The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which a preassessment of motor development and perceptual skills predicts achievement in word recognition for kindergarten children. The instruments used for evaluation were the Lincoln-Oseretsky Motor Development Scale, Thurstone's Identical Forms Test, Wepman Auditory Discrimination Test, the S. R. A. Primary Mental Abilities Test, Hollingshead's Index of Social Position, and an author developed word recognition test. The study was designed to test the following hypotheses: (1) there is a positive relationship between motor control scores and achievement in word recognition; (2) there is a positive relationship between visual discrimination and achievement in word recognition; (3) there is a positive relationship between auditory discrimination and achievement in word recognition; and (4) motor control scores included in a step-wise multiple regression with visual discrimination and auditory discrimination will provide a more effective prediction of word recognition than the combination of visual and auditory discrimination. The findings of the study support all major hypotheses and the premise that auditory discrimination skills are positively related to success in reading. (Author/WR)