This third volume of Current Topics in Early Childhood Education brings together the work of contributers from five nations--Australia, England, Ireland, West Germany, and the United States--and discusses a variety of issues of interest to researchers and practitioners in early childhood education. The volume deals with the following issues: a European view of television, and its role in the environment of the developing child; a current perspective on the development of preschool curriculum in Britain; the development of preschool education in the State of Queensland, Australia; the development of young child's verbal sophistication; the role of emotions in the early education of young children; the differentiation of mothers' and teachers' roles in the young child's life; factors influencing children's food preferences; the influences of the physical environment on children's behavior in preschool settings; contemporary single mothers; and the importance of the day care center as a psychological and social resource for children and their working parents. (Author/MP)