Githinji and Orodho

Greener Journal of  Educational Research Vol. 8(3), pp. 047-054, April 2018

ISSN: 2276-7789

Research Articles

Manuscript Number: 041318058

(DOI: http://doi.org/10.15580/GJER.2018.3.041318058)

 

Relationship between Early Childhood Play Activities and Holistic Development of the Learner in Pre-schools in Kiambu County, Kenya

 

 

Stephen Githinji¹ and John Aluko Orodho²

 

 

¹Doctorate Student in the Department of Educational Management, Policy and Curriculum Studies, School of Education, Kenyatta University Kenya.

²Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Management, Policy and Curriculum Studies, School of Education, Kenyatta University Kenya.

Abstract

The study investigated relationship between early childhood play activities and holistic   child development in Kiambu County, Kenya.  It was conducted on a sample of 300 participants’ comprising 150 teachers and 150 managers of pre-school institutions.  Questionnaire and interview guides for managers and teachers were the main instruments used to collect data.  Pretesting of the questionnaires yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.752 and 0.692 for teachers and managers respectively. Quantitative data collected were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences and also by using narrative technique. Majority (88%) of the pre-school teachers were female, and youth within the age group of 21-25 years age.  The pre-school teachers and managers considered lecture method and child- play activities important in contributing to the holistic development of the child at pre-school level. There was a significant relationship between perceptions of pre-school teachers and managers on influence of early childhood play activities on holistic development in terms of emotional, motor-physical and social skills in children

Keywords: Pre-school teachers; teacher characteristics; holistic development, play activities; child development

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Journal Name : citation_journal : Greener Journal of  Educational Research 

Publication Status/Date : usp_status_date : April 2018