Daycare.com Forum
Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Want to Have a Pen Pal Program??
Lucy 11:44 AM 11-06-2013
I was reading the Christmas card exchange thread, and thought it would be nice to have a penpal program where we match up kids from your daycare with similar kids in another daycare, and they can send (to your address) a picture of themselves, draw pictures for each other, write short notes, etc. It would be great for the K and 1st graders especially, as they are learning to read and write, but would also be good practice for the ones a little older than this. And for that matter, the pre-schoolers could still draw pictures and write their names! If they're old enough, they could talk about what it's like in the state where they live.
I know for my kids, the 4th graders and above might think it was silly, but 3rd and below would like it I think. We could say age 3 or 4 to age 8 or 9?? We could give a brief profile of each kid - name, age, grade, gender, interests - and then match them up with a similar kid from another daycare. We'd have to get parent approval I would think ?
The profiles would have to be by PM so that they're not online. We could also do a whole DC swap if we had 2 dc's with similar kids. Or your kids could do the letters and pictures as a group and send them to another DC's whole group, and vice-versa.
Thoughts? Different ideas that might work? I'm kind of excited to do this if we have enough interest!
I know for my kids, the 4th graders and above might think it was silly, but 3rd and below would like it I think. We could say age 3 or 4 to age 8 or 9?? We could give a brief profile of each kid - name, age, grade, gender, interests - and then match them up with a similar kid from another daycare. We'd have to get parent approval I would think ?
The profiles would have to be by PM so that they're not online. We could also do a whole DC swap if we had 2 dc's with similar kids. Or your kids could do the letters and pictures as a group and send them to another DC's whole group, and vice-versa.
Thoughts? Different ideas that might work? I'm kind of excited to do this if we have enough interest!
Blackcat31 11:47 AM 11-06-2013
Cool idea Lucy!
A great way for some of the older kids to hone their reading, writing and communication skills.
I'd be interested in participating!
A great way for some of the older kids to hone their reading, writing and communication skills.
I'd be interested in participating!
Cradle2crayons 11:54 AM 11-06-2013
Me too!!
melilley 11:58 AM 11-06-2013
I love this idea! I'll have to join in when my kids get older!
My cousin had a pen pal from a different state (when she was younger) and years later they actually met!
My cousin had a pen pal from a different state (when she was younger) and years later they actually met!
Blackcat31 11:59 AM 11-06-2013
Originally Posted by melilley:
I love this idea! I'll have to join in when my kids get older!
My cousin had a pen pal from a different state (when she was younger) and years later they actually met!
I still have my pen pal from 4th grade. We did meet a couple times in real life and exchange Christmas cards and family photos every year. I love this idea! I'll have to join in when my kids get older!
My cousin had a pen pal from a different state (when she was younger) and years later they actually met!
That may not seem like such a long time but it was 1979 when I was in 4th grade.
Neekie 12:06 PM 11-06-2013
Oh, this would be so much fun for me and the kids. I would definitely be interested. Count me in.
Lucy 12:16 PM 11-06-2013
Ok, so now let's start talking about the logistics.
One kid/One kid exchange? Whole DC exchange?
Profiles and addresses PM'd to one forum member and they assign exchanges? Post anonymous profiles in a special thread and then handpick who you want your dck to write to, and PM that forum member for their address?
Letters go out whenever you have time? Letters go out once a quarter or month?
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
One kid/One kid exchange? Whole DC exchange?
Profiles and addresses PM'd to one forum member and they assign exchanges? Post anonymous profiles in a special thread and then handpick who you want your dck to write to, and PM that forum member for their address?
Letters go out whenever you have time? Letters go out once a quarter or month?
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
Lucy 12:17 PM 11-06-2013
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
I still have my pen pal from 4th grade. We did meet a couple times in real life and exchange Christmas cards and family photos every year.
That may not seem like such a long time but it was 1979 when I was in 4th grade.
Um... 4th grade would've been 1972 for me! I still have my pen pal from 4th grade. We did meet a couple times in real life and exchange Christmas cards and family photos every year.
That may not seem like such a long time but it was 1979 when I was in 4th grade.
Blackcat31 12:20 PM 11-06-2013
Originally Posted by Lucy:
Ok, so now let's start talking about the logistics.
One kid/One kid exchange? Whole DC exchange?
Profiles and addresses PM'd to one forum member and they assign exchanges? Post anonymous profiles in a special thread and then handpick who you want your dck to write to, and PM that forum member for their address?
Letters go out whenever you have time? Letters go out once a quarter or month?
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
I think we should do whole daycare exchanges..... Ok, so now let's start talking about the logistics.
One kid/One kid exchange? Whole DC exchange?
Profiles and addresses PM'd to one forum member and they assign exchanges? Post anonymous profiles in a special thread and then handpick who you want your dck to write to, and PM that forum member for their address?
Letters go out whenever you have time? Letters go out once a quarter or month?
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
Each daycare matched with another daycare that has similar aged kids.
If you want, I will volunteer to collect personal mailing info and assign matches to each other.....(as a moderator, I already know everyone's registration info...kwim?)
I think if we get matched with another daycare that has older kids, we can help them maybe form some one on one relationships with the older kids in our "matched" daycare.
I don't know....just bouncing some ideas around.....
Sometimes, similarities make things easy but differences make things fun and a great learning experience too.
Neekie 12:22 PM 11-06-2013
I like the idea of a whole day care exchange. And I think once a month or so would be nice and maybe do something special on holidays like exchange home-made valentines on Valentine's Day or something. And I think it would be fun to try to match day cares from completely different areas in the states like Minnesota with Florida or day cares from two different countries.
