Book excerpt: BEGINNING ESSENTIALS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, Second Edition, is a streamlined foundations textbook that introduces early childhood students to the field. This unique text is organized to answer four key questions: What is the field? Who is the child? Who is the teacher? and What is being taught? These four sections address the essentials in early childhood education, emphasizing multiculturalism and developmentally appropriate practice. A new reader-friendly design with a more visual layout better meets the needs of today’s learners. Other new features include special boxed material that highlights key issues related to standards, diversity, DAP, professionalism, and ethics. Video features introduce videos of actual early childhood settings that are available on the accompanying website, an invaluable resource that provides instructors and students with opportunities for reflection as well as for personal and professional development. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.