In the foreword to this book, Inhelder states that its essential contribution is that "it transposed to actual reality Piaget's central epistemological thesis according to which mathematical thought is, from its most elementary manifestations, the product of the subject's activity that he characterized by the term 'reflective abstraction.'" The book advocates eliminating all traditional instruction in first grade arithmetic and replacing it with two kinds of activities: situations in daily living (such as voting) and group games. The sections in the book focus on: (1) theoretical foundation, with chapters on Piaget's theory of number and on the importance of social interaction; (2) objectives, including chapters on autonomy, numerals and place value, addition, and subtraction; (3) activities and principles of teaching; (4) how things appeared to the teacher, including a month-to-month account of using Piagetian-based games; and (5) evaluation and prospects for the future. The book, designed for preservice as well as in-service teachers, is based on research, as well as on personal experiences at the University of Geneva. (MNS)