As a part of a Title III project, a program was initiated to provide disadvantaged kindergarten children with planned perceptual-motor training exercises. This study investigates the effects of that program on the perceptual development and academic readiness of a group of 76 such children. The exercises, derived from the Kephart developmental program, were used for half of each school day, over a period of seven months. A control group (N=26) participated in a conventional kindergarten program. All the children were pre- and posttested on the Slosson Intelligence Test, and posttested on the Metropolitan Readiness Tests Form A, Frostig's Developmental Test of Visual Perception, and Kephart's Purdue Perceptual-Motor Survey. Results uncovered no significant gain score differences between groups on the SIT. Mean posttest differences on the Metropolitan Readiness Tests were significant, favoring the experimental group. The Kephart Survey revealed no significant between-group differences. These results were interpreted as suggesting that the program was more effective at improving fine motor behaviors than gross motor behaviors. Fine motor behaviors correlate highly with successful reading and writing activities. Intensive exposure to verbal concepts, paired with concrete examples and movement, may have been a major program effect. (MH)