Jurnal Empowerment Volume 8 Nomor 2, September 2019 e-ISSN : 2580-7692 p-ISSN : 2252-4738 135 MODIFICATION OF DOMINO CARD GAME AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE INTRODUCTION OF LETTERS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD Eneng Yuli1, Iwan Ruswandy21,2 IKIP Siliwangi 2muhasabahone@gmail.com ABSTRACTTeaching child for know about alphabet is not the young thing, no fewparents and educators childhood need patience more for know aboutletters, introduce alphabet on child only already enough difficult moreoverteach read. Child is unique personal and play is our world, but no a littlefound schools that introduce alphabet on child with generalize all child andminimal media usage so make child be easy bored when learn and difficultfor understand learning provided. Game domino is games are played byalmost all circles age and regulations the game was easy understood andhave element entertainment. Game this domino card suitable made as amedium of learning in introduce alphabet on child age early. Throughmodified the with needs child in know alphabet in change symbol dots fromsecond side dominoes into one side contain alphabet and one side containpicture accompanied with regulations play easy understood child anddesign interesting card able make card this as a media for child age early inknow letters for learning be more fun, kids easy understand material andaim learning could achieved. This research use approach qualitative and themethod is analysis concept. Every child have power catch and style learningdifferent and child need time for could move whole his body in order toexplore surroundings on maximum and no easy bored moreover feelburdened when learning take place. Through the domino medium cardsthat have been modified this is then researchers name "Huruf Berantai" andwith provision card companion help child for more easy hit l alphabet witha playful way, while play they move his body, studying with style learningand children could each other help or each other teaching when learn, themlearn with happy and enjoy the process. Keywords: introduction letters, domino, chain letters INTRODUCTIONApplying reading to children, especially early childhood, can be said to be very difficult,what if parents do not pay too much attention to their children in terms of reading, sothe child will feel very lazy because of the lack of encouragement from the surroundingenvironment, especially from parents. Growing interest so that children love and enjoyreading is difficult because in childhood children do not fully understand about reading,because in general children prefer to play. Regarding learning to introduce letters toearly childhood that has been taught for a long time and is monotonous withoutchanges. This results in children getting bored easily and getting bored in learning, so itis not easy for him to capture and understand the material conveyed by the teacherwhen teaching reading. This can result in many children who are unable to recognizeletters and reading difficulties and reading interest rates in Indonesia will decline. Jurnal Empowerment Volume 8 Nomor 2, September 2019 e-ISSN : 2580-7692 p-ISSN : 2252-4738 136 From the exposure of several students from the Indonesian University of Education atSerang Campus who have conducted 2017 Community Service Program (KKN) inseveral villages in Cikeusal Subdistrict, Serang-Banten Regency, there are still manyprimary school-age children who cannot read. Some low-class or first-class children,two and three who have not been able to read and recognize letters, some still havedifficulty reciting letters. The learning process in PAUD-PAUD is very minimal in the useof media or even in some PAUD in the learning process, it rarely uses media other thanblackboards and notebooks.It turned out that it was not only in the village but when the author saw learningintroducing letters in Kindergarten (TK) where researchers carry out PPL in Februaryto April, precisely in urban areas, namely in the city of Serang, the kindergarten stillintroduces letters to children with minimal media use. The introduction of letters inchildren only uses books, as well as in teaching reading. Indeed, there are children whoeasily remember the letters they have learned, but most of them are still having troublekeeping the letters they have learned especially for the letter "b" which is alwaysconfused with "d", other letters that are still difficult for them are "c", "P", "t", "y" and "f".Besides their difficulties, they also seem easily bored when doing such learning.If this problem is not examined, the period when children are very vulnerable duringthe development period when children begin to be sensitive (sensitive) to acceptvarious kinds of stimuli, is very unfortunate if this period is not optimized properly. If itdoes not start from this development period, the child will face difficulties in learning torecognize letters and reading. The next consequence that children will receive is thatlabeling problems that are often given from the environment are more difficult toeliminate than physical injuries.Domino card games are one of the card games that are no stranger to the environmentaround the community and are played by all walks of life. Domino card games are amedium that can provide direct experience for children, where children can be directlyinvolved in activities to recognize letters on a modified domino card. Basically childrenwill also feel happy because they can learn through a game.According to Semiawan (in Nurani, 2013) the learning process for early childhoodshould be carried out in the purpose of learning to provide basic concepts that havemeaning for children through direct or real experiences that enable children to showtheir activities and curiosity optimally or maximAccording to Puckett and Diffily (in Conscience, 2013) placing the position of theteacher or an educator as a mentor, companion and facilitator for children. Such aneducational process can provide a balance of forms of