The present study examined mothers' responses to their at-risk preschool-age children's (N = 156) successful and unsuccessful attempts during a puzzle task. Associations between mothers' responses and the children's ecological context, as well as children's cognitive and academic abilities at two subsequent time points (ages 6-11, and 9-13 years), were examined. Maternal responses to children's successful attempts included process praise, person praise, and neutral acknowledgments. Responses to unsuccessful attempts included encouragement or help, discouragement, neutral indications of mistake, or taking over. Results revealed that maternal responses were associated with child characteristics. In addition, encouragement was positively associated with the quality of the home environment, whereas taking over was positively associated with maternal childhood histories of aggression and social withdrawal. Furthermore, decreased taking over, as well as increased encouragement and neutral acknowledgments, were associated with higher child cognitive and academic abilities later on. Implications for early childhood education are discussed.