Questions associated with an alternative approach to preparing nursery and elementary school children for hospitalization are addressed, and the basic components of a pre-crisis curriculum are outlined in this paper. Questions broached focus on (1) the effectiveness of a general curriculum approach as opposed to a crisis approach to preparing children for hospitalization, (2) justification for the preparation program in terms of annual number of children hospitalized, and (3) the stressful nature of hospital experience as a warrant for intervention. Several features of the process of stress immunization (also called stress innoculation or psychological immunization) are pointed out to provide indirect support for early preparation of healthy children for hospitalization. Currently used crisis-oriented intervention strategies are listed according to their goals, and the goals and key elements of a supplementary pre-crisis curriculum for primary intervention which uses stress immunization techniques and provides for parent participation are indicated. Central focuses for program evaluation are noted. (RH)