learning that are only oriented orcentered on the will of the teacher who places the child passively and the teacherbecomes dominant. METHODOLOGYThe researcher used a qualitative approach for this study. Mulyana (2013, p. 150)suggests that qualitative research relies on actual evidence of speech, cues and other Jurnal Empowerment Volume 8 Nomor 2, September 2019 e-ISSN : 2580-7692 p-ISSN : 2252-4738 137 social actions as mental material. Nusa and Ninin (2012, p. 63) describe overall thatqualitative research is indeed more appropriate to explore the complexity, depth andmeaningfulness of education in all its dimensions.The research method used by researchers in this study is the concept analysis method.This method was chosen by the researchers because this research analyzes the existingconcepts and then develops to a stage that is easier to understand and accept.McMillan & Schumacher (2001) suggest that concept analysis is Conceptual analysis is a study that clarifies the meaning of concept by describing the essential or generic meaning, the different meanings, and the appropriate usage for the concept. By presenting an analysis of the concept, the study helps us understand the way people think about education. (hlm. 506)Concept analysis according to McMillan & Schumacher is a study that explains themeaning of a concept by describing the important or general meaning, differentmeanings, and the proper use of the concept, by producing concept analysis, this studyhelps us understand how people think about education.The research entitled "Modification of Domino Card Games as an Alternative for theIntroduction of Letters for Early Childhood" researchers carried out starting fromFebruary 2018 to May 2018. This research was carried out in the kindergarten, campus,library and environment. around children. The place for conducting research is flexible.And the subject in this research is the system and aspects of domino card game. As wellas research instruments in this study, the researchers themselves.Data collection techniques used by researchers in this study are in-depth interviews,participant observation and document analysis. The process of finding and compilingdata is done systematically, data obtained from interviews, notes from the field anddocumentation by organizing the data obtained into categories, describing it intoseveral units, synthesizing, arranged into patterns, whichever is chosen is importantand who will learned, and made conclusions so that both the writer or himself andothers easily understand it.Data analysis techniques used by researchers in this study can be started since the databegan to be collected. Following are simple guidelines for data analysis in this study. (1)Identify domino card game data obtained. (2) Classify the data that has been obtained.(3) Data that has been grouped is described. (4) Interpreting the data into the dominocard game concept which will be used as an alternative to letter recognition. (5) Dataconcluded that the modified domino game can be used as an alternative to letterrecognition for early childhood. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONSuyadi (2014) suggests that each child is unique and different so it is natural for everychild to have their own different learning styles. Of the many styles of play and learningit has been agreed upon that the three learning styles commonly possessed by eachperson are visual learning styles, auditory learning styles and kinesthetic learningstyles. Children with visual learning styles will learn by relying on vision. Children with Jurnal Empowerment Volume 8 Nomor 2, September 2019 e-ISSN : 2580-7692 p-ISSN : 2252-4738 138 auditory learning styles will learn by hearing. Children with kinesthetic learning styleswill learn by relying on their movements.Republic of Indonesia Minister of Education and Culture Regulation No. 137 of 2014concerning National Standards for Early Childhood Education mentions contentstandards regarding the level of achievement of development of children aged 4-6 yearsin the scope of cognitive development - Symbolic thinking related to letter recognition isrecognizing letters and recognizing various kinds of symbols of vowels and consonants.As well as in the scope of language development - Literacy related to letter recognitionis imitating (writing and pronouncing) letters A-Z and Mentioning symbols of lettersthat are known.Rosyid (2017) revealed that the existence of learning media in the process of learning isvery important. The existence of learning media is very helpful for an educator or ateacher, because by using a learning medium when going to deliver a learning forchildren, children will be easier to understand about what is explained by the teacher.Indriana (in Rochmawati and Nengsih, 2014) explains that one example of a learningmedia card that can be used when learning is dominoes, dominoes that are often foundin society is one of the media included in the flashcard category.Komachali and Khodareza (2012) reveal flascards are: A flash card is a cardboard consisting of a word, a sentence, or a simple picture on it. It should be noted that the letters on it must be visible and large enough for everyone sitting in the front and the back of the classroom. To make sure that everyone can see the letters on the card. Flash cards are useful for drilling new letters, syllables, words, and other information. (hlm 137)Flashcard according to Komachali and Khodareza is a card consisting of a word, asentence, or a simple image in it. The letters in it must be clearly visible and largeenough to be seen clearly by all children both in front and which is behind the classwhen learning takes place, to ensure that every child in the class can see the letters onthe card. Flashcards are useful for training new letters, syllables and other information.Children, whether they are elementary school children or kindergarten children arebasically happy to play. Even when they study, they will be very happy and enjoy thelearning process at