Expert opinion asserts that involving children in formal learning activities at too early an age is an educationally and developmentally unsound practice. Since economic conditions requiring both parents to work are likely to continue, child care services of differing quality are likely to proliferate. Such services must be selected with care. Parents must select the situation that is most appropriate for their child, rather than the one that is most convenient or least expensive. Making wise choices about such important matters can be more easily done if parents and schools communicate better. Parents need to understand the uses and abuses of standardized tests, the dangers of both authoritarian and anti-authoritarian caregiving environments, and ways early childhood educators are improving their professional practices. Much helpful information is readily available in articles written for the general public. (RH)