Initial Numeracy Lessons in the Time of Maria Theresa's School Reform

This article gives a brief overview of the innovations introduced into the initial teaching of calculus by the first Austrian school law of 1774, which, by including calculus as a compulsory subject, introduced it throughout the monarchy, including the territory of present-day Slovenia. It stipulated that children should be familiarised with natural numbers, measures, and with the use of simple rules of reasoning. Instructions on how to proceed in calculus lessons could be found in the Method Book of 1775, and in more detail in its summary, Core of the Method Book, which was also published bilingually in 1777, in German and Slovene. By describtion of the content of both methodological works that concerns calculus, we present the application of Felbiger's pedagogical method, Key Rules for the Art of Calculus, and compare the calculation procedures prescribed therein with modern ones. It should be stressed that the introduction of calculus into schools has brought something very important (to the mathematical profession in Slovenia), besides its general usefulness: it stimulated the development of Slovenian mathematical terminology and (albeit belatedly) the beginning of the writing and publishing of Slovenian school books suitable for the initial teaching of calculus.