Absences

Do people track attendance at all? I am having my first round of illnesses and therefore absences. I have never tracked attendance as they pay me if they are here or not. Is this something I should be doing and why?

Thanks!

In theory you are supposed to be able to prove to revenue Canada what days kids were in care and therefore how many meals were served, etc. I do it and have a one page chart I post for the month and just tick off if there. It is posted at the door and I fill it out as the last one arrives. I do ask parents to sign it at the end of the month in theory to validate their attendance.

I keep an attendance log. I write down the time of arrival and who dropped them off, as well as their departure time and who picked them up. I used to pick up my nephew from a daycare centre and they had a system like that, so when I began I just decided it was a good idea.

I do the same as SecondAve. This way I see a pattern of drop off/pick up times and have proof of days the child attended should there be a discrepancy with payment. Also, yes, for revenue Canada if they ever want a confirmation from a different source what my income is. My memory is sometimes less than optimal, and with so many part timers, my weekly attendance chart also reminds me whose coming that day!!

The thing with using it to track for meals etc is that the meal is already made if they show up or not so my food expenses stay pretty much the same.

I do mark my calendar when children are away for a day and I also note it in my daily log books. I want to keep complete records but I'm also paid if parents keep their child at home for any reason.

I have not done any attendance tracking so far. My reasoning is as TorontoKids sais...I have prepared the meal the night before, so the expenses are the same whether they eat it or not unless a child is away for an extended period of time that I know of in advance. And they pay me if they keep the child home, so that stays the same. I do track my own closures though and whether or not they were paid because definitely if I was closed, I cannot claim food expenses for that day.

I have monthly calendars set up in my front foyer, each day saying who will be in attendance. If they do not come for whatever reason I cross them off the list and make a little note ("sick")and that's how I keep track.

I use a calendar and mark down if a child is absent or if they are sent home due to illness....it's something I can look back on and refer to if need be and it only takes a minute. I also have two moms on mat leave right now so I have marked down which days their children are attending since they are now on a part time basis.

Just like pp, I have an excel calendar I have made up. I keep track of attence, drop off and pick up times and payment. It is mostly for my own use, Ive never shown it to dcp.