that time especially for early childhood. Learning in the classroomwithout the media and activities that make the whole senses of the child stimulatedmake space for the child to explore the surrounding conditions become narrow so thatthe child is easily bored and lacks learning. Therefore children need space for them tomaximize their senses so that they can receive all learning well and enjoy each process.Teachers in Kindergarten (TK) and students at the PGPAUD department recognize thatthe existence of learning media is very important in delivering learning material in classto children so that children are more easily understanding the learning delivered by theteacher, especially in terms of introducing letters or reading. Introducing letters tochildren must use learning media that are interesting and fun for children so thatchildren easily understand and still feel happy without feeling burdened. Jurnal Empowerment Volume 8 Nomor 2, September 2019 e-ISSN : 2580-7692 p-ISSN : 2252-4738 139 Based on the findings of the data obtained by the researchers, there are somedifferences in the rules of domino card games, there is also no special book that explainshow to play dominoes that are really directly from dominoes because dominosthemselves are still confused as to where they come from although some sources saythis game comes from China. Likewise with dominoes that are sold on the market thereare only the cards without the rules of the game that must be done in them. Thereforeresearchers use sources from books, websites and interview results regarding dominoregulations which until now are still being played or used. There are several similaritiesand differences in the rules of data that have been obtained. Next the author classifiesthe domino card game system based on the data obtained. The exact rules for eachsource are the number of players, the distribution of cards, the player's sitting position,each player's playing order, how to play the card, determining if they don't have a cardand determining which player wins and who loses.The same rules in each source that are obtained are shuffling the card before sharing itwith each player, how to play the card, ending the game, determining the winner anddetermining the losing player. While the different rules in each source obtained are thenumber of players, the determination of the first player, determining the direction ofplay, starting the game, double cards and giving penalties. Basically the data regardingthe domino card game is the same, but there are still different regulations coupled withthe absence of specific guidelines regarding dominoes that are used as references bydomino card player lovers so that the sources obtained also adjust to the most live area,but the source remains in essence the main goal or the main game in the domino gameof all the same speakers.Based on the data that the findings have been presented, it is known aspects of dominocard game that can be used as an alternative to letter recognition, namely dominoes, oneof the media which is a flashcard, a symbol on a card, colored cards, how to play, cardsdesigned to be attractive and have entertainment. In making learning media in letterrecognition material must pay attention to the important elements in the material andlearning plan used. The elements that are considered are letters, appropriate images,card size, color and card design.To make a domino card game as a medium for letter recognition, you must first knowthe rules or how to play dominoes that are commonly played and know how to playthem. Above has been explained how the rules and how to play dominoes. These rulescan be added so that the game fits the needs of the child and children like to play it. Therules used in domino card games are quite simple so it will be easy for children to playthem. In addition, the symbols on the two sides of the card are replaced by letters onone side and the other side is replaced by an image representing the initial letters of theimage, and the card design is made as attractive as possible. So in a domino cardconsisting of two columns separated by a line, each column contains a number of dotsreplaced with the upper side containing letters and the lower side containing images.Because the number of dominoes is only 28 cards and it is worth up to six blanks so it isnot possible if in these 28 cards there are 26 alphabets, this will complicate the game.Therefore the introduction of letters using domino card media is all alphabeticallydivided into several parts, in one group there are seven letters and seven images that Jurnal Empowerment Volume 8 Nomor 2, September 2019 e-ISSN : 2580-7692 p-ISSN : 2252-4738 140 have the initial letters according to the letters used. These seven letters are chosen tomatch the number of point values in the domino card, so that the number of cards willbe appropriate and the game can still run pleasantly.The letters used in the cards are lowercase letters, because in the daily lives of children,children will meet more in lowercase letters. The use of card size is greater than the sizeof the original domino so that the image inserted into the card can be large so that itappears more clear and attractive. When introducing this game to children it isattempted to use a new name, here the researchers call this game the name "LetteringChain".After obtaining conclusions about the rules of domino card games that simply withoutremoving the essence of rules that are suitable given to children in learning to introduceletters using Chain Letter media, given the child's learning style that is commonlyowned by children namely visual learning styles (relying on the sense of sight), learningstyles auditory (relying on the sense of hearing) and kinesthetic learning styles (relyingon movement) as follows, (1) The name of the game is Chain Letters. (2) Number of all28 cards. (3) Played by four players, the teacher adjusts to the number of childrenpresent. (4) Determine who the player will play first by means of the