All family structures serve similar purposes, paramount among which is to take care of, socialize, educate, and protect children until they reach young adulthood. Inherent in the professional ethics of early childhood education is the expectation that each child’s family will be treated with respect and that children will be helped to feel proud and strong about their specific family. Although some [Page 587]still define the term family to mean a husband and wife and their biological children living together under one roof, the reality is that many types of family structures exist.

All young children think the family in which they live is simply how families are. It is when children enter group programs outside of their homes that they often discover that there are ...