Communicating with parents about childs day

[mlc1982]

How do you communicate to parents about their childs day?

At pickup do you stand and talk about what activities might have been done, what their child ate, how long they slept, etc?
Do you send a journal/report card of some sort home on a daily basis explaining everything?
Do you give a monthly newsletter explaining activities/themes/meals/etc at the beginning of the month and leave it at that?
Do your parents even ask? Or do you even offer any information?

If you do give parents info, what exactly are you telling them??

[cfred]

I've been running a private, home daycare for around 10 years. Personally, I prefer to keep it casual. When the parents arrive to pick up their children, they get a brief run down of pertinent information. Typically, I'll let them know how and/or what their kids ate, any special activities, a general idea of what we did through the day. In addition, if there were any incidents, bumps, or behavioural issues. I've not found it necessary to send home report cards, newsletters, etc. My clients typically end up being friends, so we just chat about the day. I will send out a newsletter at times when things are changing, (eg. fee schedule, policies, reminders to send seasonal accessories, or perhaps to notify of vacation schedule or upcoming special events). As long as the kids are going home happy, the parents have pertinent information and I'm communicative, I think that's quite fine for a home daycare.

[Play and Learn]

I give out a daily log of childs day. It has a chart of the hours of the day, and says wet or BM, so parents generally know when/if the child has had a BM. (I care for younger children currently). It includes a spot of what they ate during snacks/lunch. How long their nap was for the day. And a place of what they did that day, as well as special notes for the parents where I usually ask for more diapers or wipes.

If anyone is interested, please send me a PM, where I can send it to you.

I also have parents wanting a brief overview when they come to pick up their child. I have great parents who are interested in what their child does during the day!

[playfelt]

Mine is general chitchat at the door too and mostly my parents trust that if their child is coming and going relatively happy that everything is fine. I let them know mostly about anything out of the ordinary so they can plan their evening like child ate very little, or was very tired and napped extra long or had more than the usually poopy diapers. My parents themselves have all become friends and the kids are treated like a group of brothers and sisters that just go to different homes at night. The parents will ask how a child that has been sick is feeling or comment on a child that seems fussy from teething and offer child empathy, etc. It is so nice having this closeness because then they can support each other as parents too. I do send home seasonal newsletters - usually every two months and outline what we are doing curriculum wise, changes, birthdays, etc.

[giraffe]

I do a bit of everything....

When a child is new to care or an infant I have a daily log book that is passed back and forth from home to daycare so that I (the provider) and he parent can communicate easily. When the child finishes his or her book or the parents feel the book is no longer needed then i stops.

I have a whiteboard that is posted near the coathooks with our menu for the day and daily activities written on it.

I also have a quick chat at the end of the day with each parent about their childs day/mood etc.

[FS2011]

I follow the same idea as cfred, accept I do a monthly newsletter. I feel communication with parents is so important. I have a website that parents can become a member of and get updates and pictures, videos, policy docs as well as the newsletter for updates. If anyone wants a great, free, easy to use website ...PM me for details and I will give you the info.

[Spixie33]

I do a bit of everything too. I have 3 great parents in the daycare but none of them really ask me for much in terms of info.

I send home a daily sheet advising what we ate, how they slept, the diaper details, etc

I also do a newsletter every 6-9 weeks and write any inportant info. I write a summary of what we have been doing and what is coming up and I include a few pages of pictures of their kids at daycare

I also do a bit of small talk with the parents at pick up but usually they are busy wrestling their kids into their coats and shoes so I am glad that I have the daily sheet to let them know about the day in a calmer fashion

[sunnydays]

I do chat with parents at pick-up time, but I also do an online communication journal daily in which I tell them a little about the child's day including how they ate, BM's, naps, and I try to include something about what the child did that day or a new word, song learned etc. My parents really look forward to these emails and they can reply if there is anything they need to communicate to me. I also send out a weekly menu in advance so they know what the kids are eating and I send photos sometimes as well.

[Momof4]

I make up a quarterly newsletter to communicate with parents about the things we accomplished in the past 3 months and my expectations for the next 3 months. Also, the important dates that I will be closed in the next quarter and our themes of the week and special holidays are highlighted.

I have log books that I keep on each child daily but it gives me an opportunity to give highlights to parents depending on their age if I have concerns about their meals/naps/diaper changes/potty learning.

[playfelt]

One of the reasons I stopped doing the daily reports was that it started to rub me the wrong way in the sense of the issue of trust. How many times I changed the baby's bum seemed silly to write in the sense of I did it when it needed done and today it was 3 times and tomorrow 4. If child pooped a simple yes or no to the parent at the door covered that. As far as menu goes with mixed ages it can be up to three different meals that was made which is why menu isn't posted yet because there is no such thing as a daily menu here. But the biggest reason for stopping was I was finding that any of my issues with parents came about from the forms from either what was said, not said, or misinterrpreted. They because a source of conflict. Not sure how to describe but mostly it was new moms who didn't grasp the reality of daycare and would call me on things like naptime if it was a little earlier or later than normal or longer than normal or well just questioning everything. It became better not to tell anything than have to explain why naptime was half an hour early even when mom was getting child up early to come to daycare instead of letting them sleep in and then wondered why they went back to a morning nap for instance. To waste a piece of paper daily to say yes child pooped seemed a waste of time. Mom wants to know what time of day kid did it they can stay home and watch for themselves. I do make sure parents know of anything out of the ordinary such as more than 2 poops or non when they usually do one a day. But it is all verbal.