An individual development record is a short, regularly updated summary of how one child is growing across every area of development. In a Global Nexus classroom it brings together the six dimensions of the curriculum, language, emotion, life skills, independence, creativity and thinking, with the developmental goals of Vietnam's national preschool programme. It is written in plain language, based on observation notes, learning stories and portfolio evidence, and it describes progress against the child's own earlier self, never against other children.
Observation notes and learning stories capture moments. Portfolios collect evidence. The development record is where all of that is summarised into something a family, a new teacher or a school leader can read quickly and act on. This article explains how such a record is structured, how it relates to the Ministry of Education and Training's requirements for evaluating preschool children, how to write entries that are honest and useful, and how often to update it.
What the national programme requires
Every licensed preschool in Vietnam delivers the national preschool education programme issued by the Ministry of Education and Training. The programme was first issued in 2009 and has been amended since, most notably in 2016, with a consolidated text published in 2021. It sets out goals for children in the crèche years and the kindergarten years across five areas of development: physical, cognitive, language, emotional and social, and aesthetic.
The programme also tells teachers how to evaluate children, and it is worth knowing that this already rules out scores. Teachers are asked to evaluate children daily, noticing their health, emotions, behaviour and learning, and adjusting plans accordingly, and also at the end of each stage, against the goals set for that age. The methods listed are the familiar ones of early-years assessment: observing children, talking with them, using simple situations or tasks, analysing what they make, and exchanging information with their families.
For the oldest kindergarten year, the Ministry also issued a development standard for five-year-old children in 2010, organised into four areas with twenty-eight standards and one hundred and twenty indicators. Schools use it as a reference for what most children can do before starting primary school. It is a tool for supporting children and planning, not for ranking them or for testing children to decide who may enter primary school. Teachers should treat its indicators as things to watch for in everyday activity, not as a checklist to test children against.
How the six dimensions and the national areas fit together
The six Global Nexus dimensions and the five national areas are not two competing systems. They are two lenses on the same child, and most observations touch both. The table shows the main overlaps a team might use when filing evidence.
| Global Nexus dimension | Closest national areas | Examples of evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Language | Retelling a story, asking questions, using both languages, early mark-making |
| Emotion | Emotional and social | Naming feelings, recovering from frustration, comforting a friend |
| Life skills | Physical; emotional and social | Handwashing, pouring water, crossing the playground safely, sharing tools |
| Independence | Physical; emotional and social | Dressing, choosing an activity, tidying up, asking for help appropriately |
| Creativity | Aesthetic; language | Inventing a game, mixing colours, making up a song or a dance |
| Thinking | Cognitive | Sorting and comparing, predicting, explaining why something happened |
Because the dimensions are broader than school subjects, a single observation often belongs under two or three of them. That is a feature, not a filing problem. The record should reflect how connected young children's development really is.
The structure of a useful record
Development records vary in length and format from school to school. A record that works well in a bilingual preschool usually includes the following parts, and fits on two or three pages per child per term.
- Basic information. Age at the time of writing, time in the class, languages used at home, and anything the family has asked the team to keep in mind.
- A short portrait. Three or four sentences describing who the child is at the moment: interests, friendships, how she approaches new things.
- Progress in each dimension. A short paragraph for each of the six dimensions, describing what the child can do now and what has changed since the last record, with references to the evidence behind it.
- Link to the national goals. A brief note on progress toward the national programme's goals for the age group, highlighting any area where the child may need extra support.
- Next steps. What the team will offer in the coming period, and what the family might enjoy doing at home if they wish.
- Family comment. Space for the family to respond, in the language of their choice.
A record built this way can be read in ten minutes. That matters, because a record nobody reads is just paperwork. The detail lives in the observation notes and portfolio; the record points to it.
Writing entries that are honest and useful
The hardest part of a development record is the language. Entries should be specific, based on evidence and written so that a family can understand them without a glossary. Compare "language development is age-appropriate" with "she now joins in the English songs at circle time and has started using short English phrases with the international teacher, such as can I have and look at this; in Vietnamese she retells familiar stories in order". The second takes longer to write and is far more useful.
Entries should be honest. If a child is finding something hard, the record should say so, gently and clearly, with the evidence and with what the team is doing about it. Families are rarely helped by records that describe every child as doing wonderfully. They are helped by records that are warm, accurate and constructive.
Entries should avoid labels and comparisons. Words such as advanced, behind, bright or difficult describe the child against an invisible standard, and they tend to stick. It is better to describe what the child does and how that has changed. When it genuinely helps a family to know that a skill usually appears within a certain age range, the record can say so without placing the child in a ranking.
