uses a picture of a chicken. From the picture, she invites the children to identify the letters and arrange them into the word “ayam” using the letter cards she prepared.
This activity is then connected to numeracy learning. After a child successfully arranges the word “ayam,” she asks them, “How many legs does a chicken have?” When the children answer two, Umian continues with another question, such as asking which letters form the word “dua”.
“To introduce numbers, I also use objects found around us. For example, I relate the shape of the number one to a marker because they look similar, while the number two is compared to the shape of a duck. This simple approach helps children understand number shapes more easily and learn how to pronounce them,” Umian said.
In addition, Umian uses simple objects such as bottle caps, stones, marbles, and straws as tools to help children practice counting. With these objects, children can directly hold and count them by themselves, making the learning process more engaging.
Through these simple activities, Umian has observed changes among the students in her class. They have become more active, more confident in trying new things, and seem to enjoy the learning process more.
This experience shows that even simple learning materials can help improve children’s literacy and numeracy skills.
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The KREASI Program or Kolaborasi untuk Edukasi Anak Indonesia (Collaboration for the Education of Indonesian Children) is funded by the Global Partnership for Education, developed by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs. KREASI in Pulau Morotai is being implemented by Save the Children and local implementing partner Stimulant Institute, support by the Government of Pulau Morotai with aims to improve the quality of education in Indonesia by strengthening teaching, learning, and student development.
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Writer: Ayutama Putri Jordy | Editor: Andika Ramadhan | Photo: Ayutama Putri Jordy/KREASI/Stimulant Institute/Save the Children