Abstract:
Early childhood education, also referred to as preschool education is essential to
children’s social, physical, emotional, and cognitive growth. Learning can be made more
effective when the teachers have the right instructional materials. The study was guided
by the following research questions: how were visual instructional materials utilized in
teaching pre-reading skills among preschool children? and how were realia instructional
materials utilized in the teaching of pre-reading skills among preschool learners? The
study adopted a descriptive survey design and data was collected using questionnaires,
interviews, and observation schedules. The findings of the study revealed that visual
instructional materials for teaching pre-reading skills were available but not adequate in
most of the schools, hence affecting the effective teaching of pre-reading skills among the
learners. The study further established that most preschools lacked adequate realia
materials for teaching pre-reading skills. It was concluded that Preschool teachers should
attend relevant workshops, seminars, vocational and teacher professional development
courses, to acquire pedagogical skills, besides effective utilization of Visual and Realia
instructional materials in teaching pre-reading skills to preschool learners. Emphasis
should be on pedagogical content knowledge.
