Effects of reading picture books on kindergartners’ mathematics performance

Figures & data

Table 1. Sample composition.

Child characteristic	Frequency				d	p
	Experimental group (199 children)		Control group (185 children)
Kindergarten year					−.14	.19
Children in K1	84 (42%)		66 (36%)
Children in K2	115 (58%)		119 (64%)
Gender					−.04	.71
Boy	106 (53%)		95 (51%)
Girl	93 (47%)		90 (49%)
Home language					−.08	.43
Non-Dutch	28 (14%)		21 (11%)
Dutch	171 (86%)		164 (89%)
SES					.04	.67
Low	23 (12%)		24 (13%)
Medium/high	176 (88%)		161 (87%)
	M	SD	M	SD
Age in years at time of pretest
K1	4.64	.37	4.69	.37	−.14	.39
K2	5.70	.44	5.67	.46	.08	.55
K1 + K2	5.28	.62	5.31	.62	−.05	.65
Cito mathematics at time of pretest
K1	43.2	13.8	41.8	10.6	.15	.46
K2	57.9	13.7	54.3	10.4	.28	.02
K1 + K2	51.7	15.6	49.8	12.0	.15	.17
Cito language at time of pretest
K1	58.2	8.9	66.3	6.8	−1.02	.67
K2	73.6	10.6	72.6	10.6	.09	.48
K1 + K2	69.2	12.2	70.7	10.6	−.13	.66
Children’s class size	22.6	3.2	22.3	4.8	.07	.47

Figure 1. Pages 11 and 12 from Ga je mee? [Let’s go?] (Dematons, 2005) (illustrations by author, Charlotte Dematons). Translation of text on page 11 (left side): ‘[…] and would you please help me find the way to the sea? From here it is not easy to see’. Translation of text on page 12 (right side): ‘I cannot see it properly from here. The rocks are too high, do you understand? You are more able to see it, from above. No, it is not very far’.

Table 2. Classroom conversation based on pages 11–12 of picture book Ga je mee? [Let’s go] (Dematons, 2005).

	[The teacher turns the page.]
Child A:	‘Well, I think it is rather far.’
Child B:	‘A crocodile!’
Child A:	‘Where?
Child B:	‘There!’
	[All children search for the crocodile. Some children point at the crocodile. The teacher continues to read the text and asks child C to point out the sea, which he does.]
Child D:	‘And there is a crocodile! And here he cannot pass.’
	[Child D points at the overhanging rock, where the boy is heading to.]
	[The teacher reads the remaining text.]
Teacher:	‘Why can we see the sea better?’
Child D:	‘Because the boy is looking that way (backwards). He is rowing and then you always have to look that way.’
Teacher:	‘Can he look over the rocks?’
Children:	‘No.’
Teacher:	‘And we can see it, because we are above it, looking down. It is as if we are in an airplane above the book.’
Child E:	‘Not!’
Teacher:	‘Yes, we are.’
Child F:	‘For them we are, for us we are not.’
Teacher:	‘What else can we see better?’
Child G:	‘The rocks.’
Teacher:	‘He can see the rocks, but not all of them.’
Child A:	‘The crocodile!’
Teacher:	‘Indeed, the boy cannot see the crocodile, while we can.’
Child D:	‘Perhaps the crocodile moves this way.’
	[Child D points out a route from the position of the crocodile to the sea.]
Child H:	‘The boy cannot pass underneath here.’
	[Child H points at the overhanging rock.]
Child D:	‘Yes he can, because that is too high!’
	[Child D also points at the overhanging rock.]
Teacher:	‘Perhaps it is a kind of bridge.’
Teacher:	[Asks child D.]
	‘Can you point out the route that the boy can take, towards the sea?’
	[Child D points out a route that uses the passage under the overhanging rock.]
Child D:	‘He can go this way, if he can pass underneath this.’
	[Child D points at the overhanging rock.]
Child A:	‘And he can also go this way.’
	[Child A points out an alternative safe route.]
Teacher:	‘But he can also go this way.’
	[Teacher indicates the other route, crossing the crocodile’s territory.]
Child D:	‘But then he has to pass the crocodile.’
Child I:	‘And then the crocodile will eat him.’

Table 3. Descriptives of experimental and control group for PICO pretest and posttest.

