A study originally involving 56 children from four schools was undertaken to observe the development of children's oral language and concepts of print during the kindergarten year using the Record of Oral Language (ROL) and the Concepts about Print (Sand) tests. In addition, the Sand test was administered early in the first grade to the available original participants, and their scores on the Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT) given at the beginning of first grade were obtained. The results indicated that the children's performance on the ROL and Sand tests increased significantly across time. Age was not a significant factor for either test; but sex was for the Sand test, with females scoring higher. The syntactical competence of kindergarten children continued to develop as measured by the ROL. The findings suggest that if acquisition of all the concepts of print that are incorporated in the Sand test are necessary for success in formal reading, then many first grade children do not have the necessary cognitive entry behaviors to succeed in formal reading instruction at the beginning of the year. They also suggest that some of the concepts are, or can be, acquired after a child is reading. (FL)