The main purpose of this study was to trace the development of children's awareness that they can learn and to describe the forms of their ideas of learning. A complementary aim was to account for the extent to which such conceptions can be found at different levels of development. The investigation consisted of two observational studies and a series of six interview studies with 300 Swedish children ranging from 3 to 8 years of age. The child's idea of learning was dealt with in terms of what is learned and how. Concerning what is learned, findings suggest a developmental progression from learning to do, to know, and to understand; findings also indicate a corresponding set of answers to the questions of how. Developmental differences were found in children's awareness of different forms in which one can learn. It is concluded that preschool education to a large extent relies on conceptions which most children of preschool age lack. Appended are coding criteria, interview questions, and descriptions of related age trends and the child's conceptions of "to be able,""to know,""to understand,""changes in thinking,""to find out by thinking," and of "what it takes to learn a phone number." (RH)