AWARENESS AND UTILIZATION OF AYO-OLOPON TO ENHANCE MATHEMATICAL COMPUTATION SKILLS OF PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract

Awareness and utilization of learning resources by caregivers and parents play a
significant role in the holistic development of the child, hence efforts to make relevant
stakeholders aware and utilize resources available are considered equally significant.
One of the learning areas where resources are most needed is Mathematics to demystify
its level of difficulties. This study thus investigated Parents’ and caregivers’ awareness as
well as how “ayo-olopon” can be used as an instructional tool to improve pre-school
children's mathematical computation skills. A descriptive survey research design was
adopted and 140 participants made up of 40 caregivers and 100 parents of 5year old preschoolers
in Ibadan, Oyo State were selected using multi-stage sampling procedure. Two
self-design questionnaires were used to collect data for the study namely, Parents
Awareness and Utilization of ayo-olopon with Preschoolers Questionnaires (PAU_AoPQ,
r=0.74) and Caregivers Awareness and Utilization of ayo-olopon as Instructional Aid
Questionnaires (CAU_AoIAQ, r=0.81). The data were analyzed using descriptive
statistics as featured in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings
revealed that caregivers are not aware of, and do not utilize ayo-olopon as an instructional
resource to enhancemathematical computation skills among pre-primary school children.
It was concluded that all educational stakeholders should embrace indigenous games
especially ayo-olopon to teach pre-school children numeracy. It was recommended that
teachers should be trained on the use of locally made instructional materials such as ayoolopon
to enhance mathematics computation skills among pre-primary school children.

Keywords: Mathematical skill, Pre-primary children, Instructional resources, ayo -
olopon