ESTABLISHING "GOOD MORNING PROGRAM" TO PROMOTE ENGLISH FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

The teaching English to young children has become important in Indonesia in recent years. It means that the role and importance of English has got serious attention. Parents and educational leaders see early English education as a necessary prerequisite for children's later success. The underlying assumption is that learners will be more successful if they begin studying English at early age. As a result, now days there are many teachers find themselves teaching in primary school even though they have no English background or been trained for this level. Most of the English graduates are only well equipped to teach junior or senior high schools. Therefore, when they have to teach them, the challenge is how to create the quality of teaching and learning programs that match to the needs for young learners. One of the hardest things about working with young learners is that often they are preliterate. When you are working with them, you can't just write letters and words on the board and expect them to able to read what you have written. However, they can orally learn a large amount of language before they learn to read and write

Teaching English to Generation Z students (New concept of young learners)

Although the teaching of the English at elementary schools, the so-called English for Young Learners (EYL), in Indonesia was formally introduced since 1994, it is believed that the achievement is still far from being satisfactory. In fact, many studies which investigated the area of the teaching English to young learners had indicated that there is no consistent support between the policy and implementation. All of them had tried to find out what factors affecting the ineffectiveness of the teaching. The finding showed that in general the schools did not develop the curriculum appropriately, design teaching methodology properly, empower trained and experienced teachers, allocate instruction time sufficiently, and cater the students totally. Just knowing the factors is not enough; they need a solution. Albert Einstein who says, ―the formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution.‖ needs to be taken into account. Since young learners today belong to the group of Generation Z who think and behave differently than those from preceding generations, the solution offered should be appropriate for their needs and wants. Understanding the new generations of students and the way they learn is the key for starting changes required in education. In this article, therefore, the writer wants to address the information for EYL professionals about the nature of Gen Z and presenting possible teaching strategies designed to engage this generation in the English classroom. Keywords: generation Z, young learner

Merancang Pembelajaran Menyenangkan bagi Generasi Digital

Pembelajaran yang menyenangkan merupakan suasana belajar mengajar yang dapat memusatkan perhatian peserta secara penuh sehingga hasil belajar bisa maksimal. Keberhasilan pembelajaran merupakan kunci pokok bagi pendidik profesional. Agar pengembangan profesionalisme bisa berjalan dengan baik, seorang pendidik harus mengetahui landasan yuridiris pembelajaran menyenangkan, konsep dasar belajar yang menyenangkan, dan strategi mencapai pembelajaran yang menyenangkan. Dalam makalah ini penulis ingin mendiskripsikan bagaimana merancang pembelajaran yang menyenangkan sesuai dengan mempertimbangkan karakteristik peserta didik yang telah memasuki era generasi digital. Sebagai pendidik direkomendsikan agar melakukan penyesuaian dengan kebutuhan dan keinginan peserta yang telah didominasi oleh kemajuan teknologi sebagai penciri khas generasi digital. Kata Kunci: Pembelajaran Menyenangkan, Generasi Digita

PEMBENTUKAN KARAKTER ANAK MELALUI SOFT SKILL TRAINING (Studi Kasus Pembentukan Karakter di SD Muhammadiyah Terpadu Ponorogo)

Melakukan kegiatan sederhana dengan konsisten dinilai lebih effektif dalam proses transformasi nilai-nilai karakter bangsa dan agama terhadap anak. Pavlov dan Skinner (1957) dalam teori behaviorismenya menyebut proses tersebut dengan istilah pembiasaan sekalipun mendapat sanggahan dari teori koqnitivisme Piaget. Lepas dari kontradiksi tersebut, masing-masing masih teori memiliki kontribusi positif dalam membatu membentuk karakter anak.. Berdasarkan paham tersebut, sekolah merupakan tempat pendidikan yang strategies yang berfungsi tidak hanya sebagai tempat menstarnsfer ilmu saja tetapi juga bisa mewujudkan harapan orang tuadan pemerintah untuk menghasilkan insan yang berakhlak atau berbudi melalui proses belajar mengajar yang merujuk pada kurikulum yang dipakai. Orang tua sekarang sudah mulai berfikir untuk memilih sekolah yang bisa memenuhi harapannya tersebut dengan tidak mempedulikan status sekolah atau seberapa besar biaya pendidikannya. Fenomena ini tentu sangat menantang bagi sekolah yang ingin tetap eksis dan diminati masyarakat. Melalui pengamatan langsung (participant observation) yang dilakukan di SD Muhammadiyah Terpadu Ponorogo, penulis menemukan model pembentukan karakter melalui berbagai kegiatan pembiasaan yang disebut soft skill training. Dari program ini sudah tampak hasilnya dimana anak bisa memiliki kepekaan sosial dan mental yang elegan yang memungkinkan untuk dikembangkan ditempat lain. Kata Kunci: pembentukan karakter, soft skill trainin

