Graduation Year

2020

Document Type

Capstone

Degree Type

Open Access Capstone

Degree Name

Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD)

Department

Occupational Therapy

Abstract

Background: Providing extended opportunities for early writing and early literacy for preschool children into the lessons will enhance their writing skills. Purpose: The purpose of this capstone was to examine the effectiveness of providing a structured early writing plan to the preschool children to promote writing development and early literacy skills.

Theoretical Framework. The Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) guided this study. Methods. This quasi-experimental research measured the emerging writing and early literacy levels of a selected group of 12 preschool students. The Learning Without Tears (LWT) Pre-k Assessments, the Readiness & Writing, and the Language & Literacy were used as assessments to collect data. The data acquired was used to compare the pre and post-interventions results. Results. Data was only obtained from the first 2 weeks of the intervention out of the 6 weeks originally planned, because the study was terminated prematurely due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test convey that the pre-and post test scores were not statistically significant, except for one of the Checklist items #17, that was statistically significant. The comparison of the work samples pre and post presented that some students had improved in their drawing and writing based on the assessment criteria.

Conclusions: LWT work samples and investigator observations reveal clinical differences and growth in the participants’ writing, but there didn’t turn out to be much of a statistical difference. This is due to the effect COVID-19 had on the duration of the study.

Faculty Mentor

Julie Duckart

Department Affiliation

Occupational Therapy

Committee Member

Jennifer Hight

Department Affiliation

Occupational Therapy

Comments

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of the individuals that supported me during my journey in the OTD program.

First, I would like to thank my son, David Forero, for his dedication to my OTD program. David, you provided me with invaluable support during each step of my journey. I would like to thank my daughter, Isabella Forero, and my son, Gustavo Romero; my children encouraged me to pursue my dream of studying the OTD program.

I am grateful for having had the guidance of an incredible mentor, Dr. Julie Duckart. Your patience, enthusiasm, and dedication provided me direction and vital assistance during this capstone experience.

I want to also thank all of the OTD faculty at EKU for providing opportunities and assignments that allowed me to learn more in depth of the profession of occupational therapy. Thank you professors for providing me aid and feedback in those whose classes I took.

Special thanks to Mary Askew, who unconditionally provided me with great support during the Applied Leadership Experience.

Additionally, I want to thank my family in Colombia, especially to my mother because she always has believed in me. I want to thank my husband, Ruben Forero, for helping to support the family, while I was completing the program.

Finally, I wanted to express my thanks to the parents and children that allowed me to work with them for my capstone project.

IRB Approval Number (if applicable)

3037

Download

Share

COinS