Finally, entries should be consistent between co-teachers. In a bilingual classroom the Vietnamese and international teachers often see slightly different children, partly because children use their languages differently with each. The record should be written or at least reviewed by both, so that it reflects the whole child rather than one adult's view.
An example entry, before and after
The examples below are invented to illustrate the difference between a vague entry and a useful one. Each rewrite describes what the child does, refers to evidence and ends with a next step.
| Dimension | Vague entry | Useful entry |
|---|---|---|
| Emotion | Has improved in managing emotions. | In September he often cried for several minutes when a game ended. Since November he usually tells the teacher he is sad, accepts a hug and returns to play within a minute or two (notes 4, 9 and 15). Next: offer a calm corner he can choose to use. |
| Independence | Is becoming more independent. | She now puts on her own shoes, serves her own rice at lunch and chooses an activity on arrival without help (photographs in portfolio, February). Next: invite her to help set the table for her group. |
| Thinking | Good at maths. | He sorts collections by two attributes at once, such as big red and small blue, and explains his rule in Vietnamese (learning story, March). Next: offer sorting tasks where he invents the rule for a friend to guess. |
None of the useful entries uses a label or a comparison, and each could be checked against the evidence it names. That is the standard to aim for, even when time is short.
When a child joins mid-year or changes class
Children do not all arrive in September. A child who joins in the middle of the year, perhaps because the family has just moved to Ho Chi Minh City, needs a development record too, but it should be written differently. For the first few weeks the team is mainly getting to know the child, and the first record should say so honestly: what the teachers have observed so far, what the family has shared about the child's history, and what the team is still learning.
Settling in is itself important information. How a child separates from her parents, which activities she is drawn to first and which language she uses with whom all belong in that first record. It would be unfair to judge a child's development on evidence gathered while she was still finding her feet in a new country, a new language and a new school.
When a child moves to a new class, for example from the toddler room into the first kindergarten year, the record travels with her. A short handover conversation between the old and new teachers, using the record and portfolio, saves the new team weeks of rediscovering what is already known.
How often to update the record
Most early-years settings update individual development records at the end of each theme or term, with a fuller review at the end of the school year. That rhythm fits the national programme's idea of stage-by-stage evaluation and gives enough time between updates for real change to show.
Between formal updates, the record is fed by daily work: observation notes, learning stories and portfolio items, each linked to one or more dimensions. When the time comes to write the update, the teacher is summarising evidence that already exists, not trying to remember a whole term at once. A team that finds the record painful to write usually has a problem further back in the chain, most often too few observation notes on some children.
Leaders can support the process by checking coverage before records are written. A quick count of how many notes and stories each child has in each dimension shows whether some children or some dimensions have been overlooked. That check is about the adults' attention, not the children's performance.
Sharing the record with families
The development record is normally shared at a progress conversation, ideally alongside the child's portfolio, so that families can see the evidence behind each statement. A written copy should be available in the family's preferred language. In international families where parents speak different languages, both may appreciate a version they can each read comfortably.
Timing and setting matter. A progress conversation squeezed into five minutes at pick-up time, with a tired child pulling at a parent's hand, rarely goes well. Schools that set aside a quiet, scheduled meeting of twenty or thirty minutes, offer a choice of times for working parents and arrange interpretation where needed get far more out of the record.
The conversation matters more than the document. Teachers can invite families to add what they see at home, to ask about anything that is unclear, and to agree on one or two things to focus on together. If the record raises a concern, the conversation should explain what the team has observed, what it plans to do, and whether any further support or specialist advice might help, always with the family as a partner in the decision.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
Is an individual development record the same as a report card?
No. A report card usually gives grades or ratings. A development record describes, in plain language and with evidence, what the child can do now, how she has changed and what comes next, without scores or comparisons.
Does Vietnam's national programme require scores for preschool children?
No. The national preschool programme asks teachers to evaluate children daily and at the end of each stage through observation, conversation, simple situations, analysis of children's work and exchange with families. It does not use marks.
What is the development standard for five-year-old children?
It is a set of standards issued by the Ministry of Education and Training in 2010 for the final kindergarten year, organised in four areas with twenty-eight standards and one hundred and twenty indicators. Schools use it as a reference for support and planning.
Why does Global Nexus use six dimensions as well as the national areas?
The six dimensions reflect the curriculum's focus on the whole child, including emotion, independence and creativity as distinct strands. They sit on top of the national areas rather than replacing them, and most evidence fits both.
Who writes the development record in a co-taught class?
Ideally both teachers contribute, because each sees the child in different situations and languages. One teacher may draft the record, but the other should review it so that it reflects the whole child.
Can families disagree with what the record says?
Yes, and their view is valuable. Families know their child in settings teachers never see. A good record includes space for family comments, and teachers should be ready to revise their reading when families add new evidence.