This longitudinal study investigated the processes through which the ability to regulate emotions at the start of the preschool year relates to academic competence at the end of kindergarten. The related self-regulation processes of attention regulation and behavior regulation were examined as possible mediators. Participants were 114 children who attended preschool in an urban Head Start system and participated in all 3 waves of a longitudinal project. Preschool teacher ratings of children's regulation of emotion, attention, and behavior were included in models predicting kindergarten teacher-rated academic competence and kindergarteners' scores on tests of foundational academic concepts. Mediation models were tested with path analysis using data collected at 3 time points. Results replicated findings that early emotion regulation relates positively to academic competence in kindergarten and that attention regulation mediates this relation. Results also indicated that emotion regulation at the beginning of the preschool year predicted gains in attention regulation during preschool which, in turn, predicted academic competence.