Weekly newsletter

[Littledragon]

Okay, so, I have a weekly newsletter I send out which has a "report card" for the week, their meal plan for the following week (which I think I am going to change to bi-weekly) and some other stuff. It usually ends up being about 6 -8 pages in total. I have three kids. That's a lot of paper and ink.


I am thinking about sending out virtually, like in PDF format, but I am just unsure about it. One of the parents really doesn't seem very interested in her child's progress of anything that happens in the daycare so I know that for them, written notices will have to made instead of by email.

I'm thinking that maybe I'll send the newsletters by email, and any important notices like, daycare foreclosures, warning letters and so on will be printed out.

Anyone do this? Any advice? Any experiences?

[Play and Learn]

I don't do newsletters, like you said, lots of paper and ink!

I do tell parents that I'll send out when holidays are and any memos through email. This way, there's a trace that I've sent it out, and when. And then they can't bitch and complain that they didn't get it.

[mlc1982]

I'm the same as P&L. I used to do daily logs of the day but it took a lot of paper, a lot of ink and a lot of time. I now send anything important to parents by email and then I'll post a little not at my front door on a cork board so they can't say they haven't seen it. I used to write down what we ate on a daily basis on a white board as well but have recently stopped that too. If parents want to know then they'll ask, in my opinion.

[apples and bananas]

I don't do newsletters either. I think once you start them you really can't stop them. And I'm not prepared to make that kind of commitment. LOL

However, if I were a parent in your daycare I would love email... probably prefer it as I know how much stuff comes home from my kids school that's all paper. If it get's in the car (if i've picked them up from school) it rarely makes it's way into the house.

[playfelt]

I do a monthly newsletter that is just a chatty page about what we have been doing, notices about birthdays, special events. I don't post menus as we make them up as we go along and also with mixed ages I sometimes do different things for different ages depending on leftovers and eating abilities so it was just too much. Most of my parents don't care knowing if the kids don't eat I will let them know and in the grand scheme of things having chicken twice in one day is not the worst thing to befall a child.

I am looking at expanding the newsletter into a weekly blog type thing I would do at some point on the weekend telling about the week and including some photos etc. mainly as I will be starting with babies again who don't talk. But I do not want to do anything that takes away from my time with the children or my alone time while they are sleeping - no naptime journalling for me.

I did actually see on a couple websites where the person had posted along with her fees $5 for written daily journals. In other words parent had to want it bad enough to pay and then likely appreciated it enough to read it that way making it worth the caregiver's time to do.

[Inspired by Reggio]

I hear ya - when I started I was printing out things too to ensure they 'got it' however now I upgraded my website instead and have a members only password protected section on my website were I post our menu, our program planner, calendar of events for that month, the monthly newsletter and our weekly photo documentation and 'highlights' of milestones and accomplishments for the children. It is also where I can place memos and reminders to clients about closures and so forth - their job to READ IT weekly so their are informed and if they choose to print things off from there - their ink and paper :p

I use to print out my weekly documentation sheets out for the kids and place them in a portfolio book to review and look at in the playroom to spark their interest in taking play further by seeing photos of previous days accomplishments to build on and so forth and while they :wub: that option it was costing me several hundred dollars a month in INK, PAPER, PLASTIC SLEEVES and so forth ... so instead I invested in digital photo frame and put the documentation on a flash drive for them to view ... better for my wallet and better for the environment and they can still 'review' their play in a slideshow format ;)


...I did actually see on a couple websites where the person had posted along with her fees $5 for written daily journals. In other words parent had to want it bad enough to pay and then likely appreciated it enough to read it that way making it worth the caregiver's time to do.

Interesting idea!

[bright sparks]

One of the parents really doesn't seem very interested in her child's progress of anything that happens in the daycare so I know that for them, written notices will have to made instead of by email.

Don't give them any special treatment because they dont seem to care what their kids are doing at daycare. Just inform them that you send newsletters out via email on such a day of each week and thats how you inform parents of the weeks events and the menu for the following week. If they choose not to read the email then thats their perogative and at least you know you've done everything you can for the child and notified their parents. You could print something out and it could just get stuffed to the bottom of their bag or sit on the floor of the car for weeks and still not get read and you've still wasted ink and paper.

I think emailing your newsletter is completely acceptable and if parents question you, just say its more economical than using lots of ink and wasting paper.

I don't send weekly newsletters as its a LOT of work on top of my already long day and my after hours role as a mother and wife. I find that having a newsletter so regularly increases the chance of parents taking it for granted and not appreciating it that much.

