Suggests that educators must address: (1) What should be learned? (2) When should it be learned? (3) How would it best be learned? and (4) How can we tell how well we have answered the first three? Addresses the first three questions by offering principles of practice for early childhood educators, ranging from curriculum to learning disposition…

Four basic models that are used to account for the discrepancies in educational and intellectual attainment between minority groups and the dominant culture are outlined. These are the Deficit Model, the School-as-Failure Model, the Cultural Difference Model, and the Social Structure Model. Four studies relating to the impact of preschool…

From the academic--or instructivist--perspective, the young child is seen as dependent on adults' instruction in the academic knowledge and skills necessary for a good start for later academic achievement. This perspective is in direct contrast to the active and interactive curriculum assumed by proponents of the constructivist approach. This…

This critique of three Piaget-based curricula presents the argument that it is essential for early childhood educators to distinguish between the actual contributions of Piaget in regard to specific epistemological questions and the way these contributions have been reinterpreted to provide a basis for early childhood curriculum reform. The…

A pilot project for three-year-old migrant children was conducted. Its purpose was to design and implement a curriculum for 35 Mexican-American children, ages 3.0 to 3.9, and to evaluate the effect of this curriculum on these children. The program included an extended day care program supervised by two teachers and eight teacher aides. The project…