Drawing upon research carried out in a range of early years settings in the United Kingdom, this book informs early childhood professionals about the types of early literacy and numeracy experiences appropriate for young children and how professionals from early care and education backgrounds can provide an approach to young children's learning based on the strengths of both traditions. In addition, the book discusses how professionals can be supported as they develop new practices focusing on young children as learners and effective strategies for involving parents with their children's literacy and mathematical development. The chapters are: (1) "Setting the National Scene"; (2) "Integration of Early Childhood Services"; (3) "The Inquiring Professional"; (4) "Young Children as Learners"; (5) "Language and Literacy Learning"; (6) "How Adults Support Children's Literacy Learning"; (7) "Mathematical Learning"; (8) "How Adults Support Children's Mathematical Thinking"; (9) "Creating Contexts for Professional Development in Educare"; and (10) "Early Childhood Services in the New Millennium." Contains 200 references. (KB)