Abstract

Early childhood education is a subject of great interest to educators and researchers around the world. The development of education cannot be separated from the region and local culture. This is especially true in early childhood education. This research employed a quantitative method to determine the application of local content in the kindergarten curriculum and its impact on learning outcomes, especially in cultivating local cultural knowledge, and used a descriptive technique to explain the result. Data were obtained through interviews and observations carried out on the specified population. Integrating local content in the kindergarten education curriculum has been empirically validated as being very effective in cultivating children’s attention and developing their understanding of local culture, based on the findings of this research. In addition, an examination of children’s reactions shows that children enjoy the use of regional materials in these educational programs, thereby improving their academic performance. These two variables show very good results, thus strengthening the effectiveness of integrating local content in this curriculum.