News Letter?

[Big Hearts]

I have read some of you have news letters? I think this is a great idea. What kind of stuff do you put in a news letter? how often do you make one? weekly? monthly? how many pages? I only have four kids would it be pointless? I really would like to add this to my daycare but would like some more info on how to go about it?

Thanks

[michellesmunchkins]

I do them, once a month (although in the summer I tend to get lazy and forget). In them I include any welcomes and goodbyes that are happening that month, any birthdays or upcoming events. I include any closures for that month and also upcoming months (this way nobody can say they didn't know I would be closing). I put in our themes for that month, any reminders (such as warm clothes, change of clothes, stuff like that). I include what letters and numbers we are doing, what colours/shapes etc. I also include a book list and a few songs that we will be learning (hopefully the parents will also sing them to the kids to be a part of their daycare life). There is probably more that I'm forgetting but that is the general gist of what I do.

[Bookworm]

I do a monthly newsletter, the same as michelle. I put in reminders about clothing, birthdays, closures, what ever we are working on that month, new or leaving people. Sometimes if there is a specific event within the community geared towards kids that I think the children/parents may want to attend, I will put info in about that (example is the Touch a Truck event).
I also include a monthly calendar on the backside of the newsletter with any important days we are doing. Example is today is Pajama Day, so that would be on the calendar. I only do a few events like this a month, but it is a reminder for the parents.
I only have 4 dck's at the moment and while some of my parents ignore it (they never participate) I do it for the parents that do, as they seem to enjoy it.

[Inspired by Reggio]

I do a monthly calendar and newsletter ... mine has a section with milestones / accomplishments where we 'reflect' on the previous months activities and what we've mastered, what interests and topics have been coming up and what we are working on for next month, another section for upcoming events where I elaborate on field trips / celebrations / closures / that are on that months calendars, a section for memos and general reminder notes like 'time to repack the bag for Fall' or 'reminder the sunscreen $$ is due' or 'time of year to check your child's file is up to date' and so forth and than I have a Kiddies Corner with recipes, song lyrics are games we are enjoying so that parents can if desired follow through at home with the words and so forth. I also occasionally add a Parent's corner where I throw in an article or information on particular challenges parents often face ~ separation anxiety, potty training, discipline tips, nutrition, sleep time Resistance and so forth and places to get more info on those if desired.

[Momof4]

I make a quarterly newsletter and the most important parts are the Important Dates which list all dates I'm closed and parties and holidays and special events that are coming up. The other important part is the list of my themes. Other than that I just chat about what we did the last quarter and what's coming up in the next quarter. It also gives me an opportunity to remind parents about seasonal clothing that may be needed or anything that has been bothering me with somebody not paying close attention to a rule and I address it to all parents this way.

[playfelt]

While monthly was my intention they are more like seasonal and come out every 2-3 months. When I had older kids I had lots to write about but with the little ones we do so much repetiton that the newsletters would sound that way too.