The effect of parafoveal information on a Hirakana recognition task was investigated with first and second graders of elementary school. Especially examined was the difference in the efficiency of parafoveal information processing between poor readers and good readers. Subjects were presented Hirakana targets surrounded by different kinds of material-Hirakana, Katakana, Alphabet, and concrete object shapes-and were asked to read aloud the target as fast as possible. The results showed, first, that the RTs of the second graders were faster than those of the first graders and, second, RTs varied depending on the kind of surrounding material. Further, the results suggest that the first-grade poor readers' filtering efficiency of parafoveal information was poor compared to that of the good readers, and that this filtering process becomes more efficient from the first to the second year of school attendance.