To examine the relationship between television viewing and early school achievement, children's quantitative and verbal test scores were correlated with parental responses to a questionnaire concerning the television viewing habits of their children. The sample consisted of 202 kindergarten children and their parents from two suburban school districts north of Chicago. It was found that the time spent watching comedy-variety-drama shows was negatively correlated with verbal and quantitative ability for girls. Time spent watching Electric Company was positively related to quantitative ability for boys. There was a negative correlation between the girls' verbal ability and the parents' use of television as a reward or punishment, and a positive correlation between the girls' verbal ability and the parents' conscious use of television as a teacher. The total amount of television watched correlated negatively with quantitative scores, but correlated positively with verbal scores for both girls and boys. (Author/CM)