Abstract
Interactive picturebook reading is an easily accessible and enjoyable activity that provides preschoolers with opportunities to practice problem-solving skills. Increasingly, preschool age is considered the ideal time to foster problem-solving skills. This paper examines the effect of interactive picturebook reading on the problem-solving skills of preschool children. A total of 130 preschool children between 4 and 6 years old participated in a pretest–posttest quasi-experiment with a non-equivalent control group. During five interactive reading sessions in small groups, preschoolers were invited to discuss possible solutions to the problems the book characters encounter. Problem-solving skills were measured with two Pictorial Multiple-Solutions Tasks. Multilevel analysis indicates that interactive picturebook reading can improve children’s flexibility, fluency, and originality in coming up with possible solutions to a problem. In addition, we found that the picture that was used and the emotional reactions of the children to the test situation influenced the test scores. The results show that giving children the opportunity to discuss possible solutions to problems presented in picturebooks is an effective way to work on problem-solving skills in preschool. Further research is needed to explore the optimal conditions for effective interactive picturebook reading to develop preschoolers’ problem-solving skills and the extent to which the skills demonstrated during interactive picturebook reading can be transferred to real-life problem solving.
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Notes
Note that the calculation for flexibility and originality differ from the formula used by Leikin (2012). The picture Leikin used contained fewer attributes and suggested fewer possibilities than the pictures in the current study. This necessitated adjustments to the calculation of the flexibility and originality scores.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all participating teachers for implementing the intervention and data collection and Prof. Dr. Joke Torbeyns for her suggestions.
Funding
This research was supported by the Research Foundation, Flanders (Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Vlaanderen) [Grant Number 1S03523N].
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Van Elsen, J., Catrysse, L. & De Maeyer, S. The Effect of Interactive Picturebook Reading on Problem-Solving Skills in Preschool: A Quasi-Experiment. Early Childhood Educ J (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-023-01542-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-023-01542-3