I was just wondering how many of you guys have a daycare Facebook page. If you have one, how often do you post pictures/information and what type of information do you post? Also, do parents/people fuss about you spending time on Facebook rather than watching/tending to the children?

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I have one. I post on average 3 times per week regarding an activity or art project we have done.

I only post during nap time or after hours. A parent has never fussed about me posting during nap (at least not to my face ) Personally, since this is strictly DC related, done for the benefit of the parents and only during nap - I may have to tell a parent to kick rocks if they had a problem with it.

I also want to add that my page does not show any private info. No faces, names, etc.

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I have one, I post every couple of days. Any information I want sent out I post, like holiday reminders, etc. I also post pictures a couple times a week because I take a lot of photos. It's a hobby for me so I always have a camera on me and am constantly taking photos.

I do post pictures with faces but only after parents have given me direct approval. I use first initials in the photos "b is reading a book to Z"
No one has fused yet, but I try to stay off of it during the day unless it's a quick upload from my phone, which I can do without even signing into Facebook by just pressing the " upload to Facebook" button otherwise I post after everyone leaves, during nap time, or in the early mornings when my toddlers are still asleep.

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I have one and haven't posted at all. I never use it. I use a private blog on my website instead and post pics and info there. 3 times a week, more if needed, during naps or after hours.

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I have a closed Facebook group for parents. I post pics daily. On a typical day, I try to post during naps and at the end of the day, but sometimes something is too cute to wait for. When a new child comes, especially babies, I post several times a day. Parents love it and like pp said, have never said anything to my face if they didn't.

I think I am the odd man out because I do check online throughout the day, like when kids are actively, happily playing. I am still there, but I don't PLAY with the kids all the time. That's their job. Mine is to keep them safe, taken care of and loved (almost) like my own. Parents seem to get that.

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I do but NEVER ever post pictures of daycare kids.

I have permission but do not trust the internet. I know people believe it's 100% secure but it's not. I know for a fact it's not.

I do have a website that has a password protected area for parents that I use to post pictures and although that is not 100% secure either, it's a bit safer since my daycare is not nearly as searchable as Facebook is. kwim?

I also remove the pictures after they've been up long enough that I feel parents have had an opportunity to view them.

I use my Facebook more as a way to see what's going on in my DCF's lives and to post and contribute to some provider groups I belong to there as well.

GREAT way to network with other providers!

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I started looking for and checking out some local daycare providers' Facebook pages. It seems like all of them post pictures of the kids, the kids' names on their coloring pages, some even post the child's name with their picture, and post upcoming events, days closed, etc.

Another thing I learned by checking out their pages is that all of the providers seem to lose kids about every one to two months. Even the 'best' daycare provider in my area seems to go through new kids every month and a half! The same thing has been happening with me too. I've been saying it's not me, it's the parents. Now I finally see proof of that! The parents pull their children out mainly because they can't afford daycare. The mother often decides to stay home instead of work or a family member starts watching the child for free. I'm glad to see through the others' Facebook pages that it's not just me!

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I had a private blog for 3 years, I used it daily. 2 families loved it and no one else ever looked at it...EVER! lol

I just started my FB page 2 months ago. I have gotten a great response and I have heard from several interested families due to it. One family left a daycare they were happy with for me because they liked the thought of knowing more about their child's day than just a note. I DO post pictures of kids and faces and names. I do this with written parent permission. My thought is - most parents are posting way more pics of their children and lots of the times it is not flattering or respectful to the child (potty training, naked yard play, sick kid, naughty joke shame post ect.) I post about them learning and playing in a flattering light. If a parent doesn't want their child on the page that is fine, but all my families have loved it. My educator friends share many of my activities. Relatives of the kids love seeing the pics and our adventures.

I post during nap. I sometimes use the "post later" feature so if it is something I am hoping more people will see, I schedule it to post first thing in the morning the next day or at the beginning of lunch (11ish) when lots of people sign on.

That's my 2 cents.

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I don't have any friends - literally. I only talk to my daycare helper. And that's only when I need to schedule her to come to work. And I only have one daycare kid right now who's mother doesn't have a Facebook page.

