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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Anyone Else Keep Logs on Each Kid?
E Daycare 05:38 AM 01-19-2011
For this new year I decided that with all the issues that come with having other peoples kids in the house I would start keep a journal of each kid. I really wish I started from the go as Id have logs to go back and say see "this happened 3 times etc..." I dont know why I didnt think of this before seeing how I worked in Health care years ago and keeping written logs has saved my rear before. Im just afraid with new contract changes a parent may get on me for the why is this like this and so forth. If I have "proof" to back up my reasoning I might have a shot if I ever need to go to court.

Has anyone done this (or is doing this) and have you had to use the logs/journals to prove your case? If so, have they been effective or have they been a downfall? I know its good to have records for my own behalf. So far this month, the books are pretty heavily filled out. And on just two kids.
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Bonnie 07:18 AM 01-19-2011
I am new to DC this year and watch all Teachers Kids. One specifically asked I keep a daily log because pick up time can be chaotic and not enough time to talk about entire day etc...
My log is as follows on a long sided 1/2 sheet of paper pre copied
It looks a little nicer but here it is in basic form.

Name
Date
Diaper count Wet
Dirty
Potty attempts
Breakfast Time
What we ate
Morning Activities
Lunch Time
What we ate
Afternoon Activities
Nap Time
After Nap Activities
Boo Boo's ?
Supplies Needed
Other Issues

I find that if especially one parent drops off and the other parent picks up that they actually read these logs
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My4SunshineGirlsNY 08:39 AM 01-19-2011
Here in NY we have to keep a written log for each child. I keep a notebook in each childs' personal file bin. And yes, it is to save our butt just in case. I have been bad at logging info in them but I am making an effort remember because my 2 year old daycare boy hurts other kids....so if I log that in, I have all the incidences on record.

It is a very good idea to keep this up because it can help you just incase a parent wants to accuse you of something.
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Michelle 08:55 AM 01-19-2011
Minute menu ha a cool daily report that automatically fills in the meals and then I just type in the books we read and things we do, they have a place where we can write notes for each child on their own report (but I haven't figured out how to do it yet).

In Ca. we don't have to keep logs, but most parents like it.
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Abigail 09:08 AM 01-19-2011
Wow, Minute Menu has a lot to offer. Bites that I don't know anyone locally who uses it so I could tinker around with it. I already have heard so many great things about it that I'll do it. If I didn't have a program to type things into, I would only keep one basic journal that keeps track of how each of our days went. Menu's are preplanned so instead of rewriting each menu every day, I would just give the day's meal a short code like 1.A for week one Monday and 2.D for week two and Thursday. Get what I mean? I'd obviously have how the day went in general and write any new accomplishments for the kids. This would be for parents to view just keeping mind that I wouldn't state anything bad about the kids. If an accident happened that day, I would simply put "Biting occurred between two children" and then go to the accident report forms in another location to find the two sheets (one for the biting child and one for the child who was bitten).

The main thing to remember is to make sure you have a written record of events that would draw a concern. You also should keep up to date and write them down when they happen and inform parents that day. No one wants to hear their child was bit yesterday! LOL, so make sure you are prepared to fill it out same day and let parents know. You also should have them sign it so it's proof they're aware of the incidents their child was involved in or did.
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BentleysBands 09:24 AM 01-19-2011
I do a daily sheet each day but as for a log no. The only logging I do is bad behavior, accident report or a parent problem.
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E Daycare 09:40 AM 01-19-2011
Yeah I do the daily logs too but I mean a notebook. For your use just incase something happens and you need to go back and defend yourself or bring up issues.

For instance Im keeping logs of when they are late coming in or dropping off payments or if I notice a odor or bruises. I had to keep detailed logs of conversations I had with Clients in health care and Im now doing so with parents and I copy all the texts I have with them too that says one thing but something else actually happens.

