Designed to help parents and early childhood educators understand and take educational advantage of the child's developing consumer knowledge and attitudes, this publication, one of a series of six, was prepared by the Educational Division of Consumers Union for the Consumer Education Materials Project (CEMP). An introductory chapter explains the implications of different theories of child development and learning and presents some objectives for the young consumer. Case studies are organized in two sections. The first section provides models for developing consumer-oriented parent education programs, illustrates how parents can provide consumer lessons at home, and suggests ways to handle consumer instruction received from commercial television. The second section of case studies describes and analyzes how relevant consumer experiences have been integrated into day care centers, nursery schools, and kindergarten classrooms. A separate chapter suggests value clarification strategies that can be used in parent education programs and paraprofessional training programs. Related documents are SO 006 859-865. (Author/KSM)