Includes bibliographical references and index.

Pt. 1. Introduction: 1. History of early childhood education in multicultural perspective -- 2. The program for Infant/Toddler care -- 3. The Head Start Program -- 4. The Portage Model: An International Home Approach to Early Intervention of Young Children and Their Families -- Pt. 2. Integral dimensions: 5. Including everyone: a model preschool program for children with and without disabilities -- 6. A Framework for Culturally Relevant, Multicultural, and Antibias Education in the Twenty-First Century -- 7. Early prevention initiatives -- 8. Early development and programs in public schools -- Pt. 3. Specific approaches: United States: 9. The High/Scope Curriculum for Early Childhood Education -- 10. Tools of the mind: the Vygotskian approach to Early Childhood Education -- 11. From Spectrum to Bridging : approaches to integrating assessment with curriculum and instruction in early childhood classrooms -- 12. The Developmental-Interaction Approach at Bank Street College of Education -- 13. The project approach : an overview -- Pt. 4. Specific approaches: Europe: 14. Reggio Emilia's approach to early care and education: creating contexts for discussione -- 15. The Waldorf Approach to Early Childhood Education -- 16. Montessori Education Today -- 17. The Pyramid Method.