The Programme Little Duck's Adventureland - Order in the World
Early childhood mathematics education by Prof. Gerhard Preiss
The educational programme Little Duck's Adventureland is intended for children between the ages of two and a half and four years of age. The subtitle "Order in the World" refers to the general aim of the programme: to help children to find continuity and stability in an increasingly complex modern world.
Sorting and ordering
Sorting and ordering helps all of us to satisfy our need for consistency and security. In the Adventureland programme, children learn to distinguish colours and two and three-dimensional shapes, and how to group things. Classification helps children to become aware of variety and the complexity which exists in the world.
Orientation in space and time
Time brings order into our lives. The events in our daily routines, the events of the year (for example holidays and birthdays), and the events in stories all have an order. In Adventureland children become aware of how time provides us with structure, and learn to describe events using the words "before" and "after." Children also learn to describe things in terms of spatial orientation, and to use words such as inside and outside, in front of and behind, above and below, etc.
First experiences with numbers
In Little Duck's Adventureland, children become familiar with dice and the dot representations of the numbers one to six. The numbers one to ten are presented in a hands-on and playful way. In addition, the ability to see up to five objects at once (at a glance, without counting) is stressed in this programme. Research in this area has shown that children can improve through practise, and that achieving competence in this area is related to success in learning mathematics.
Little Duck's Adventureland prepares children for Professor Preiss's Numberland programme, which expands the depth and breadth their understanding of numbers.
