Continuing pressures on all of education to fully prepare children for the role of citizen intensifies the need for early childhood educators to respond to the questions of what is taught and what content young children are learning. Designed as a resource for early childhood educators, this book offers an overview of various theories, research bases, and practices in curriculum content areas in early childhood education and addresses current issues such as inclusion and multiculturalism. The chapters of the book are: (1) "Determining the Early Childhood Curriculum: The Evolution of Goals and Strategies through Consonance and Controversy" (Leslie R. Williams); (2) "A Review of Research on Play" (Doris Pronin Fromberg); (3) "Oral Language in the Early Childhood Classroom: Building on Diverse Foundations" (Celia Genishi and Rebekah Fassler); (4) "Emergent Literacy: What Research Reveals about Learning To Read" (Linda B. Gambrell and Susan Anders Mazzoni); (5) "Fostering Each Child's Understanding of Mathematics" (Patricia F. Campbell); (6) "Research on Early Science Education" (Christopher E. Landry and George E. Forman); (7) "Early Childhood Social Studies" (Richard K. Jantz and Carol Seefeldt); (8) "Research in Early Childhood Music and Movement Education" (Cherie K. Stellaccio and Marie McCarthy); (9) "Art for Young Children" (Carol Seefeldt); (10) "The Multicultural Worlds of Childhood in Postmodern America" (Lourdes Diaz Soto); (11) "Curricular Considerations for Young Children in Inclusive Settings" (Joan Lieber, Ilene Schwartz, Susan Sandall, Eva Horn, and Ruth Ashworth Wolery); and (12) "An Integrated Early Childhood Curriculum: Moving from the 'What' and the 'How' to the 'Why'" (Rebecca S. New). Each chapter contains references. (KB)