I send a quarterly newsletter with a list of the upcoming themes for the next 3 months and any reminders of important dates like stat holidays or vacation days. I also include reminders for things relating to weather changes such as remembering to bring rainboots or snowpants daily and/or making sure to dress kids appropriatly etc. I typically include reminders of policies which are being broken frequently like a reminder of drop of times and pick up times to reinforce the importance of sticking to these and why. Around flu season time I remind people to call ahead if they are unsure if their child is well enough to come to daycare and I ask them to review the sickness policy in their contracts also.

I send a menu plan out seperatly every 9 weeks. I have a 3 week meal plan that I rotate and when I cook, I cook once every 9 weeks and freeze everything. I send this out a week before the new meal plan goes in to effect, so they know what their kiddies will be eating and they can plan their family meals with lots of notice.

I give written notices to parents when its an important factor that requires acknowledgment like vacation days, early closing, a planned trip or change in contract, just to name a few.

[playfelt]

I give written notices to parents when its an important factor that requires acknowledgment like vacation days, early closing, a planned trip or change in contract, just to name a few.

Something I started doing for this kind of thing was making one note to post on the wall but there are names of children and lines underneath for parents to sign that they have read and understand how they will be affected. So if I am closing for holiday they know there is no care that day, or if we are having a party and they need to bring something then I know there is no excuse for not knowing and at quick glance I can tell who han't acknowledge which is important with part timers that you get to them all.

[Mamma_Mia]

I think the idea of sending it out in a PDF is a great idea. After doing that, handing anything over in person does give off a more "this is serious" tone.

I really like that idea!

[Momof4]

Omigosh, you are working too hard! I make a quarterly newsletter stating all the important dates, all my themes and a bit about what we are doing over the next quarter. It is one page usually, sometimes two because I really believe parents only skim it. I keep a copy on my front bulletin board just in case I ever have to point to it and say I TOLD YOU ABOUT THIS!!!

I don't even have a menu anymore because none of the parents were concerned and all know that their children are well fed and cared for. One of my dcMoms has a really picky eater and this girl won't eat the same foods for supper that she ate for lunch and since she only eats a small variety of foods I send the Mom an email every afternoon listing what she has eaten, no biggie, only takes a minute.

I only give the parents a verbal update at the door at pickup if there were any problems, otherwise I just say, yes the child ate well and slept well and had a good day.

[bright sparks]

I get feedback from all my dcparents about my menu's and meal plan, including the ones who tend not to seem to give a damm. They always comment on how happy they are that I give them lots of notice about what the kids are eating each week and they are always saying that they'd love to come for lunch!!! I also find the menu is beneficial to me so that I can plan my meals and my grocery budget easier. Also the fact that I dont have to cook every day, just put a foil tray of food in the oven to reheat is sooooo much easier. I have tried lots of different ways of preparing the meals and this is by far the easiest IMO.

[Momof4]

Personally, I love my crockpot. I just throw everything in there the night before and plug it in at 8am. But my children are grown so the main meal I'm cooking is our lunch meal. All of you with young families are doing the opposite and making dinner your main meal.

We all do things the way they work best in our households but it's great to get tips from others.

[playfelt]

The age mix of kids makes such a difference in how you cook too. With having those that still finger feed I tend to make my meals finger friendly and then give the older kids a spoon an fork for most foods insist they use it cause they are "big" now. Chicken strips etc. the exception of course. There is no sense making a casserole then trying to get kids to pick out what they don't want or won't eat mixed together or have to feed the little ones so we all do what works for us. When I am putting the oven on to cook family supper I will toss in a tray of muffins to have for snack the next day or cook something I can then just warm at lunch or make a double batch of supper and freeze some.

[bright sparks]

All my dck's eat the same foods. I wean my babies if they come early enough on their seperate, fruits, veggies and then I just puree the same as they other kiddies are eating and eventually mash, or chop depending on the consistency of the food they are able to have but I dont make different things for different kids. They learn that there is one meal for all of them and if they are fussy then there isn't an alternative. If they are hungry, they will eventually eat and in the 5 years I have done daycare, and the 11 years of being a parent, this rule of thumb has never failed me. If I accomodated all the kids with their likes and dislikes, they would have me wrapped around their finger and I'm not having that. Who's the adult and who's the child in this situation??? I'm not going to play that game with them. And it works. I've never had an issue. If we are having a casserole and the child isn't going to use their spoon but instead delve in with their hands, WHO CARES. This is part of their learning process, it's just messier and not the end of the world. The food still goes in one way or another. They will learn eventually. I don't sweat this small stuff. :)

[Toregone]

I actually started a facebook business page for my dayhome and let my parents know about it. They're not my facebook friends but just "like" my business page. I post pictures of the kids going about our day to day, notices of closures, special events etc. So far every one enjoys it, I don't waste any paper or time, and it's easily viewable to anyone who wants to.

