ENHANCING LETTER RECOGNITION THROUGH PLAYING PLASTICIN IN GROUP A PAUD TERPADU QATHRUN NADA BANJARMASIN

The background of this research is the low cognitive development of children in recognizing letters caused by the less attractive learning strategies and media used. The solution used to improve children's ability to recognize letters is through playing with plasticine. The aim of this research is to improve learning to increase children's ability to recognize letters. This research used the Classroom Action Research (PTK) method which was carried out in 2 cycles with research subjects of 9 children in group A of Integrated PAUD Qathrun Nada Banjarmasin. Based on the results of research conducted, playing with plasticine can increase teacher activity by up to 97%, children's activity reaches 100%, and children's ability to recognize letters reaches 100%. Based on these results, it can be concluded that playing plasticine can improve children's ability to recognize letters in group A of Integrated PAUD Qathrun Nada Banjarmasin.


INTRODUCCTION
Based on Law No. 20 of 2003 concerning the National Education System, Chapter 1 Article 1 point 14 states that PAUD is a coaching effort aimed at children from birth to 6 years of age that is carried out through educational stimuli to help physical and spiritual growth and development so that children have the readiness to learn in entering further education (Depdiknas, 2003).Related to this, Permendiknas No. 137 of 2014 concerning National Standards for Early Childhood Education Article 10 states that the scope of child development includes various aspects, namely religious and moral values, physical motor, cognitive, language, social and emotional, and art.The learning process in each educational unit must be interactive, inspiring, fun, challenging, and motivate learners to actively participate, as well as provide sufficient facilities for children's work, creativity, independence in accordance with the talents, interests, and physical development of children, and psychological learners to develop children's.
In pre-school, children are introduced to a variety of knowledge and various games, all of which are systematically designed to help them grow optimally.These activities are done so that children will be ready to continue their education to the next level.
Children's knowledge of recognizing letters in pre-school is gained through activities when playing with children and using various media, which can be in the form of letter cards, pictures, plasticine, and various other media.which is expected to increase children's creativity and knowledge.
Play is also one of the learning approaches in kindergarten.This is in accordance with the principle of kindergarten learning, namely playing while learning.The play method is a form of education for early childhood that uses strategies or media materials that are interesting and can be followed by children in a fun way (Zaini, 2019).ISSN: 2808-2664E-ISSN: 2808-2656Vol.3 No.2 2023 Page: 34-40 The development of language aspects is a very important achievement for children, especially children's knowledge of the world in the future, and the level of children's skills is influenced by children's language development (Mukaramah et al., 2021).Seefelt and Wasik (Isna, 2019) define the ability to recognize letters as the ability to do something by identifying signs, characteristics, and script marks within the writing system.Each letter of the alphabet represents a distinct sound of language.

E-Chief Journal (Early Childhood and Family Parenting Journal)
As mentioned in Regulation No. 146 of 2014 published by the Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia, children between the ages of four and five can acquire the letter recognition skill required for early literacy through play.
Plasticine is an adaptive medium that can be creatively and imaginatively made by children.Plasticine activities are intentionally crafted to foster the growth of children's language and fine motor skills, in addition to enhancing their creativity.(Aman, 2013).
However, due to the teachers have not been able to give engaging learning methodologies, there are still children who feel comfortable with their peers.Furthermore, the use of media in learning is becoming less interesting, causing children to be less focused on learning activities.Based on this, if it is not resolved, it will cause future problems, and children's development will not go properly.
As a result, the researcher expects to improve children's ability to recognize letters in group A at Qathrun Nada Integrated Pre-school Banjarmasin by giving stimulation through playing activities with plasticine media.The aim of this study was to increase the ability of children in group A to recognize letters through play activities at the pre-school Qathrun Nada Banjarmasin..

