With a solid theoretical focus and child-centered approach, Early Childhood Curriculum stresses the importance of students understanding the foundations of their field before they develop and use quality teaching and instruction programs. The text strikes a balance between the most current research and trends with classic theories to create a working basis for developing curriculum for children from 0-8 years old.   This specific and reflective guide to implementing quality teaching programs in a chronological manner from infancy to grade three takes a largely constructivist approach that includes skills instruction and emergent literacy in a balanced reading program.  The teacher guides, instructs, and scaffolds, and the child encounters, experiences, and accomplishes goals in beginning literacy.   The new sixth edition of the text includes thematic lesson plans that are updated to integrate state standards as well as current information on new brain research and its implications for infant-toddler programs.