Pics to Parents

[blandino]

This app looks so cool!!! So does the parent need the parent version for it to work? Does anyone know if it's only available for iPhone? I have one parent who doesn't have an iPhone.

No - actually none of my parents have the app, I have discouraged buying it since It is rather expensive for an app and the emails work just fine. It sends everything out via e-mail. It is absolutely worth the money.

[KnoxMom]

I have a blog, a facebook page (public but they sign a media release form with the handbook) and I have decided (haven't started yet) to make an annual blurb book to keep for tours and viewing that the parents can also purchase online (similar to buying a yearbook). I've made one for my own family because I live so far away and sent copies out to family members for Christmas (a hit!).

[Starburst]

I think I would rather just save the pics and make a "year book" for each kid so that way they can keep track of how old they were when it was taken (and what month or even date it was taken) and they know it was taken at daycare and maybe even some discriptions of what they are doing or what was said or who else is in the picture. Most parents are working or at school and may get in trouble if they are caught texting (ok in colleges not really but some professors do get mad if you are always texting in class- most of mine do). If it is something really funny or momentous (like eating solid food or walking/rolling over for the first time of writing name) I would probably E-mail it to them so when they have time to check their E-mail they can see it. But otherwise I like to orginize pictures and make little scrap books I can also give it to them on birthdays, holidays, or at the end of the school year- that way I can also write of my camera, picture printer, ink as a business expense. I just don't want them to think that I will always send them pictures all the time if I am busy or to think that I have nothing better to do than send them pictures every hour on the hour- maybe if they were newbies and I can see they were a little tense but after a while I would cut back or stop and just save it for the year book.

I also have this thing about taking pictures because when I worked as a field trip tour guide I noticed that the parents and the teachers would literally stop the kids in the middle of an activity just to take a picture of them looking like they are doing it but so they were smiling and looking at the camera. I think this interupted their hands on learning/fun and it also cut in quite a bit to my time schedule of activities I had to do because it would take them longer to complete a task. I prefer to take pictures to document the work being done and NOT interupt the kids but some kids when they see a camera they stop to try to smile and pose or they act goof for the camera but wont just do the activity anymore. I plan on also using documentation as part of the curriculum to show parents the work we did (just focusing on hands and the activity not neccesarly faces). But I am not saying I wouldn't take cute pics, I just wouldn't want them to have to stop in the middle of a learning activity to do it.

If I had a fb page for my daycare I would probably also post some up there (if it didn't show faces or I had parents consent to post pictures of kids for advertisements) once or twice a week. If I did preschool graduations I would also make a slide show of all the children having fun at my daycare (since parents tend to bring friends and relates who may also have kids).

[MNMum]

I have a secret Facebook page, and parents need to be invited. I'm not as good about updating it as parents would like...

[coolconfidentme]

I think we DK folks are all cut from the same cloth, . Today a little girl tried to sing a Taylor Swift song & the words she sang just cracked me up. Mom got the video.

[mamac]

I use the tadpoles app on my iPhone, and am able to send pictures with one touch. There is a free trial, and after that is is $2.25 a month per child - but it is soooooo worth it. It also allows you to send daily reports, movies, accident reports, and notes straight to each parents e-mail with just a tap. My parents get 5+ pictures a day because it is so easy to share them.

Do you pay for this yourself or do you offer it as an option to your DCPs and add it to their bill?

[blandino]

Do you pay for this yourself or do you offer it as an option to your DCPs and add it to their bill?

I pay this myself. I have considered asking them to pay it, but honestly I don't want to keep track of who is and isn't paying - and when they paid (since it is monthly). We have 13 enrolled, so it is under $30.00 a month. And honestly, my parents LOVE the system and would probably pay for it - but it is such an added bonus that I like that we offer something that no other daycare around here does.

[melilley]

I text pictures ALL the time! I have more pictures of DCK than I do my own on my phone. ::

Same here!..

[Little Star75]

I do everyday I also have a public fb page where parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles etc can like and will always see my page on their news feed.