Analysis and assessment of young children's spontaneous writing and drawing in daily journals may focus on three significant dimensions: what, who, and how: what stands for thought and meaning; who, for person; and how, for form. These categories may be further divided. Thought and meaning include theme(s), organization, and vocabulary; person includes the approach or stance of the writer toward the subject, authorship or uniqueness, and authenticity or individuality of the writing; and form includes the interrelationships of writing and drawing, language structure, and mechanics. The teacher can use these dimensions to act as a responsive reader of children's journals, rather than a critic. This three-dimensional view of language development draws attention to the thinking and individuality of the students as well as to the form of their writing, while the inclusion of nonverbal symbols in the journals adds an important data source from which to interpret the expression of the students. The developmental approach affords a framework through which the significance of the data can be revealed. All of the teachers who have used the dimensions and assessment method have reported that this approach has helped them to concentrate on the whole child as reflected in the child's writing and drawing. Samples of children's work are included. (SRT)