[Littledragon]

Omigosh, you are working too hard! I make a quarterly newsletter stating all the important dates, all my themes and a bit about what we are doing over the next quarter. It is one page usually, sometimes two because I really believe parents only skim it. I keep a copy on my front bulletin board just in case I ever have to point to it and say I TOLD YOU ABOUT THIS!!!

Haha. I know it sounds like a lot of work but I should mention I have a degree in Professional Writing, this is something I enjoy doing. I did up my newsletter for July and it was 4 pages - 2 pages of info, a meal plan for the month and a calender page depicting all the fun things, daycare closings and birthdays. I put in PDF format and send it through email.

On fridays, they will still receive a report card and any "reminders" like daycare closings (I'm closing on July 10th) and needed supplies.

I'm sure I'll get sick of doing it at some point but right now, I really enjoy it :)

Thanks everyone for your advice. I really am excited about this. And so far, the parents seem to appreciate it. One parent printed out the calender and filled out all the days her kid would be taken out for their vacation so it worked out really well :)

[Littledragon]

I'm having issues planning out our lunches. Can you guys give me some ideas on what you feed your kids for lunch?

[Inspired by Reggio]

My list is in this thread here ;)

http://www.daycarebear.ca/forum/showthread.php/437-Post-your-weekly-menu?highlight=lunch es

[dodge__driver11]

I actually stopped doing a weekly menu and newsletter, because the parents I have in care know that the kids eat healthy, and when I need to tell them something I usually call or email, because my ft group is so small.

[Mamma_Mia]

I actually started a facebook business page for my dayhome and let my parents know about it. They're not my facebook friends but just "like" my business page. I post pictures of the kids going about our day to day, notices of closures, special events etc. So far every one enjoys it, I don't waste any paper or time, and it's easily viewable to anyone who wants to.

I like this idea!! Thanks :)

The ONLY thing I'd have to be carfull about with this is reading the type of parent they are....some wont enjoy seeing me posting somthing (even if about their child) at i.e. 10am...I had one who was very adament during an interview about me NOT being on my phone or computer during the day......all day until the child is at home <whatever>

[playfelt]

When we have freeplay we ALL get freeplay and sometimes I choose to check emails during my freeplay time - or when the kids are eating snack or lunch or napping. No one tells me how to conduct my day - that is why I am self-employed.

[Toregone]

I like this idea!! Thanks :)

The ONLY thing I'd have to be carfull about with this is reading the type of parent they are....some wont enjoy seeing me posting somthing (even if about their child) at i.e. 10am...I had one who was very adament during an interview about me NOT being on my phone or computer during the day......all day until the child is at home <whatever>

I only post on there during nap time or during the evening for just this very reason. However with my group of parents I don't think I would have an issue anyway. They text me through out the entire day, want me to email them pictures as the day goes on etc.

I would have serious issue if a parent told me I couldn't use my phone or computer during the day. Right now my kiddos are all sitting at the table eating breakfast and I'm on my laptop in the easy chair next to them. They all feed themselves, I am within 5 feet of them, and if I sit at the table during meals the youngest one wants me to feed him. So if I'm sat over here why not log on for 20 minutes? I totally agree with playfelt, the freedom to choose how I run things is why I am self employed.

[Mamma_Mia]

I agree....that's why I HAD that parent :laugh: they never made it past the interview. My first thought was "you're here meeting me for the first time and already trying to tell me what to do in MY home....uh no...bye bye".

[sunnydays]

I actually don't do newsletters, but I send out a nightly email blog about our day. I write one blog and it goes to everyone, so I don't include anything personal about discipline, illness, etc. The parents really enjoy reading about their kids' days, especially for those with little ones who can't talk yet. One mom said she doesn't go to bed until she's read it :) I have one famliy who, I am pretty sure, don't read it, but other than that, everyone else really appreciates it. I also send my menus out by email. Actually I do everything by email. If there is an accident or behaviour issue to report, I also email that (although thisis done separately, not for all parents to read). Even supplies are requested through email. No paper, no ink and less time :)

[Momof4]

When we have freeplay we ALL get freeplay and sometimes I choose to check emails during my freeplay time - or when the kids are eating snack or lunch or napping. No one tells me how to conduct my day - that is why I am self-employed.
Perfectly stated! When my little ones are freeplaying all around me in the toyroom that's when I eat my breakfast & check things on the computer and while they are falling asleep for naptime that's when I eat my lunch and go on the computer again. I need that little bit of time for a break and I'm still working and right beside all of the children.