Kindergarten year	Group	N	Pretest score(total items: 40; max. score: 40)					Posttest score(total items: 40; max. score: 40)
			M	SE	SD	d	p	M	SE	SD	d	p
K1	Exp	84	14.0	.54	5.5	.08	.59	18.2	.59	6.0	.25	.11
	Ctr	66	13.6	.61	4.0			16.9	.66	4.5
K2	Exp	115	20.2	.47	4.8	.02	.92	24.6	.50	5.3	.19	.17
	Ctr	119	20.1	.46	5.1			23.6	.49	5.4
K1 + K2	Exp	199	17.5	.42	6.0	−.03	.74	21.9	.44	6.4	.11	.26
	Ctr	185	17.7	.43	5.7			21.2	.46	6.0
Total sample		384	17.6	.30	5.8			21.6	.32	6.2

Table 4. Results of regression analyses for investigating intervention effect on PICO posttest score.

	Model 1: ANCOVA with Pretest					Model 2: ANCOVA with pretest and further covariates
	B	SE	p	β		B	SE	p	β
Intervention	.90	.36	.01^a	.07	Intervention	.76	.37	.02^a	.06
PICO pretest	.89	.03	<.01^b	.84	PICO pretest	.69	.05	<.01^b	.64
					Kindergarten year (K2)^c	.32	.67	.64	.02
					Age	.05	.04	.22	.06
					Gender (girl)	−.10	.35	.79	−.01
					Home language (Dutch)	1.22	.60	.04	.07
					SES (medium/high)	.20	.80	.80	.01
					Cito mathematics	.07	.02	<.01	.16
					Cito language	.02	.03	.44	.05
R² (Explained variance)	.703					.733

B: unstandardised regression coefficient of the intervention effect; SE: standard error of B; β: standardised regression coefficient.

^a Because of Hypothesis 1 the B value for the intervention effect was tested in a one-tailed way.

^b The covariates were only included as control variables in order to get an unbiased estimation of the intervention effect (thus, we were not testing here the interaction of intervention and child characteristics); the p values were computed in a two-tailed way.

^c For the categorical covariates, the dummy variables are placed in parentheses.

Table 5. Results of regression analyses for investigating intervention effects on PICO posttest score in subgroups and for investigating differential intervention effects between subgroups.

Child characteristic	Intervention effects in subgroups					Differential intervention effects between subgroups
	Subgroup	B^a	SE	p^b	d	Compared subgroups	B	SE	p^b one-tailed^c	p^b two-tailed^d	Δd^e
Kindergarten year	K1	1.05	.59	.04	.18	K2 vs K1	−.13	.73		.86	−.02
	K2	.92	.44	.02	.16
Age	Young	1.00	.55	.03	.17	Old vs Young	−.09	.72		.90	−.01
	Old	.91	.46	.02	.16
Gender	Boys	.48	.49	.16	.08	Girls vs Boys	1.21	.71	<.05		.21
	Girls	1.66	.51	<.01	.29
Home language	Non-Dutch	1.37	.98	.08	.24	Dutch vs Non-Dutch	−.37	1.09		.76	−.07
	Dutch	1.00	.38	<.01	.17
SES	Low	.77	1.04	.23	.13	SES Medium/high vs Low	.19	1.10		.86	.04
	Medium/high	.99	.38	<.01	.17
Cito mathematics	Low	.99	.52	.03	.17	Cito mathematics High vs Low	−.08	.69		.91	−.02
	High	.89	.46	.03	.15
Cito language	Low	.69	.61	.13	.12	Cito language High vs Low	.30	.80		.71	.06
	High	1.02	.50	.02	.18

^a Because of Hypothesis 1 the B values were tested in a one-tailed way.

^b Because of multiple testing, we reduced the α level criterion from .05 to .01 (Bonferroni correction).

^c Because we predicted a positive differential intervention effect, the p values were tested in a one-tailed way.

^d Because we did not predict a differential intervention effect in a particular direction, the p value was tested in a two-tailed way.

^e Δd is defined as the difference of the d values in the two subgroups.

Table

Number: Cake
	Buy exactly 6 candles to put on the cake. Put a line under the boxes that you take
Number: Mittens
	Underline the amount of mittens these children need in total
Number: Shoe boxes
	Two shoes fit into one box. Underline the number of boxes you need for the other shoes
Measurement: Rope
	Which skipping rope is the longest? Put a line under the longest rope
Measurement: Snake
	Which snake is as long as the writhing snake? Put a line under the snake that is just as long
Measurement: Plant
	The plant gets taller and taller. Put a line under the plant that belongs in the empty flowerpot
Geometry: Mouse
	There is Mouse. How would Mouse look if you looked down on him like a bird? Underline the way Mouse looks from above
Geometry: Duck
	In the hole there is a little duck. What does the little duck see when it looks up? Put a line under what the little duck sees
Geometry: Soccer
	Two children are playing soccer. Put a line under what you see if you look at them from above like a little bird

Dematons, Ch. (2005). Ga je mee? [Let’s go]. Rotterdam: Lemniscaat.

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