21st-Century Learning Innovation: Flashcard-Assisted Syllable Method as a Breakthrough in Enhancing Children's Early Reading Ability

Abstrak

Indonesian language plays a vital role in elementary education as it develops students’ literacy skills, particularly in reading and writing. Reading ability is an essential foundation for students’ academic success. This study aims to enhance the beginning reading skills of grade IC students at Al-Amal Islamic Elementary School during the even semester of the 2024/2025 academic year through the implementation of the flashcard-assisted syllable method. The study was motivated by students’ low reading proficiency, caused by limited alphabet recognition, difficulty combining syllables, and confusion in distinguishing similar letters. The research employed the Classroom Action Research (CAR) approach using the Kemmis and McTaggart model, conducted in two cycles consisting of planning, action, observation, and reflection stages. The results showed significant improvement in students’ reading skills. Learning mastery increased from 24% in the pre-cycle to 43% in the first cycle and reached 86% in the second cycle. These findings demonstrate that the flashcard-assisted syllable method is effective in improving students’ early reading abilities. Therefore, this method can serve as an innovative and engaging learning strategy for teachers to help students recognize letters, understand syllables, and read simple words and sentences more effectively in Indonesian language learning.