Engrafting Character-Building Education through Extra-Curricular Activities for Kindergarten Students in TK Aisiyah Busthanul Athfal (ABA) Banjarmasin

Character-building education is related to character components that contain behavioral values to develop in stages at an early age until higher education. The connection between knowledge of behavioral values with attitudes or emotions. To implement them, it must start at an early age. The government has already developed curriculum, especially in kindergarten. Somehow, extra-curricular activities are needed to help the students of TK Aisiyah Bustanul Athfal (Aisiyah Bustanul Athfal Kindergarten) to engraft character education. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explain in-depth about the extra-curricular activities in TK ABA, Banjarmasin and the effects of each extra-curricular to the students’ character building in those kindergartens. The method of this study was qualitative with phenomenology approach. Collecting data was using deep interviews with the headmaster, the parents and the teachers in three kindergartens of TK ABA in Banjarmasin. Inductive content analysis was used to break down the data in small units, to code and name the units according to the content and to group the coded material based on the same concepts. The results of this study indicated that various extra-curricular activities carried out, such as dance, drum bands, Tahfidz AlQuran and so on can engraft positive character in TK ABA students such as love of Al Qur’an, honest, discipline, independence, communicative, helping others, responsible, confident, cooperation and courageous.