The paper examines the theoretical constructs that underlie currently used curricula for young handicapped children and suggests guidelines for selecting and evaluating curricula. Three developmental perspectives are reviewed: the age related developmental milestones identified by A. Gesell and adhered to by diagnostic prescriptive advocates, the Piagetian perspective of cognitive development, and the functional perspective based on the principles and technology of applied behavior analysis. The authors propose a set of questions as guidelines for staff personnel to use in selecting curricula for young handicapped children. Among the questions posed are the following: Is the curriculum based on a theory of early development and learning? Do the goals of the curriculum complement the existing goals of the program? Are the objectives designed to accomplish the terminal goals of the curriculum? and Are the items developmentaly relevant and logically sequenced? Appended are lists of early childhood curriculum materials and references. (SB)