Audiblox Preschool Program: Effective
for School Readiness

Presently, a large number of preschools are making use of the group application of the Audiblox program. Their main intention is to prepare children for formal schooling, thereby preventing learning difficulties in the future. In November 2001 the Grade 0 (Kindergarten) children of three of these preschools were tested.

At Sharonlea Child Care, a preschool in Sharonlea, Sandton, the children (a total of 22) had been exposed to Audiblox (the Schoolblox version) four times per week for 20 minutes at a time. The highest number of sessions that were attended was 320, the lowest 53, and the average 266.

At Busy Bee Play School in New Muckleneuk, Pretoria, the children (a total of 15) had been exposed to Audiblox (the Schoolblox version) twice a week for 20 minutes at a time. The highest number of sessions that were attended was 320, the lowest 64, and the average 207.

At Morsjorsies in Constantia Park, Pretoria, the children (a total of 19) had been exposed to Audiblox twice a week for 20 minutes at a time. The teacher at this preschool had attended the full Audiblox training course. The highest number of sessions that were attended was 64, the lowest 24, and the average 56.

One of the tests done was the abbreviated battery of the Aptitude Test for School Beginners (ASB). The abbreviated battery of the ASB consists of the following three tests: Test 3 (Reasoning), Test 4 (Numerical) and Test 5 (Gestalt). Test 5 (Gestalt) measures the ability of a child to reproduce figures correctly. These three tests correlate strongly with the total score of the complete battery.

The ideal time to apply the ASB is between the beginning of the eighth week and the end of the ninth week of the first school term, as the norms had been determined for this period. The battery was therefore applied four months earlier than what is considered as the ideal time.

According to the test instructions every child should be tested in his/her mother tongue. At Morsjorsies the children were tested in their mother tongue, which is Afrikaans. Five children (23% of the children) in Sharonlea Child Care and six children (40% of the children) in Busy Bee Play School were English Second Language (ESL) children. These children were all tested in English, which is not ideal. Especially Test 4 (Numerical) requires mother tongue instruction. Testing them in English would therefore influence their performance in a negative sense.

1. Norms for all South Africans
   
2. Norms for non-environmentally disadvantaged children
   
3. Norms for environmentally disadvantaged children
   

Using the norms for all South Africans, the raw scores were converted to standard scores. The standard scores of these tests were then added together and again converted to a five-point scale (based on the normal distribution) which extends from 1 to 5 with an average of 3 and a standard deviation of 1.

According to the table above, a school beginner with a stave of 1 is very weak since he falls within the lowest 7%. A stave of 2 is still weak since it is obtained by school beginners who fall within the lowest 31% (7+24), although it is higher than the lowest 7%, and so on.

Below is a graphic representation of the results obtained by each of the three preschools. To interpret the graph, they should be compared to the black line that indicates the normal distribution. For example, of the children in Morsjorsies,

The above graph indicates the position of children who had been exposed to Audiblox compared to all South Africans. However, the norm table for all South Africans includes children who are environmentally disadvantaged. Therefore, in order to compare apples with apples the norm table for non-environmentally disadvantaged (NED) children was also applied. NED children, like the children at the three preschools, are considered to have been exposed to sufficient learning opportunities.

Below is a graphic representation of the results obtained by each of the three preschools, using the norms for non-environmentally disadvantaged (NED) children. It should be clear that the children at the three preschools were way ahead of other NED children. For example, of the children in Morsjorsies,

Conclusion: According to the ASB scores children who had been exposed to Audiblox during preschool are far better prepared for the demands that await them in school than children who had been exposed to other learning opportunities.