Although under-investment in children is an identified problem in low-income developing countries (LDC) and the establishment and use of preschools has been advocated as a partial remedy, the readiness of children and parents for preschool in LDC has been little studied. This paper assesses motivational techniques that parents report using with preschool children in a rural Philippine municipality. The purposes of this study were to examine: (a) whether the motivation strategies used by parents are consistent with a "balanced, holistic approach" to child development and (b) whether the parents' motivational strategies are associated with school performance. The study suggests some over-weighting by parents of academic achievement, but otherwise more appropriate child-oriented behaviors were observed than reported in some research. Motivation by parents also was associated with preschool performance.