This paper presents an experientially oriented approach to learning in preschool and describes a research project designed to: (1) develop a theoretically and scientifically based curriculum; (2) systematically describe what happens in the groups where this curriculum is applied; (3) evaluate children's development in preschool in regards to the content they work on; and (4) evaluate the initial experience with primary education for 50% of the children. Six preschool teachers in three day care groups and three part-time preschools were selected to participate in a project to develop the teachers' competence in applying the experientially oriented approach. Results from the first year of the study showed that a confrontation exists between the experientially oriented approach and the preschool teachers' views of knowledge and learning. In the remaining part of the research project, observations and evaluations of children in school will be used to test the assumption that the children's conceptions are more fundamental than their skills and knowledge. Content will focus on reading, writing, numbers, aspects of the natural and the man-made world, and children's understanding of their own learning. (Author/SH)