READING READINESS IN YOUNG CHILDREN IS INFLUENCED BY SEVERAL FACTORS. PHYSICAL FACTORS OF VISUAL AND AUDITORY ACUITY, MOTOR COORDINATION, AND GENERAL GOOD HEALTH CONTRIBUTE TO READINESS. SOCIALLY, THE CHILD MUST BE SELF-RELIANT, COOPERATIVE, AND ABLE TO SHARE WITH OTHERS, HAVE GOOD LISTENING HABITS, AND BE ABLE TO ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY. MENTAL MATURITY PLAYS ANOTHER IMPORTANT ROLE IN PREPARING TO READ. THE CHILD SHOULD HAVE A MENTAL AGE OF ABOUT 6 1/2 YEARS, SHOULD BE EMOTIONALLY SECURE, AND SHOULD HAVE A GOOD MENORY SPAN AND SPEECH HABITS. THE ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE READING READINESS ARE GOOD PRESCHOOL INSTRUCTION, ENRICHMENT EXPERIENCES AND SATISFACTORY HOME AND SCHOOL CONDITIONS. THE ACQUIRING OF READING READINESS IS A PROCESS WHICH MUST BE DEVELOPED BY THE TEACHER. LESSON SUGGESTIONS TO DEVELOP SKILLS IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS ARE PRESENTED AS TEACHER GUIDES--LEFT TO RIGHT EYE MOVEMENT, INTERPRETATION OF PICTURES, CLASSIFICATION OF RELATIONSHIPS, IDENTIFICATION OF SOUNDS AND INITIAL CONSONANTS, VISUAL DISCRIMINATION OF LIKENESSES AND DIFFERENCES IN SHAPE, DIRECTION, DETAIL, PAIRS ARRANGEMENT, LETTERS, AND WORDS, MEMORY GAMES, AND THE BUILDING OF COLOR VOCABULARY. THE EXPERIENCE CHART IS DISCUSSED AS AN EFFECTIVE MEANS OF DEVELOPING LANGUAGE SKILLS. THE CHART CONSISTS OF SHORT SENTENCES DICTATED ORALLY BY THE CLASS AND WRITTEN BY THE TEACHER ON THE BOARD OR A CHART. THE SENTENCES GO TOGETHER TO RECORD A GROUPWIDE EXPERIENCE. THE DEVELOPMENT OF NUMBER-READINESS THROUGH PLANNED AND INCIDENTAL EXPERIENCES IS ALSO DISCUSSED IN THE TEACHERS' GUIDE.