The Synergy of Multi-activities in Educating Students’ Character at Schools

School is a potential place to acknowledge students’ character education. Character education is the development of knowledge, skills, and abilities that enable the learner to make informed and responsible choices. To achieve this, schools have to facilitate students with some character development programs through the activities designed for both co-curricular and extra-curricular setting. When the schools are able to create such programs in which all students are welcomed and respected , feel a sense of belonging , and are inspired to achieve to the best of their ability , high expectations for all students in learning, academic achievement and citizenship and character development will be considerably realized. Schools are expected to serve the students’ interests and wants right. As long as I observed a Muhammadiyah based Elementary School the so-called SD Muhammadiyah Terpadu in Ponorogo East Java seems to implement the character education through some modified activities. The school which is claiming as one of the character building schools in Indonesia has tried to formulate its education into four major programs namely; integrated learning process, message in week, extracurricular activities, and school culture model. The principle of the character development is not merely based on the instructional oriented but habit formation

HOW SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS CONTRIBUTES TO PARENTS’ VIEWS ON ENGLISH TEACHING FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

This study aims at identifying the contribution of parents’ socio-economic status (SES) toward their views on the teaching English for children. A survey technique with questionnaires and interviews was utilized to collect the data from 245 parents as the respondents. SPSS with Predictive Analysis Software (PASW) statistics 18 has been employed to analyze the collected data. Descriptively, the reseacher found that parents with different SES have showed similar beliefs on the importance of English mastery. They made a commitment to keep supporting their children with English. It was also found that although their knowledge on EYL was limited, their views and attitudes were good. Statistically, it showed that parents’ social and economic status either in their education, occupation, or income and their views on EYL were not significantly correlated. It came to the conclusion that parents today have equal vision in preparing their children with good education

Manajemen Pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris di Sekolah Dasar/Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Kategori Unggul (Analysis Best Practice Pengajaran Bahasa Inggris Untuk Anak)

Pengajaran bahasa Inggris Untuk Anak di SD yang sering disebut English for Young Learners (EYL), yang mulai dikenalkan secara formal di Indonesia sejak tahun 1994 masih menarik untuk diteliti karena hasil pembelajaran bahasa Inggris di tingkat SD/MI selama ini masih dianggap masih kurang memuaskan. Oleh karena itu, tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis domain pembelajaran bahasa Inggris yang dilakukan oleh guru di SD/MI unggul di kabupaten Ponorogo yang meliputi: cara guru merencanakan pembelajaran yang sesuai dengan prinsip mengajar bahasa Inggris bagi anak, cara guru mengkondisikan suasana pembelajaran yang sesuai dengan prinsip mengajar bahasa Inggris bagi anak, dan cara guru melaksanakan pembelajaran yang sesuai dengan prinsip mengajar bahasa Inggris bagi anak. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian lapangan dengan menggunakan pendekatan fenomenologis dimana peneliti ingin mengkaji keadaan yang nyata pelaksanaan pembelajaran bahasa Inggris di tingkat sekolah dasar di kabupaten Ponorogo. Hasil penelitian tersebut akan dipaparkan secara deskriptif kualitatif. Dalam persipan mengajar RPP yang mereka siapkan belum sepenuhnya menngacu pada prinsip prinsip tersebut yang antara lain RPP harus meyakinkan bahwa siswa bisa menikmati pembelajaran bahasa Inggris. Dalam hal pengkondisian kelas selama pembelajaran dari ketiga subjek yang diamati realatif sama. Suasana kelas tercipta cukup kondusif dan terkendali. Akan tetapi pengkondisian kelas tersebut masih bersifat konvensional. Apabila disinkronkan dengan prinsip-prinsip pembelajaran bahasa Inggris untuk anak, kegiatan yang dilakukan masih dominan pada kegiatan yang berpusat pada guru (teacher center). Peran siswa masih minimal karena pembelajarannya masih berpusat pada buku teks. Berdasarkan temuan ini maka peneliti menyarankan kepada praktisi atau guru bahasa Inggris untuk anak atau guru bahasa Inggris SD/MI untuk mengkaji lebih jauh tentang hakekat dan gaya belajar pembelajar muda dengan melalui kajian literatur, pelatihan, atau berbagai pengalaman dengan teman sejawat