The component prereading skills of kindergarten children in two Wisconsin cities were examined. It was assumed that independent component skills exist and that investigation of separate skill areas would point out relevant combinations. Selected for study were visual, acoustic-phonetic, letter-sound association, and vocabulary skills. The research strategy included the compilation of a basic skills tests battery and individual administration of the battery to 21 middle-class and 22 lower-class subjects. The test results are reported separately for each skill area and for correlated skills. Predicted relationships were found to exist between visual matching and alphabet knowledge and between the acoustic-phonetic tasks of segmentation and rhyme-production. Other unpredicted correlations were found, but in general the tests appeared to be independent of one another. A bibliography and tables are included. (MS)