This paper examines global approaches to culturally and developmentally appropriate early childhood education, focusing on Kindezi, an Africentric perspective. The paper describes Kindezi as the art of touching, caring for, and protecting children's lives and their environment, based on the Kindezian philosophy that children are a gift of God and thus are highly valued. Other important characteristics of the philosophy are the lack of separations between reality and spirituality, the responsibility of the community to raise children, the expectation that adults will provide for the community's older members, and the responsibility of the elders to transmit the culture. The "ndezi" is defined as one who practices the art of Kindezi in separation from the productive workforce, thereby affording women and men the opportunity to work. The Kindezian early childhood curriculum is described as predating Western curriculum development and as providing the rudimentary theoretical basis for major theorists such as Piaget, Montessori, and Vygotsky. The "sadulu" is described as the practical place of learning for children 2 years and older through activities such as field trips, nature walks, biological experiments, handicrafts, play, and listening to stories and songs of the "ndezi." It is noted that many traditional games and toys of African peoples support young children's cognitive and socioemotional development. The primary difference between the Kindezian curriculum and that of the West is described as the value given to oral literacy versus the elevation of written literacy. However, many aspects of early Western literacy learning can be compared to African language development. The Kindezian curriculum also supports children's development of emotional intelligences. (KB)