Daily Notes Content

[flying_babyb]

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. ::

IM SO doing this!! mabey this way our parents will actully bring supplies

[Josiegirl]

Thank you everybody for the suggestions and links, and support!

I don't know how many dcps actually read the notes in private But I know 2 parents always glance at theirs to see if there are written notes along with the checked boxes. Maybe I should add DaveA's ideas . I just don't always have time to write a bunch of things and when I do have time, my mind goes blank.

[Justjoy]

Josiegirl....I hear you, hon! I write detailed daily sheets for every child. It gets to be extremely time consuming, and like you said, it's hard to come up with something new and exciting every single day. I actually stopped my daily sheets about 6 months ago, and had complaints from the parents. I started back up with them, but left a few things off the sheet.....again the parents...not enough info....so I guess I'm one of the daycare providers whose parent's read the sheets word for word. It does make me feel good, but it does take a lot of time.

[Lissa Kristine]

I think daily sheets are pointless after a certain age. Little Johnny isn't going to have a daily sheet coming home with him when he gets off the Elementary school bus. I think they should be standard for kids under a certain age to record vitals such as diapers, naps, and feedings. It may still be beneficial to jot down notes for your own records so you can give details if a parent asks how long her child slept.

That being said, I've been in situations where, say, diapers weren't being changed on a regular basis, and I suspect that having daily sheets to keep track of things like that would help (though, I also suspect those who aren't changing diapers would probably just lie on the daily sheets, so I doubt that would make a difference.

Older kids (say, those who are potty trained on up) would probably be fine with a weekly overview and a copy of the menu, etc. Anything more than that would be for special circumstances.

(I also hate those apps that give you options like "Some, most, all" for snacks. That doesn't mean anything. A child could eat a full cup of mac and cheese that was served or half a cup. If it was all that was served, then you'd put "all.")