Daily Notes Content

[Josiegirl]

I find mine boring and have asked dcps what else they'd like to know about their child's day but parents aren't real big on giving their input. I have places to check things such as meals and what/how they ate, how naps went, their moods, certain things we did and if they need to bring anything or special notes about the day. But I feel like I'm constantly on repeat and parents probably don't give them much of a glance. So any suggestions of what I can add? I don't have lots of time during the day to add written comments, unless I do it at that exact moment, such as a specially difficult time, something funny s/he said, etc. How do you make them more enjoyable? Also, when I check what we did, it's listed like block play/arts and crafts/dollhouse and farm play/puppet play/, etc. Maybe change some of those choices? For instance, we've been doing lots of cutting paper and gluing lately but I simply check arts and crafts for that type of thing.
Plus another question, I have infant notes and then notes for the other dcks. At what age would you kick them up to the other kids notes? I have a just barely 1 yo who no longer uses bottles, but doesn't participate much in the other stuff, as a normal 1 yo would be. Is there a go-between note?

Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks!!

[DaveA]

I'm not much help- I hated notes home. I prefer to have a quick "how the day went" discussion at pick up. I only do notes home for under 1 y/o.

If I think parents aren't paying attention to the notes I start having some fun with them. I'll send home comments like:

DCK established contact with the local K9 population and is attempting to communicate in their native language.

DCK organized the Little People into battalions and laid siege to the land of Leggo.

Over a round of Similac DCK and the other infant had a spirited debate over the efficacy of bicameral legislative bodies.

I once did this for over a week before DCPs noticed. ::

[HappyEverAfter]

I don't do written notes home to parents. Just a quick verbal report at the door at pick up. I do make written notes for myself of any injuries or things like that. I only have 3 kids though so that makes verbal reports easy.

[storybookending]

So you do notes for every kid in your care? I would eliminate them entirely for children over the age of 1. For infants I let the parents decide when they don’t want them anymore. Some quit after a few weeks. My 10 months old mom just said this week she doesn’t need them anymore.

[Snowmom]

I wish I could be more help.

I used to do "How was my day" notes until I constantly found them littering my driveway and street. :/

Now I just write on my communication board and write on the parent website. I know they check that (they have to log on to view it).

Besides the vitals (eat, poop, mood, activity), I don't know what else they'd really want.

[Blackcat31]

I too, hate notes home. No one reads them.

I don't do the chit chat up-dates at the end of the day except for the littler ones I have that don't speak.
But I only have 2 of that age.

Lately, when parents pick up and ask me "How was Sally's day?" I usually just say "Ask Sally."

[Ariana]

I stopped doing them because no one even took them out of their bags ag the end of the day. I was sick of doing the work. I then switched to a private FB page with relevant info like pictures of our day and menu. No one bothered to pay attention to that either and every day I would hear “what did they have for lunch”

Now I say nothing and do nothing unless asked!

[Leigh]

I think that you're not getting input because, as others have mentioned, parents don't want that information. They already trust that their kids are getting what they need and that they're safe and happy.

People who write our regs LOVE these kinds of things. They're the only ones who do. Providers don't like filling them out, parents don't read them. If you're set on doing a daily sheet, I'd suggest letting parents opt-in to them. Send home a note that you're no longer providing them (not that parents will read this note, either!) unless they opt in by returning the signed request. I rarely have a parent that wants to discuss their child's day. When they do, they ask questions.

I don't think it's that parents don't respect you or what you do, but that they trust that things are fine and that you're doing what you said you would at the interview.

What I do for parents is when their child does something that I would want to hear about, I'll tell them about it or even make a scrapbook type page to send with them (like when they do something amazing or when they say something so cute or funny that I would want to add that to my child's scrapbook).

[TheMisplacedMidwestMom]

I started using the Brightwheel app (after reading so much about it on here). It was fun at first, now I just detest it (but I detest most monotonous things). However, its great for the infants and I have a dcb 2.5 that we were trying to figure out some food sensitivities for awhile and it was great for that. It serves its purpose well enough, parents can look or not look.
The things I do enjoy:
-Being able to go back myself and look at histories which as been helpful when working on sleep with the infants.
-Being able to share pictures, which satisfies most of the parents that want a little "extra something" with their daily report.
-My families like it.

