Beginners’ progress in early arithmetic in the Swedish compulsory school

This article focuses on spontaneous knowledge-building in the field of “the arithmetic of the child.” The aim is to investigate the conceptual progress of fifteen children during their early school years in the compulsory school. The study is based on the epistemology of radical constructivism and the methodology of “multiple clinical interviews”. A model of “the arithmetic of the child” elucidates mental structures used by the child in solving problems. The individual interviews are video-recorded. The results show that the children's solutions are compatible with the model. When the researcher adapts problems to the children's available concepts to bring out their capability, they all solve them in their own ways. Further, the conceptual levels of the children differ to a great extent at school start and do not all show conceptual progress after 2 years of traditional teaching. An implication for an alternative teaching process is suggested, namely “the arithmetic for the child”, accomplished in a triadic teaching process.