Every day my dck go home with infant/toddler logs that the parents may or may not read. As you are all aware Im sure. LOL
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E Daycare 09:42 AM 01-19-2011
Originally Posted by My4SunshineGirlsNY:
Here in NY we have to keep a written log for each child. I keep a notebook in each childs' personal file bin. And yes, it is to save our butt just in case. I have been bad at logging info in them but I am making an effort remember because my 2 year old daycare boy hurts other kids....so if I log that in, I have all the incidences on record.

It is a very good idea to keep this up because it can help you just incase a parent wants to accuse you of something.
Yup I believe so too! I hope I never have to use it but with other people, no matter how good the relationship is, you just never know.
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Abigail 09:48 AM 01-19-2011
Originally Posted by E Daycare:
I copy all the texts I have with them too that says one thing but something else actually happens.
How do you copy text messages? I lock mine if they're important so they don't get deleted until I'm ready to delete, but if my phone gets water damage, ie, then I'm screwed either way.
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E Daycare 09:53 AM 01-19-2011
Originally Posted by Abigail:
How do you copy text messages? I lock mine if they're important so they don't get deleted until I'm ready to delete, but if my phone gets water damage, ie, then I'm screwed either way.
I literally just write them down verbatim with the time the text was received and what was said in response or if a phone call came of it. I know if worse comes to worse my husband can borrow a piece of forensic equipment from work that will allow me to download and save all my text messages but I hope it doesnt ever have to come to this.
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lvt77 10:07 AM 01-19-2011
try minute menu kids...they have a great report builder to help track daily progress, accidents, just about anything you want to type up. It also allows you to build individual reports for each child. I use it, but mostly when reporting accidents, behavior, illness and etc.
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E Daycare 10:14 AM 01-19-2011
Originally Posted by lvt77:
try minute menu kids...they have a great report builder to help track daily progress, accidents, just about anything you want to type up. It also allows you to build individual reports for each child. I use it, but mostly when reporting accidents, behavior, illness and etc.
Cool, just signed up for the free trial. Thanks for the idea!
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Danielle 11:00 AM 01-19-2011
Originally Posted by Abigail:
How do you copy text messages? I lock mine if they're important so they don't get deleted until I'm ready to delete, but if my phone gets water damage, ie, then I'm screwed either way.
I had a problem parent last year and started to record texts and voice mails. I took pictures of the texts on my phone and used my video camera to take a short video of my phone playing the voice mail on speaker phone. Then I saved both on my phone. I only start taking notes when things start going bad. This parent was threatening and harassing me...thankfully I haven't heard from him since Aug.
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E Daycare 11:02 AM 01-19-2011
Originally Posted by Danielle:
I took pictures of the texts on my phone.
I love that idea!
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lvt77 12:17 PM 01-19-2011
I added to my PHB a section on proper notification....
it basically says NO text messages will be accepted at any time, and that parent must speak directly to me to communicate through out the day.

Reason I did this was becuase I dont always have time to check my phone and parents were saying oh well I texted you telling you that I was going to be late or whatever reason......
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Michelle 12:22 PM 01-19-2011
Originally Posted by E Daycare:
Cool, just signed up for the free trial. Thanks for the idea!
oh, your welcome,
I love this program because we have to do the food program every night online and we input or tax stuff and daily reports for the parents all in one spot,
as hard as our job is, this makes life much easier.
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Danielle 12:24 PM 01-19-2011
Originally Posted by lvt77:
I added to my PHB a section on proper notification....
it basically says NO text messages will be accepted at any time, and that parent must speak directly to me to communicate through out the day.

Reason I did this was becuase I dont always have time to check my phone and parents were saying oh well I texted you telling you that I was going to be late or whatever reason......
See, I find it much easier and quicker to check texts than answer the phone when I have kids here.
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lvt77 12:32 PM 01-19-2011
Originally Posted by Danielle:
See, I find it much easier and quicker to check texts than answer the phone when I have kids here.
I guess its a preference....I had parents that just straight out would lie..."Oh well I sent you a text" and they never did....I love texting.... I am a texting *****...lol
But hate it with the DC.....
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nannyde 12:58 PM 01-19-2011
I don't keep any records on the kids except food program attendance and the required stuff in the file.

