Going beyond the available research on children's spelling development and written text (reading), this year-long longitudinal study examined the relationship between spelling and reading in order to determine whether kindergarten children's ideas about spelling develop simultaneously with reading or whether one precedes the other. Monthly, for 8 months, 26 kindergarten children from 2 kindergarten classes in a public school were asked to spell 7 words and 1 sentence. Their spellings were analyzed and categorized according to seven levels. To assess their notions about written texts, each child was interviewed. The conversation included two particular sentences, which were then written, and the child had to identify where specific words were written. These responses were categorized according to four levels. Findings indicated the rate of progress of each child through the levels, and revealed the relationship between children's notions about what is written in a written segment (reading) and their spelling. In 19 of the 26 children studied, growth in reading preceded spelling achievement. All of the children in the study were in whole language classrooms, which may have contributed to their growth. Similar studies in classrooms that are not whole language classrooms were recommended. Contains four references. (BAC)