On my current daycare Facebook page, I'm friends with 5 people whom I've never met. One is an ex daycare lady in my area, one is currently a daycare provider in my area, and 3 are people with kids that requested me to be their Facebook friend a while ago. But I've never met any of these people and don't communicate with them on Facebook. I don't know if it makes sense to continue being 'friends' with them on Facebook or not.

Also, since I don't have any friends in the real world, and my daycare mom doesn't have a Facebook page, how would I get people to look at my page to use it for advertising?

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I just looked at the Facebook pages of the two daycare lady's that I'm friends with to try to remember which one used to do daycare, just out of curiosity. And saw that both of them have quit home daycare. The one is now a director of a center.

Anyway. So, I don't know how to get people to see my Facebook page. I guess I could put the address in my ads. Didn't think of that!

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You are in a tough spot to make FB work initially then. Hmmm...I would definitely add the link/address to your site on your ads. A website not on FB might work better for you. You can also pay to promote your FB page if you are looking to fill spots or needing advertising. Its not crazy expensive. If you were in UT I would take you out for coffee and "friend" you

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Controlled Chaos,

lol. Thank you.

I do have a website and I put it's address on my ads. But after looking at some of the local daycare providers' Facebook pages, I think I should use Facebook and start making posts every couple of days about what we're doing at my daycare. It keeps people more up to date with the activities than the website would.

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I also think I need to get out and about more which would allow me to spread the word about my daycare. I got used to having to be available for my personal children so much that I never got a life of my own. I attend church on a slim occasion, and everyone there knows me, but I wouldn't call them my 'friends'. I'd call them 'the lady at church'. The problem with going out and about to meet people so I can try to build up clients is that it costs money to go out. And everyone on this forum knows how broke I am. A couple of women at church invited me out to lunch once and I forced myself to go so I could socialize with them. But I spent my last penny buying lunch to fit in with them all going out to lunch!

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I have one but I only post the kids hands in playdoh or playing in the water table or cutting.etc. I also do not trust the internet.

I'll post meals and snacks. I'll post pictures of their art work or block creations, etc.. It's part advertising too.

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We have a facebook page. All the parents signed a waiver for photos, so we post pictures, but we don't post names.
I've never heard any fussing about it, there are two of us so one of us will post a picture, probably several times/week whenever we have a second.
We got our first 'likes' from some people here, and some friends of ours once we linked our own facebook pages with the business page. Then once we started posting pictures of kids, all the family of the kids liked our pages too, as well as the parents. And people on our wait list.
We also put it on our website and advertising.

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I have a private FB page and the parents give consent to post pics. They themselves post pics of their kids on FB so they really don't care obviously. I like it as a way to post pics, post daily menus and activities as well as share interesting articles and workshops.

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I have a Facebook page I use for advertising and I don't update that as much, usually only a couple of times a month but I need to get better at it especially with posting our activities. I do sometimes post faces and names but only after given written permission. I've onky had one parent not give permission and oddly enough that parents entire Facebook account is public with pictures of her children, their names and even their birth dates as the titles to the albums with their first baby pictures. I've gotten a lot of interviews because of that page and a lot of good clients. It's also easy for my friends to share when I have openings.
I also also have a private Facebook group that is just for current and former clients and I post to that almost every day. On that page I post closed dates, curriculum, special information, tons of photos etc. Parents always love it and look at it as a bonus to my program and love the idea to be able to "share" their child's day with them. I like it because when I post something it lists who "saw" the post so when I post a day I'm closed I can see if one parent didn't read it and so I can remind them in person or if someone says they didn't know something I can see if they saw the post on Facebook. I often use it to post policy reminders (illness, potty training etc.) and have seen a lot less people trying to break these policies in return.

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I also have a private page, all parents have a signed consent form on file. I have one parent that checks it religiously and is great about "liking" everything and writing great comments. My family is on the page, too- they enjoy seeing pics of the grand kids. I can tell who has seen my posts, but only a few ever "comment". They all remark that they love being able to see what their kids are up to during the day- but I do wish some would comment more. I also tend to post at naptime, but sometimes I post as the craft or activity is happening. I think most people are glued to their phones, so I don't think anyone minds that I get on mine to put up pics of their kids so they can see.

