Provider feedback about your child

[waterloo day mom]

I have had an experience in the past where I had to write a journal for each child and found it very detached and uncomfortable. For some children I was always writing the same thing (ate well, pooped around 9, etc) and for others I couldn't find the words or didn't want something to come across wrong. I no longer send home a written report with the kids, but am more than willing (and do) discuss with parents any questions or concerns that they have. If they have found that the child has been constipated at home, they might ask about if they pooped while with me. Other parents have no concern as their child might go 2-3 times a day. I would hate to think that a parent is so busy that they can't talk to me for a minute or 2 about whatever parts of the day they want to know. Communication is important, and it goes both ways, but communication only exists if the right questions are being asked. I ask the parents what I want to know, they ask me what they want to know. No wasted time or effort, and we are all happy.

[KingstonMom]

Wow this is a lot of BM talk!!
Personaly I dont do written journals or anything. Most of the kids I have poop at least once a day, but I wouldnt necessarily mention it unless they had not for a couple days in my care. (kids change and they could be pooping at home...)
If I notice a change (diarrhea more than once per day with no fever) then I will mention it. But otherwise, they dont ask, and I dont ask about their BM at home.
At pick up I will mention what we ate that day and how their naps went.
My daycare is pretty structured so everyone always naps from 12-2:30 give or take 20 mins. So it is still a little repetitive after a while.
I think that this is not hard to do, to take out 1 minute while the shoes are going on to say this. It doesnt take much.
I know that if I did notes or whatever, then it would all mostly be the same deal day in, day out.
If I do happen to forget to tell parents something, like he got a boo boo on his knee today or something, then I can always text Mom to pass it on, but this is nothing that cant wait till the next day.
Anyways, just my thoughts on the idea.
May work for some, but not me personally. I am fine with the information flow that I have now with Moms and Dads, and I have not heard anything differently as of lately.

[mom-in-alberta]

Poop talk aside..... lol (by the way, Skysue "bottom line??" hehehe, funny)
I was wondering if you gals that use the journals or give daily reports have worked in larger centres? I can totally see why that would be quite applicable, as there are a greater number of kids to remember who did what, ate what, etc. Easier for the details to get lost in the shuffle. I have only a couple of families, and none of them seem to need more than the basic info.

[playfelt]

Yes the info is important but what I would be telling the parent at the door is the changes such as little A didn't have a poop today and they usually do or they had 3 today and them seemed to be getting softer and softer. That is the kind of stuff we talk about at the door right up there with our normal chit chat.

[zen39]

I do journals, but I only write a couple sentences in each. I don't discuss their whole day. I just write a funny little thing they said or did or something they really enjoyed whether it's an activity or song etc. It only takes me a couple minutes for each children, definitely not difficult. I do it during naptime. My kids nap for two hours, so I have a nice long break. Some providers may do it and others don't, it's all a personal choice. For me, I know as a parent I like getting little write ups about all my kids, so I thought I would offer the same to my parents.

[lotssoflove]

Hello! New here! I actually have a daily sheet I fill out (an idea I stole from my DD daycare when she was little). It has information like the date name of child, Time of nap and duration, if they went down well. Number of wet,dirty diapers, what they ate for snack, lunch bottles all written with just filling in the blanks like I napped from ____ to ____ and went down ______. I leave a section down at the bottom of the page where I can write comments but dont always do it. From the Parent perspective it gives the important info quickly. I print a bunch at the beginning of the week and fill them out at nap time. Takes all of 2 minutes.

[Daymama]

Hello!

I am also new here. I run a home daycare in Alberta.

I think the level of communication should vary according to the age of the child - an older child can share information themselves, whereas a baby needs parents and caregivers to be in closer communication. I also believe that it is important for language development for parents to be able to talk with children about their days and to do that, they have to know what the children are doing in a regular and timely way.

I post my menu and activity plans in advance by the door, and I try to always share/ask about how the child slept or ate at dropoff or pickup.

I also have a private facebook group for my dayhome parents and grandparents. I am not fb friends with them, and all parents gave me written consent to take the photos and a promise not to share photos of other children off the group, so professionalism is preserved. I can post pictures and short videos from my camera or iPhone very easily as I take them, and at naptime, I go back and add comments. Sometimes I post links to books we read or youtubes of songs we are listening to or the words to songs we are singing, etc. I find it very easy to maintain this - much more so than the old notebooks I kept. I love the feedback from parents and sometimes grandparents in comments, too. They watch the videos especially over and over with their children.