ABSTRACT
At the beginning of the chapter, learning in primary grades is discussed in the context of the function of schools in modern society and the demands that formal schooling places on today’s children. Next, the developmental accomplishments of the elementary grades are examined, along with the specific details on how these accomplishments are starting to be built in primary grades. How specific social contexts do or do not contribute to the emergence of these accomplishments is discussed. The next section of the chapter focuses on the leading activity of primary grades—learning activity. This section starts with the definition of learning activity according to post-Vygotskian scholars Daniil Elkonin and Vasili Davydov and proceeds to describe the main components of learning activity, including learning tasks, learning actions, control action or feedback, and self-reflection.