jump. (5) Aftergetting the first player, the game rotates clockwise. (6) Players sit in a circle. (7) Allcards are shuffled, if the child cannot do it, the teacher can help. (In the beginning theteacher gave an example then gave an opportunity for children to do). (8) All cardsdistributed equally to all players. (9) The first player issues one of his cards. (10) Thenext player must issue a card with the letter that corresponds to the initial letter in theimage at the end of the card that is opened from the arrangement of the cards beingplayed. (Suppose the picture of a rickshaw is overflowing with a lettered card b). (11) Ifthe player who plays the turn does not have a card with letters that correspond to theinitial letter in the image on the end of the card that is open, then the player must bepassed and immediately followed by the next player. (12) The game ends with one oftwo possibilities. If a player plays his last card and does not have a remaining card, thatplayer is considered the winner. (13) Another player who still has the remaining cardscounts the remaining cards, the player who has the most remaining cards is declaredthe losing player. (14) Another way to end the game is if the game runs until there areno players who are able to continue the game. This situation is called traffic jam. (15)The remaining cards in each player that is not played are added and compared to thenumber of other players' cards. The player with the least number of cards is declaredthe winner and the player with the highest number of cards is declared the losingplayer. (16) The losing player gets a penalty. (17) The punishment given is singing, thechild is given the opportunity to choose the song to be sung. (18) Other players who donot get petrified accompanied by clapping according to the beat.Recognition of letters through the game "Chain Letters" although played together orplayed by several children in one play but through this game indirectly children learnindividually to recognize letters, when there are children who feel difficulties otherchildren are ready to help and recognize letters through playing Letter Letters inviteschildren to repeat remembering letters that are played in a fun way.For the teacher as an educator, the existence of learning media is an important factor forhim in the success of achieving learning goals. Providing and developing learning media Jurnal Empowerment Volume 8 Nomor 2, September 2019 e-ISSN : 2580-7692 p-ISSN : 2252-4738 141 is very important to remember early childhood who have unique traits and are still atthe stage of pre-operational development, but the lack of material and creativity ofeducators sometimes makes media creation less optimal which ultimately results inlearning processes for children who are less than optimal.Responding to this, the development of learning media must be carried out by teachersas educators, so that the information to be conveyed to children can be conveyed well.With the existence of learning media, educators can streamline time in providingexplanations to children and have more intensive time to guide children one by onewhen learning takes place.Learning activities that are usually carried out especially in the introduction of lettersare commonly carried out every day at school. In fact, not a few at this time found theteacher invites children to study in the classroom continuously, while children at anytime need more space when learning takes place. Children need a fun learning process,learning is needed creative and innovative ways to create a fun learning process. One ofthem uses a domino card game that has been modified as a medium for the introductionof letters for early childhood. CONCLUSIONEvery child is unique, so is the dominant learning style of children and play is the worldof children. Learning carried out while playing and applying learning styles (auditory,visual and kinesthetic) will make children try to optimize their abilities, enjoy thelearning process with fun, to achieve this will be easier with the presence of a learningmedia. The domino card game system is unique, interesting, creative. Domino hasaspects that are suitable to be used as an alternative to letter recognition for earlychildhood, especially the modified dominoes, namely how to play dominoes that are nottoo difficult, fun for all groups, colored cards, pictures and symbols used by cards,attractive designs and there is an element of entertainment when playing it.Teachers can provide material to introduce letters to children by playing dominoesdone outside the classroom such as on the school grounds or other places. The dominocard game that has been modified using letters and images to introduce letters tochildren is named "Lettering Chain". BIBLIOGRAPHYNurani, Y. (2013). Konse Dasar Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini. Jakarta: PT Indeks.Mulyana, Deddy. (2013). Metodologi Penelitian Kualitatif. Bandung: PT RemajaRosdakarya.McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (2001). Research in Education. New York: AddisonWesley Longman.Nusa & Ninin. (2012). Penelitian Kualitatif Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini. Jakarta: PT RajaGrafindo Persada.Suyadi. (2014). Teori Pembelajaran Anak Usia Dini. Bandung: PT Remaja Rosdakarya.Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia Nomor 137 Tahun2014 Tentang Standar Nasional Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini Jurnal Empowerment Volume 8 Nomor 2, September 2019 e-ISSN : 2580-7692 p-ISSN : 2252-4738 142 Khodareza, Komachali. (2012). The Effect of Using Vocabulary Flash Card on IranianPre-University. International Education Studies, 134-147.Rosyid, A. (2017). Penggunaan Media Pembelajaran Kartu Domino untuk MemotivasiSantri di Masjid Al Muhajirin Banyuajuh dalam Mengerjakan Soal Matematika. APOTEMA: Jurnal Program Studi Pendidikan Matematika, 26-30.Nengsih & Rochmawati. (2014). Pendidikan. Pengembangan Kartu Domino sebagai Media Pembelajaran Akuntansi pada Materi Ayat Jurnal Penyesuaian. 1-6.