Practical tips for improving the quality of child care are offered in this guide. It presents early childhood research findings in everyday language and suggests ways to apply these findings with active learning experiences for children. Developmentally appropriate, holistic activities are presented for key areas. The first five parts of the book cover child development, art and creative thinking, music and creative listening, science, and math. The chapters in these sections are: (1) "The Cognitive and Physical Growth of Newborns"; (2) "How Do Children Learn To Think and Act?"; (3) "Innovative Ideas, Creative Thoughts, and Language Development"; (4) "Active Learning To Pull It All Together"; (5) "Art for the Child's Sake"; (6) "Creative Play through a Hands-On Approach"; (7)"Painting and Experimenting with Color"; (8) "Creative Play Using Three-Dimensional Materials"; (9) "Appreciating Music"; (10) "Active Learning through Music"; (11) "Creative Movement"; (12) Science--A Direct Approach"; (13) "Understanding Elements of Biology by Caring for Pets and Other Animals"; (14) "Human Life: Learning about Growth and Change"; (15) "Physical Science"; (16) "Preliminary Math Skills"; (17) "An Introduction to Early Childhood Geometry"; and (18) "Making Sense of Numbers." The last part contains concluding remarks, a 72-item bibliography, and lists of additional resources. (TJQ)