This book examines which children go to preschool in the United States and why. Recent studies have revealed distinct inequalities in whether or not children attend preschool or child-care centers depending on family background. Enrollment rates are especially low for Latino children, and higher among black and Anglo youngsters, a gap that is independent of family income. Early attempts to model parents' likelihood of selecting a preschool are drawn from the household-economics tradition. This book shows that after taking family economic factors into account, the household's social structure and the mothers' childrearing practices further help to predict the likelihood of preschool enrollment. As a result of extensive research, the author finds that children are more likely to be enrolled in preschool when the mother believes that imparting learning skills are an important past of the childrearing as a process -- reading to her youngsters, introducing then to the library, teaching children to cooperate and speaking English at home.