The child-centred principles of early years education - which emphasize play and holistic learning - are being challenged by the implementation of a subject-based National Curriculum. The contributors to this book explore this challenge and offer some ways of meeting it practically and productively. Issues covered include: pedagogical issues, such as the cross-curricular, topic-based teaching, teacher's attitudes to subject knowledge, assessment issues, including baseline assessment at the age of five, and parental attitudes to the National Curriculum and its content at Key Stage 1.