In this paper the effects of environmental influences upon the development of reading readiness in young children were discussed. It was assumed that the effects of social, cultural, and economic factors on a preschool child are mediated in a large part through adults closely involved with the child's life. One hundred sixty Negro mothers and their 4-year-old children, representing four social status levels, were selected as subjects. Observations of the subjects and questionnaire data showed that maternal behavior and physical environment do influence the child's early cognitive and academic development. Children were affected by (1) degree of crowding in the living quarters, (2) use of home resources by the mother to aid the child's cognitive growth, (3) amount of time a mother reads to a child, (4) mother's participation in outside activities, (5) mother's feelings of effectiveness in dealing with life, (6) regulation of behavior strategies used by the mother, (7) maternal teaching style when attempting to show the child how to do something, (8) mother's affective behavior, and (9) to some extent, the mother's own language facility. To the extent that these factors affect the child's cognitive development, they appear to include the motivational and other abilities involved in learning to read. (WD)