The early childhood sociology is analysed as sociology of socialization. The notion of socialization is first described according to two models: the vertical one of imposing norms, values and practices (the Durkheimia model); and the interactive model of the construction of the self through "negotiations" between children and their environment. Research into the dominant social definition of early childhood and its diffusion among the different social classes is then critically examined. The situation of the French nursery school (école maternelle) is analysed thanks to the attendance evolution and the curriculum, understood both as formal curriculum (officially prescribed) and actual curriculum (real experience in everyday situations). New research leads to links between sociology and anthropology and ethnology, as well as to the use of the concept of "culture".
Early childhood; Socialization; Nursery school; Curriculum; Culture