I don't give meds or do anything that requires documents.

I don't do assessments of the kids "progress".

My kids have files that are from birth to 4.5 years old and I have never put a single hand written anything in them.

I LOVE texting. I do 90 percent of parent contact via text now. Wooooot
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littlemonkeys 01:53 PM 01-19-2011
I fill out an "infant daily report" for all my dcb's under 12 months. As for all the dck's, I have a calendar on outlook that I started this year and I fill out a tab for each one of the dck's. I keep a log of all the important things that happen everyday. Sometimes it seems like I'm writing the same things over and over though.
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Blackcat31 04:42 PM 01-19-2011
Apparently Verizon allows you to forwarding your text messages to your e-mail so you can print the texts out.

I also googled the subject to see if it was possible for other cell providers and found this link I don't know if it is helpful or not but it is worth looking at for those that do a lot of texting with parents.


http://www.soundfeelings.com/free/sa...t_messages.htm
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MarinaVanessa 07:45 AM 01-20-2011
Originally Posted by Danielle:
I took pictures of the texts on my phone and used my video camera to take a short video of my phone playing the voice mail on speaker phone.
I had an issue with a DCM and so I got a googlevoice account. Basically it's like a phone service but it's free. It gives you your own phone number which I use as the telephone number for business and then just have the calls forwarded to my cell phone (or house number or whatever). I have to say it's awsome. You get a voicemail box that (if you have calls forwarded to your cell phone) gives you a brief transcription sent to you as a text when someone leaves you a voicemail. The transcription is not perfect obviously but it's nice to get a written text of the message before having to actually listen to it.

Also you can record the greeting and can have several of these assigned to certain numbers. For example my main greeting is for my business so anytime a random person or client calls it has the "Thank you for calling [daycare name] etc." but I also gave this number to my daughter's dad so that I could keep his texts and I assigned a special greeting that's just for him so he doesn't hear my business greeting.

What's super nice is the texting. When someone texts to this number it saves it online and you can make folders for each client and save them. If you have the calls forwarded to your cell phone the texts wil also go to your cell phone and you can text back and forth on the googlevoice number. This is nice for those that worry that texts won't count in court because they can be altered when printed etc. You can just log in to your account and show the court the original texts. You can also save the voicemails and when you look through them online you can see a piece of the transcription so it's easy to see which voicemail says what.

You can also screen calls and if you have clients or people that you don't want being able to call you anymore you can block them. It's super easy and like I said, it's free. I think you have to be invited by someone that already has an account so if anyone checks out the website and is interested let me know. I think I have 1 invitation left maybe 2 (You get 5 originally I think).
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misol 12:42 PM 01-20-2011
Originally Posted by MarinaVanessa:
I had an issue with a DCM and so I got a googlevoice account. Basically it's like a phone service but it's free. It gives you your own phone number which I use as the telephone number for business and then just have the calls forwarded to my cell phone (or house number or whatever). I have to say it's awsome. You get a voicemail box that (if you have calls forwarded to your cell phone) gives you a brief transcription sent to you as a text when someone leaves you a voicemail. The transcription is not perfect obviously but it's nice to get a written text of the message before having to actually listen to it.

Also you can record the greeting and can have several of these assigned to certain numbers. For example my main greeting is for my business so anytime a random person or client calls it has the "Thank you for calling [daycare name] etc." but I also gave this number to my daughter's dad so that I could keep his texts and I assigned a special greeting that's just for him so he doesn't hear my business greeting.

