Printable View
I am just getting started and wondering what everyone uses to keep track of what children are coming, on what days of the week and their ages. Created a week-at-a-glance form which works well for those who are registering to start immediately (and to indicate current spaces taken), but not so good for those who are registering a few months in advance. Anyone find a form that works well for this purpose?
Are you a centre or a day home? Most people here are day homes, so to be honest, with Provincial ratio limits ranging from 4 to 6, it's not too hard to just know.
I think in Ontario, your limit is 5 so unless you have a lot of client's on rotating shifts or part time, then I promise, you will just remember that many children.
Worst case, just set yourself up a Google Calendar. You can have several calendar's attached to your google account - We have one for day care and several others for my own appointments/group/hobby schedule and one for my husband too - and you can set the up so the font is in different colours and all merge into one if that's your preference.
I find keeping things simple and not over complicating anything is the best way.
Maybe just a monthly sheet you print off and write expected attendance is all you need.
Hi, I created my own forms using excel.. payment tracking, part , full time clients and future clients. Etc. All is kept in my daycare bible.Quote:
Originally Posted by carolford29
I have created a daily assistance page. And the bottom it is programed to print my reminder Notes: ex. *Nano child only comes mon and Fri. 8 to 12 , * Yanis child started this week part time changing on Dec to full time and so on. So every weekly page I fill out it has already my notes making it eady to remembe or go back at any time. And also in my filing system every signed contract has a highlight of the starting date (which makes easy to go back in my weekly assistance list and read my own notes since the child started) some times I go 4 years back when a child has started. Ex. *child X first two weeks was covered with their "hold spot" deposit parents were notified by email this date xxxx, I usually have print out attached to my monthly calendar with signature of parents or response of parents, making it easy to remember and go back to my hard copy if needed. Etc, etc.
I'm not a centre but, I run my homedaycare as one. It is easy to remember but I also understand that in the event of something happening to my already short term memory:D:D I can always go back to my hard copies or anyone in my family can also do it.
My attendance list is also included in my daily log. So I have all in one spot. All online and filled weekly. At the end of the week I check my reminders some notes that I have to take down or some highligts to include for future weeks. You can customize your own as you wish.
Suzie_Homemaker, you have a great system Google calendars I didn't know they even existed I'll definitely check it out.
Hi Suzie_Homemaker. Thanks for your recommendations. Yes, I am starting a home childcare. I currently use a week-at-a-glance form that works well for tracking who is registered, their ages, and what vacancies I still have. But I am needing to track this more long term than weekly so I can project for future openings, and just wondered if anyone found a software to track that kind of info. I created an Excel spreadsheet yesterday which seems to work well, indicating their progressing ages as the months go on, and helping to see clearly when I can accept others for future months. Google Calendar is great for tracking many of the other aspects of the business, so thank you for suggesting it.
All the best to you!
Wow Peacefulbird, you are very efficient in your tracking of information. I love it and will plan to incorporate some of what you described. Thank you!
All the best to you!
By the way, do either of you know where I change the "shy" on my profile/signature? I am not seeing it in my profile settings and not sure how "shy" came to be part of my signature. Shy is one thing I have never been accused of being. LOL
It goes according to how many times you've posted. It'll change once you post more.
In over 20 years of care, I've never managed to project future openings because the only information you will ever have in advance, is when they age out for school.Quote:
Originally Posted by carolford29
You will never be able to predict if someone gets laid off, moves away, switches jobs to require hours you don't open, so in those situations, your "warning" is being handed your notice. Then it's a mad scramble to find a replacement. It's really as simple as when someone gives notice, you have a vacancy and when someone has signed a contract for the space and handed over their deposit, the vacancy is taken. Trust me - when that happens, your full focus is on finding someone new and you aren't going to lose track of that because your income is affected until it's sorted out.
When it comes to who is leaving for school, that's straight forward too. I know I have two aging out for school in Sept 2019, two more in Sept 2020 and then my final 2 will age out in Sept 2021. I intentionally don't take on more than two children born in the same calendar year to avoid a mass exodus on the same day.
If you're in Ontario with the new regulation two under two's, it just makes sense to keep track of those ages as they progress monthly. Unfortunately even if you have only two babies if those don't turn two yet then you must wait until they do or look for over two years olds (currently impossible to find). To track only two babies ages I have made a reminder on a white board in my kitchen so every month just change their age (I'm a visual learner so, seeing it every day helps me to remember when my next openings will happen. My board is very handy when I get calls or emails etc.)
Check out Sandbox Software. Canadian Company based out of Hamilton ontario. Send me a PM if you want more details.
Is it a virtual machine?Quote:
Originally Posted by levi