As long as progress is being made in any field, and new strategies, knowledge, and insights are being developed, there must always be a gap between the theoretical or knowledge base and practices. However, the gap between what is known about how best to support the growth, development, and learning of young children and the nature of actual typical practices involved in their care and education is tragically large. Noting that the major challenge to the early childhood profession is how this gap might be reduced, this paper examines briefly six major issues confronting the early childhood field. These issues are: (1) the lasting effects of early experience; (2) the critical period of neurological development; (3) regardless of children's early experience, all children come to school with lively minds, with an inborn disposition to make sense of their experiences, observations, and feelings; (4) the critical period in social development; (5) the development of communicative competence; and (6) development and cultural identity. Having distinguished between academic and intellectual goals and activities, the paper concludes by suggesting that the best way to ensure good quality educational environments in which all children can develop and learn is by focusing collective and individual teacher and teacher educator energies on the quality of day-to-day interactions with children so that these interactions are rich, interesting, engaging, satisfying, and meaningful. (Contains 13 references.) (HTH)