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I started a facebook business page, inspired by others here, for advertising purposes. I don't do facebook personally. There are no "friends" for a business page; anyone can see it.

I post most working days, during nap. I do use photos of the kids, but not of their faces (except my daughter, because other relatives have put her picture all over the internet anyway). (Well, I've gotten a bit sloppier about that, since most of the parents post them freely. I use some with blurred faces, or partially-obscured faces.) I use first initials and ages, no names. My goal in posting is to show a range of things we do for prospective families. I document our days in other ways (email, blog) for enrolled families. But of course, they peek at my facebook page, too, and their "likes" get my program out there.

It's amazing how much one person's "like" can get something seen. I have only 80 page likes, but a post I put up today was viewed by 243 people (a big jump in numbers, as far as I can tell due to a new person--a parent recommended to my program by a current family--"liking" the post).

I'm actively seeking older kids right now--hoping to add some homeschooled kids to my group. So I try to post pics of stuff the older kids do more often than little-kid stuff. I also seek out pages of other businesses/organizations that would appeal to local homeschoolers, and visit them every so often. If I see something interesting there, I make sure to click "like." That puts my program's name on their page. It feels creepy being so deliberate about using it for marketing, but I try to be real about it ("liking" only stuff I actually like) and remember that facebook is the networking tool my prospective families use, so I need to be there.

You may see my page if you're interested, here.

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Okay, I put a picture of my daycare child showing his snowman craft he did today on my daycare Facebook page. I'll try putting pictures and information about our activities on Facebook for a little while and see what I think about it.

It kind of just seems like I just added 4 more jobs to my already busy day, though. Photographing the child and craft, uploading it from my camera to the computer, uploading it then to my Facebook, and trying to think a cute saying to write with the picture. But, as a business owner, I am used to and know that I have to market my company. So I am going to give this a try for a little while and see if it helps me get new clients.

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Nothingwithoutjoy,

I like your Facebook page. You do show a variety of activities. That's what I plan to do. The problem is that I only have one child right now, which will be obvious in the pictures! I like your idea of liking other companies to get your name out there. I might just try that.

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Thanks!

Your one child is a cutie!!

You could take advantage of your time with only one to post a whole bunch of stuff that doesn't include him, and then it won't be so obvious. Some ideas:
a favorite book you're reading this week (can use a photo, or link from Amazon)
a great new toy you just got
the tempting way you set out materials today
a newly-organized shelf or other area
a beautiful meal you made for "all" your kids
a cozy nook for reading or sleeping or... whatever looks most appealing (could even say something like "just waiting for your child...")

Good luck expanding your network!

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Or even just pictures of your one LOs hands doing things, so it isn't as obvious. I think those are all great ideas above. I sometimes share new parenting articles from the huffington post or cnn.com that I think parents would enjoy. Just to mix it up a bit

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I do have a Facebook page, I don't post on it regularly maybe once every other week or so. The parents love it and I post on it when I have a sec mostly at nap time or after work. sometimes if I can get everyone served at lunch I post a quick thing. Its mostly pictures. (I never post the kids names)
Deb

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Yeah, he's a cute little boy. He's 17 months old.

Thank you all for your suggestions. You gave me a lot of ideas on things to post that won't show a picture of just the same one child over and over. I'm going to work on getting more pictures on my Facebook page soon.

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Okay, I put up a few pictures today. Now I just need to get people see my page.

Thank you all for your help.

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My Facebook page is coming along. I even posted videos of my kids (older videos of when I had more than one child!) doing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, and of them playing. I put up older pics of my previous children doing some preschool activities as well as during free play time. The videos and pictures are of previous children, but they do show the type of activities we do here.

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Nothingwithout joy you page is great. I grew up in Westfield and love the Florence area. I used to loving spending days at Look Park and now my daughter loves going there when we visit my parents. If we still lived in the area my daughter would be at your childcare.

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Good for you! I hope it works for you.

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Thank you so much! :-)

We're about a mile from Look Park; the kids and I walk there sometimes.

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Nothingwithoutjoy,

Thank you.

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