This article profiles Helen J. Post-Brown, director of Sunbeam Child Care Center in Fairmont and president of West Virginia Childcare Centers United, and explains how Post-Brown faced the obstacles when managing a child care business. In the fall of 1980, Post-Brown started Sunbeam as a small preschool with 12 children. Over the years, Sunbeam has…

This national and state review provides a synthesis of current thinking and practice concerning prekindergarten programs in public schools. Section I discusses the need for preschool programs in terms of the changing family and workforce, the baby "boomlet," and socioeconomic factors. Section II reviews early childhood programs,…