This study examined the effects of two programs which differed in the methods they employed to develop reading readiness. The two methods represented were a language experience approach and a phonics approach. The subjects were children from kindergarten classes in two elementary schools in Flint, Michigan. All subjects were randomly assigned within each classroom to a pretest of the Metropolitan Readiness Test Form A or to a coloring book experience. Children whose parents volunteered for the program were randomly assigned to one of the two reading readiness programs to administer the six-week program to their children in their homes. Subjects were tested with the Metropolitan Readiness Test, Form B the following September and subsequent follow-up tests of the Cooperative Listening Test in late January and the Gates MacGinitie Reading Tests in June. A multivariate analysis of variance and a univariate analysis of variance were the statistical tools employed. The results indicated significant differences between subjects from the programs on measures of readiness and beginning reading and between subjects who had received the language experience on the Cooperative Listening Test, favoring the language experience program. (TS)