What's super nice is the texting. When someone texts to this number it saves it online and you can make folders for each client and save them. If you have the calls forwarded to your cell phone the texts wil also go to your cell phone and you can text back and forth on the googlevoice number. This is nice for those that worry that texts won't count in court because they can be altered when printed etc. You can just log in to your account and show the court the original texts. You can also save the voicemails and when you look through them online you can see a piece of the transcription so it's easy to see which voicemail says what.

You can also screen calls and if you have clients or people that you don't want being able to call you anymore you can block them. It's super easy and like I said, it's free. I think you have to be invited by someone that already has an account so if anyone checks out the website and is interested let me know. I think I have 1 invitation left maybe 2 (You get 5 originally I think).
WOW! All of this for free? Is it free for a limited time or forever free? I'm going to check it out.
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TGT09 01:50 PM 01-21-2011
For covering my own butt, I record all attendance and any issues with parent or child on that attendance sheet.
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littlemonkeys 07:42 AM 01-22-2011
Originally Posted by MarinaVanessa:
I had an issue with a DCM and so I got a googlevoice account. Basically it's like a phone service but it's free. It gives you your own phone number which I use as the telephone number for business and then just have the calls forwarded to my cell phone (or house number or whatever). I have to say it's awsome. You get a voicemail box that (if you have calls forwarded to your cell phone) gives you a brief transcription sent to you as a text when someone leaves you a voicemail. The transcription is not perfect obviously but it's nice to get a written text of the message before having to actually listen to it.

Also you can record the greeting and can have several of these assigned to certain numbers. For example my main greeting is for my business so anytime a random person or client calls it has the "Thank you for calling [daycare name] etc." but I also gave this number to my daughter's dad so that I could keep his texts and I assigned a special greeting that's just for him so he doesn't hear my business greeting.

What's super nice is the texting. When someone texts to this number it saves it online and you can make folders for each client and save them. If you have the calls forwarded to your cell phone the texts wil also go to your cell phone and you can text back and forth on the googlevoice number. This is nice for those that worry that texts won't count in court because they can be altered when printed etc. You can just log in to your account and show the court the original texts. You can also save the voicemails and when you look through them online you can see a piece of the transcription so it's easy to see which voicemail says what.

You can also screen calls and if you have clients or people that you don't want being able to call you anymore you can block them. It's super easy and like I said, it's free. I think you have to be invited by someone that already has an account so if anyone checks out the website and is interested let me know. I think I have 1 invitation left maybe 2 (You get 5 originally I think).
I tried signing up for a googlevoice number today and they said they didn't have any available in my area.
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lvt77 09:02 AM 01-22-2011
Originally Posted by Abigail:
Wow, Minute Menu has a lot to offer. Bites that I don't know anyone locally who uses it so I could tinker around with it. I already have heard so many great things about it that I'll do it. If I didn't have a program to type things into, I would only keep one basic journal that keeps track of how each of our days went. Menu's are preplanned so instead of rewriting each menu every day, I would just give the day's meal a short code like 1.A for week one Monday and 2.D for week two and Thursday. Get what I mean? I'd obviously have how the day went in general and write any new accomplishments for the kids. This would be for parents to view just keeping mind that I wouldn't state anything bad about the kids. If an accident happened that day, I would simply put "Biting occurred between two children" and then go to the accident report forms in another location to find the two sheets (one for the biting child and one for the child who was bitten).

The main thing to remember is to make sure you have a written record of events that would draw a concern. You also should keep up to date and write them down when they happen and inform parents that day. No one wants to hear their child was bit yesterday! LOL, so make sure you are prepared to fill it out same day and let parents know. You also should have them sign it so it's proof they're aware of the incidents their child was involved in or did.
you can get a 30 free trial, but it is limlited with what you can do using the limited version..
I love MMK, so far worth every penny..
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VanessaEO 10:54 AM 01-22-2011
Originally Posted by lvt77:
you can get a 30 free trial, but it is limlited with what you can do using the limited version..
I love MMK, so far worth every penny..
I agree 1000%. I love love love love LOVE MMK.
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Tags:child logs, daily reports, logs
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