METHOD
This study employed classroom action research (PTK), which was conducted in two cycles.A cycle is made up of four activity steps: preparation, action, observation, and reflection.Action research in the classroom Kemmis and McTaggart have been modified (Sumardi et al., 2017).
Group A of Integrated Qathrun Nada Banjarmasin Pre-School (nine people) participated in this study.Data collecting methods include observation and documentation.The observation method was a method of getting or collecting data that involved systematically observing and capturing information about a certain object (Agung in Adelia & Hananik, 2023).Observation of children's activities including the use of plasticine media in order to recognize the concept of letters This observation was conducted out utilizing research instruments in the form of observation sheets during the implementation of actions in each cycle.
The quantitative descriptive analysis method is a method of data processing that involves carefully accumulating information in the form of numbers or percentages about the state of an object under investigation in order to draw broad conclusions (Apriliani et al., 2013).The highs and lows of children's language skills are determined utilizing the five-scale Benchmark Assessment (PAP) conversion standards in this quantitative descriptive analysis approach.The success criteria in this study are an increase in the ability of group A children of Pre-school Qathrun Nada Banjarmasin to recognize the concept of letters.
The researcher was the primary instrument in this research, going to the field to collect the essential data.In addition to the researcher as the primary instrument, this study would employ auxiliary instruments in the form of observation and recording guide sheets.A lattice was constructed to obtain the needed data.To make the research process easier, research instruments are used.
Data collecting is a crucial element of research.In this study, researchers employed observation techniques to collect data, which is one of the data collecting strategies used to get information by monitoring children's behavior in various scenarios.One of the most important data collection approaches in PTK was observation.The researcher employed an observational assessment tool in the form of a checklist in this study.Furthermore, one of the data gathering procedures or evidence of a larger explanation of the research emphasis was the documentation approach.The document assessment tool in this study was in the form of children's work..This research was declared successful if there was a positive change in the average score from cycle I to cycle II, and if converted to the PAP guidelines Scale 5, the level of language ability meets high criteria.The increase in the average score from cycle I to cycle II was able to reach high criteria, indicating that the use of plasticine media through activities to recognize the concept of letters runs effectively and efficiently.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The learning outcomes for the children's ability to discern letters had improved as a result of the initiatives undertaken, including those of the teacher and the children.The following illustrates the increase in teacher involvement in the learning process to enhance students' ability to recognize letters through plasticine games: The following is an increase in children's activities in learning to recognize letters using plasticine games:: The following enhancements in children's ability to recognize letters can be seen as a result of plasticine games:: According to the studies completed in cycles I and II, each cycle has risen.The graph following shows a comparison of achievements in cycles I and II.: The graph illustrates that an increase in teacher activity during cycle I resulted in a corresponding increase in children's activities to 90%.This trend continued as teacher activity increased to 95% in cycle II.Consequently, an increase Evidently, this occurs as a result of the teacher's increased activity prompted by self-reflection on the learning accomplished.The teacher enhances the subsequent cycle in order to heighten the level of teacher involvement in the learning process.
The percentage of children's activities in participating in learning in cycle I was 33%, with active criteria growing to 100% in cycle II.Children encountered many obstacles while playing with plasticine, including children who were confused with the props used by the researchers, children who were not acclimated to learning with plasticine props, and some children who did not respond to learning activities during the learning process.Some children disliked props like plasticine because the plastic was only one color.
To overcome the above obstacles, re-socialize the props with play activities and learning activities, so that at the next meeting, the children will be more accustomed to participating in learning, and make plasticine that is appealing to children by using more plasticine colors.For this reason, researchers must continue with cycle II.
Children's activities increased in cycle II, which was undoubtedly affected by teacher activities, which also increased in cycle II as a result of the instructor's reflection.As a result, the increase in children's activities might be attributed to an increase in teacher activity in developing the ability to recognize letters through plasticine games in Qathrun Nada Integrated Pre-School Banjarmasin's group A.
It can also be shown that children's learning results have improved from 67% in cycle I to 100% in cycle II.This was attributable to an increase in teacher and child activity, which resulted in increased learning results for children.As a result, it is possible to assume that these three factors, namely teacher activity, child activity, and children's learning outcomes, are interconnected.When teacher activity rises, so does child activity.When both teacher and student activity rise, so do children's learning outcomes..
Based on the results of the two cycles, it can be concluded that plasticine games were effective in enhancing the capacity to recognize letters in group A of the Qathrun Nada Integrated Early Childhood Education Center in Banjarmasin.
The accomplishment of optimal child development demonstrates the success of the early childhood learning process.Learning outcomes can also be defined as a child's connection to the environment or subsequent development, as well as evidence of academic performance.To achieve the purpose of teaching and learning, it should encourage children to express their thoughts in the construction of a fun learning process to boost children's activity.(Sitepu, 2014).
The correct learning strategy is essential for reaching optimal learning outcomes.
The strong interest, participation, and motivation of children in learning are factors that influence the achievement of a learning goal so that the learning objectives are maximized.Of course, a teacher must implement this (Suriansyah & Aslamiah, 2011).
The teacher must be able to establish an enjoyable and natural learning environment for students in order for the quality of their learning to improve (Mulyasa, 2017).

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Comparison of achievements in cycle I and cycle II Journal (Early Childhood and Family Parenting Journal) ISSN: 2808-2664 E-ISSN: 2808-2656 Vol.3 No.2 2023 Page: 34-40 in both teacher and child activity corresponds to an enhancement of learning outcomes.

Table 1 .
Teacher Activity

Table 2 .
Student Activity