Daily Physical Therapy Exercises (Dpte): An Intervention to Address Handwriting Skills of Kindergarten Pupils of Jose De Mesa Elementary School

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Children entering the kindergarten classroom have a variety of experiences with writing exposures in general. Some five and six-year-old arrive having more sophisticated letter formations and legible handwriting samples, while others struggle at even attempting to write their first letters. Daily Physical Therapy Exercises refer to the small muscles in the hands and fingers that are responsible for tasks such as picking objects up and grasping a pencil. Children use fine motor skills in school with tasks such as cutting and pasting, using manipulative in mathematics or clapping their hands to learn syllables.

METHODS

This utilized the descriptive type of research which includes: Profiling of pupils' handwriting skills on DPTE, Grouping of pupils, Implementation of DPTE, Week Assessment, Recording of results, Analysis and Interpretation, Conclusion and Recommendation. The subjects were 20 Kindergarten pupils of Jose de Mesa Elementary School, Fule Almeda District during the S.Y. 2016-2017. It was set from September 1-30, 2016

RESULTS

Based on the findings, the majority of the pupils belong to cannot write anything on the pre-assessment. In the first week, 9 out of 20 or 45 % of the Kindergarten pupils cannot write anything. In the second week, 12 out 0f 20 or 60% of the kindergarten pupils were only starting to know how to write. In the third week, 3 pupils can already write legibly in proper spaces, curves, roundness, and sharpness. In week 4 curve, roundness and sharpness and the others were still improving. Pupil's appreciation on DPTE, 12 out of 20 pupils or 60% of the pupils were interested and willing to do the DPTE even without giving any commands and instructions from the teacher. They take it as a routine. Parents with regard to DPTE, 3 out of 20 or 5 % of the parents were aware but not interested, 8 out 20 or 40% of the parents were aware but they have work every day, 9 out 20 or 45% of the parents were aware and interested but they were not engaging themselves because most of them have no time due to taking care of their other children and doing different household chores every day. It was revealed that the DPTE was effective in improving handwriting skills of the Kindergarten Pupils.

DISCUSSIONS

This research was mainly designed to find out the effectiveness of DPTE in developing handwriting skills or fine motor skills. The researcher believes that fine motor kill needs to be developed first before teaching handwriting. It is a prerequisite to make the pupils ready in handwriting.