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Child Development & Early Education vocabulary · Observation and Assessment

Learning journal

Meaning in child development & early education, with examples

nounCommon term

In child development & early education, learning journal means: A record of a child's time in a setting, with observations, photos, drawings and notes, showing their interests and progress; it is often kept online and shared with parents.

In Turkish: gelişim dosyası, öğrenme günlüğü, ürün dosyası

How it is used

A UK term, also called a learning journey; New Zealand practice uses similar learning stories. Many nurseries keep online learning journals in an app, where parents can add their own photos and comments.

Example sentences

  1. I've added photos of her painting to her learning journal.

  2. Parents can view the learning journal on the app at any time.

Common collocations

  • online learning journal
  • learning journey
  • add to the learning journal
  • share with parents
  • observationWatching and listening to a child carefully, often during play, and writing down what they do and say in order to understand their development and plan for them.
  • formative assessmentOngoing assessment that happens during everyday activities and is used to understand what a child knows and can do and to plan the next steps in their learning.
  • partnership with parentsWorking closely with parents and carers as equal partners, sharing information and decisions so that home and setting support the child together.
  • next stepsThe learning goals and activities planned for a child after an observation, based on their interests and what they seem ready to learn next.

More terms: Observation and Assessment

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