Influence of songs on pre-school children's word knowledge in Kikuyu sub-county, Kiambu county

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to examine the influence of songs on pre-school children’s word knowledge in Kikuyu Sub-county, Kiambu County. The study was guided by the following research objectives: To determine the influence of songs on children’s verbal memory, to identify the influence of songs on children’s listening, to find out how songs influence children’s vocabulary and to establish how songs influence children’s writing instruction in Kikuyu Sub-county, Kiambu County. The study employed a cross-sectional survey research design consisting of all public preschools (34), teachers and pre-school administrators in the area under study. All (3686) class 7&8 Pupils were also targeted. A representative sample of thirty (30) teachers and ten (10) administrators took part in the study. Questionnaires and interview guides were used as the main instruments for data collection. Data was analyzed using both descriptive statistics and narrative techniques. From the analysis, the study revealed that the use of songs indeed increased children’s verbal memory, listening skills, vocabulary, writing instruction, fluency in reading and oral skills to a great extent.