Weekly newsletter

[Littledragon]

Okay, so, I have a weekly newsletter I send out which has a "report card" for the week, their meal plan for the following week (which I think I am going to change to bi-weekly) and some other stuff. It usually ends up being about 6 -8 pages in total. I have three kids. That's a lot of paper and ink.


I am thinking about sending out virtually, like in PDF format, but I am just unsure about it. One of the parents really doesn't seem very interested in her child's progress of anything that happens in the daycare so I know that for them, written notices will have to made instead of by email.

I'm thinking that maybe I'll send the newsletters by email, and any important notices like, daycare foreclosures, warning letters and so on will be printed out.

Anyone do this? Any advice? Any experiences?

[Play and Learn]

I don't do newsletters, like you said, lots of paper and ink!

I do tell parents that I'll send out when holidays are and any memos through email. This way, there's a trace that I've sent it out, and when. And then they can't bitch and complain that they didn't get it.

[mlc1982]

I'm the same as P&L. I used to do daily logs of the day but it took a lot of paper, a lot of ink and a lot of time. I now send anything important to parents by email and then I'll post a little not at my front door on a cork board so they can't say they haven't seen it. I used to write down what we ate on a daily basis on a white board as well but have recently stopped that too. If parents want to know then they'll ask, in my opinion.

[apples and bananas]

I don't do newsletters either. I think once you start them you really can't stop them. And I'm not prepared to make that kind of commitment. LOL

However, if I were a parent in your daycare I would love email... probably prefer it as I know how much stuff comes home from my kids school that's all paper. If it get's in the car (if i've picked them up from school) it rarely makes it's way into the house.

[playfelt]

I do a monthly newsletter that is just a chatty page about what we have been doing, notices about birthdays, special events. I don't post menus as we make them up as we go along and also with mixed ages I sometimes do different things for different ages depending on leftovers and eating abilities so it was just too much. Most of my parents don't care knowing if the kids don't eat I will let them know and in the grand scheme of things having chicken twice in one day is not the worst thing to befall a child.

I am looking at expanding the newsletter into a weekly blog type thing I would do at some point on the weekend telling about the week and including some photos etc. mainly as I will be starting with babies again who don't talk. But I do not want to do anything that takes away from my time with the children or my alone time while they are sleeping - no naptime journalling for me.

I did actually see on a couple websites where the person had posted along with her fees $5 for written daily journals. In other words parent had to want it bad enough to pay and then likely appreciated it enough to read it that way making it worth the caregiver's time to do.

[Inspired by Reggio]

I hear ya - when I started I was printing out things too to ensure they 'got it' however now I upgraded my website instead and have a members only password protected section on my website were I post our menu, our program planner, calendar of events for that month, the monthly newsletter and our weekly photo documentation and 'highlights' of milestones and accomplishments for the children. It is also where I can place memos and reminders to clients about closures and so forth - their job to READ IT weekly so their are informed and if they choose to print things off from there - their ink and paper

I use to print out my weekly documentation sheets out for the kids and place them in a portfolio book to review and look at in the playroom to spark their interest in taking play further by seeing photos of previous days accomplishments to build on and so forth and while they that option it was costing me several hundred dollars a month in INK, PAPER, PLASTIC SLEEVES and so forth ... so instead I invested in digital photo frame and put the documentation on a flash drive for them to view ... better for my wallet and better for the environment and they can still 'review' their play in a slideshow format

...I did actually see on a couple websites where the person had posted along with her fees $5 for written daily journals. In other words parent had to want it bad enough to pay and then likely appreciated it enough to read it that way making it worth the caregiver's time to do.

Interesting idea!

[bright sparks]

One of the parents really doesn't seem very interested in her child's progress of anything that happens in the daycare so I know that for them, written notices will have to made instead of by email.

Don't give them any special treatment because they dont seem to care what their kids are doing at daycare. Just inform them that you send newsletters out via email on such a day of each week and thats how you inform parents of the weeks events and the menu for the following week. If they choose not to read the email then thats their perogative and at least you know you've done everything you can for the child and notified their parents. You could print something out and it could just get stuffed to the bottom of their bag or sit on the floor of the car for weeks and still not get read and you've still wasted ink and paper.

I think emailing your newsletter is completely acceptable and if parents question you, just say its more economical than using lots of ink and wasting paper.

I don't send weekly newsletters as its a LOT of work on top of my already long day and my after hours role as a mother and wife. I find that having a newsletter so regularly increases the chance of parents taking it for granted and not appreciating it that much.

I send a quarterly newsletter with a list of the upcoming themes for the next 3 months and any reminders of important dates like stat holidays or vacation days. I also include reminders for things relating to weather changes such as remembering to bring rainboots or snowpants daily and/or making sure to dress kids appropriatly etc. I typically include reminders of policies which are being broken frequently like a reminder of drop of times and pick up times to reinforce the importance of sticking to these and why. Around flu season time I remind people to call ahead if they are unsure if their child is well enough to come to daycare and I ask them to review the sickness policy in their contracts also.

I send a menu plan out seperatly every 9 weeks. I have a 3 week meal plan that I rotate and when I cook, I cook once every 9 weeks and freeze everything. I send this out a week before the new meal plan goes in to effect, so they know what their kiddies will be eating and they can plan their family meals with lots of notice.

I give written notices to parents when its an important factor that requires acknowledgment like vacation days, early closing, a planned trip or change in contract, just to name a few.

[playfelt]

I give written notices to parents when its an important factor that requires acknowledgment like vacation days, early closing, a planned trip or change in contract, just to name a few.

Something I started doing for this kind of thing was making one note to post on the wall but there are names of children and lines underneath for parents to sign that they have read and understand how they will be affected. So if I am closing for holiday they know there is no care that day, or if we are having a party and they need to bring something then I know there is no excuse for not knowing and at quick glance I can tell who han't acknowledge which is important with part timers that you get to them all.

[Mamma_Mia]

I think the idea of sending it out in a PDF is a great idea. After doing that, handing anything over in person does give off a more "this is serious" tone.

I really like that idea!

[Momof4]

Omigosh, you are working too hard! I make a quarterly newsletter stating all the important dates, all my themes and a bit about what we are doing over the next quarter. It is one page usually, sometimes two because I really believe parents only skim it. I keep a copy on my front bulletin board just in case I ever have to point to it and say I TOLD YOU ABOUT THIS!!!

I don't even have a menu anymore because none of the parents were concerned and all know that their children are well fed and cared for. One of my dcMoms has a really picky eater and this girl won't eat the same foods for supper that she ate for lunch and since she only eats a small variety of foods I send the Mom an email every afternoon listing what she has eaten, no biggie, only takes a minute.

I only give the parents a verbal update at the door at pickup if there were any problems, otherwise I just say, yes the child ate well and slept well and had a good day.