[Josiegirl]

One of the arenas I need to maintain for Stars is communication and they highly encourage daily notes as one form of a communication strategy.:confused: I believe it's overkill but nobody asked me. Anything to waste a providers' time....cause we have sooo much.
I used to do notebooks back and forth with parents, but that was much more of a time-**** and I found the parents mostly didn't write anything.

[Leigh]

One of the arenas I need to maintain for Stars is communication and they highly encourage daily notes as one form of a communication strategy.:confused: I believe it's overkill but nobody asked me. Anything to waste a providers' time....cause we have sooo much.
I used to do notebooks back and forth with parents, but that was much more of a time-**** and I found the parents mostly didn't write anything.

I understand (as we all probably do!). Would Stars be satisfied it you offered the notes on an opt-in basis? That's still offering a service to the parents, you're still WILLING to do it-maybe the offer is good enough? I swear, I feel so much for those of you who have to deal with Stars and other programs like it. When it hits my state, my license is going in the trash can. The state controls my life and my business enough now as it is.

[CityGarden]

I started using the Brightwheel app (after reading so much about it on here). It was fun at first, now I just detest it (but I detest most monotonous things). However, its great for the infants and I have a dcb 2.5 that we were trying to figure out some food sensitivities for awhile and it was great for that. It serves its purpose well enough, parents can look or not look.
The things I do enjoy:
-Being able to go back myself and look at histories which as been helpful when working on sleep with the infants.
-Being able to share pictures, which satisfies most of the parents that want a little "extra something" with their daily report.
-My families like it.

I agree initially I loved Brightwheel but I found updating multiple children on my iPhone not as quick as updates on my laptop and they don't really have a easy way to do updates on my laptop. I like Brightwheel for billing but that is it and honestly I am fazing out of Brightwheel for billing because Chase Quick Pay works as do checks.

[CityGarden]

As mentioned above I started off with Brightwheel and my initial two out of three families loved.... but I did not like the time it took.

I have settled on two different forms of communication that I like!

Daily Written Notes
I give a daily written note.... it's 1/2 a sheet of paper per child - most is pre-filled out in advancr. I have been using the template from Play to Learn Preschool but decided to customize my own.

This link will take you to the version from Play to Learn Preschool and below is a picture of theirs.

Daily notes help bridge the gap between what my students can verbalize and what we actually do and to me it helps parents see the value in what I do with their child. I even had a dad send a hand written thank you for them as it helped him feel connected and engaged in discussion during dinner...... this was a dad I have never met since dcm did all drop off and pick up. There is one family who never read them but always want to know how to dcb's day, did he nap, how was he with using the potty.... I tell them it's all included on the daily note.

I have a M/W/F group and a T/TH group of children some days I wish I did weekly newsletters / notes instead of daily ---- just because with children 2+ and a solid rhythm / routine it feels very repetitive at times.

Shutterfly Classroom Site
This is a very easy user friendly option that is not nearly as much work as a blog or website. I use it for calendar reminders, volunteer sign ups, photo sharing, etc. This is great for the "group" and build community among the families. I love how easy the Shutterfly Class Site is and have noting bad to say about it but it's not for daily individual notes. I do try to post photos of the children each night though. I think a picture is worth a thousand words and the Shutterfly Site App makes uploading photos from my phone and laptop easy. It also makes end of the year books a breeze.

[Meeko]

Notes home just become floor liner for their cars.

After sending home a few trees worth of paper that didn't get a glance...I stopped. Luckily, our licensing regs don't require it.

If a parent wants to know, they can ask. Simple.

[Blackcat31]

Our stars program has offered a subscription text service for parents. The weekly texts provide parenting tips and advice etc for common issues parents face now days.

Getting parents to sign up for this FREE subscription service satisfies our requirement of parent/program/provider communication.

https://www.thinksmall.org/about_think_small/texts/