Lucy 12:30 PM 11-06-2013
I like the whole DC idea too now that I think about it. It would actually get my older ones more interested if we just received one big package with lots of letters and pictures, and all of us could read all of them.
So let's start a new thread - it could be a sticky - and we can do ANONYMOUS profiles of our kids' ages, genders, interests, etc., then Blackcat can PM us who we are matched with, and what their home address is.
Whaddya think???
So let's start a new thread - it could be a sticky - and we can do ANONYMOUS profiles of our kids' ages, genders, interests, etc., then Blackcat can PM us who we are matched with, and what their home address is.
Whaddya think???
Blackcat31 12:35 PM 11-06-2013
Originally Posted by Lucy:
I like the whole DC idea too now that I think about it. It would actually get my older ones more interested if we just received one big package with lots of letters and pictures, and all of us could read all of them.
So let's start a new thread - it could be a sticky - and we can do ANONYMOUS profiles of our kids' ages, genders, interests, etc., then Blackcat can PM us who we are matched with, and what their home address is.
Whaddya think???
How about if anyone is interested, they PM me their info I like the whole DC idea too now that I think about it. It would actually get my older ones more interested if we just received one big package with lots of letters and pictures, and all of us could read all of them.
So let's start a new thread - it could be a sticky - and we can do ANONYMOUS profiles of our kids' ages, genders, interests, etc., then Blackcat can PM us who we are matched with, and what their home address is.
Whaddya think???
name
address
number of kids
ages/genders of kids
by a specific date. I will then take the profiles and make matches and then notify each provider who their pen pal daycare is?
I think it sounds easier than posting all that anonymously...
I will start a thread stating this and give a deadline to have submitted the info. What date should we give? What month should we start with for the first contact/intro letters?
Neekie 12:35 PM 11-06-2013
My day care kids were pen pals with my friends day care kids a couple of years ago or so. I am in Wisconsin and she is in North Carolina. Our kids used to draw pictures for each other and write letters and send them in the mail and e-mail pictures of themselves and their day cares. They talked to each other on messenger (Skype) and even talked to each other on the phone. One day as my friend's kids were getting ready for circle time, they asked if those kids from Wisconsin were going to be coming over to join them in circle time. LOL
My friends kids enjoyed looking at pictures of frozen lakes. They were so surprised to hear that there are little houses sitting out in the middle of lakes and that we sit in them and fish through a little hole in the ice. They were also surprised that we plow the snow on the lakes and make ice roads to drive our trucks on. When they saw pictures of the ice roads they thought it would be nice to roller blade on them. LOL
My friends kids enjoyed looking at pictures of frozen lakes. They were so surprised to hear that there are little houses sitting out in the middle of lakes and that we sit in them and fish through a little hole in the ice. They were also surprised that we plow the snow on the lakes and make ice roads to drive our trucks on. When they saw pictures of the ice roads they thought it would be nice to roller blade on them. LOL
Neekie 12:39 PM 11-06-2013
I think it would be nice to start in January and start fresh with the new year. And Christmas is always so busy anyway, it would be nice to get past that holiday season first I think.
Michelle 12:40 PM 11-06-2013
I think this is an awesome idea
I think the kids here would love it
I think the kids here would love it
TheGoodLife 01:29 PM 11-06-2013
Originally Posted by Lucy:
I was reading the Christmas card exchange thread, and thought it would be nice to have a penpal program where we match up kids from your daycare with similar kids in another daycare, and they can send (to your address) a picture of themselves, draw pictures for each other, write short notes, etc. It would be great for the K and 1st graders especially, as they are learning to read and write, but would also be good practice for the ones a little older than this. And for that matter, the pre-schoolers could still draw pictures and write their names! If they're old enough, they could talk about what it's like in the state where they live.
I know for my kids, the 4th graders and above might think it was silly, but 3rd and below would like it I think. We could say age 3 or 4 to age 8 or 9?? We could give a brief profile of each kid - name, age, grade, gender, interests - and then match them up with a similar kid from another daycare. We'd have to get parent approval I would think ?
The profiles would have to be by PM so that they're not online. We could also do a whole DC swap if we had 2 dc's with similar kids. Or your kids could do the letters and pictures as a group and send them to another DC's whole group, and vice-versa.
Thoughts? Different ideas that might work? I'm kind of excited to do this if we have enough interest!
I would love to participate! I have all youngers, aged 8 months to 4 years- 6 kids total including mine if/when I fill my last spot I was reading the Christmas card exchange thread, and thought it would be nice to have a penpal program where we match up kids from your daycare with similar kids in another daycare, and they can send (to your address) a picture of themselves, draw pictures for each other, write short notes, etc. It would be great for the K and 1st graders especially, as they are learning to read and write, but would also be good practice for the ones a little older than this. And for that matter, the pre-schoolers could still draw pictures and write their names! If they're old enough, they could talk about what it's like in the state where they live.
I know for my kids, the 4th graders and above might think it was silly, but 3rd and below would like it I think. We could say age 3 or 4 to age 8 or 9?? We could give a brief profile of each kid - name, age, grade, gender, interests - and then match them up with a similar kid from another daycare. We'd have to get parent approval I would think ?
The profiles would have to be by PM so that they're not online. We could also do a whole DC swap if we had 2 dc's with similar kids. Or your kids could do the letters and pictures as a group and send them to another DC's whole group, and vice-versa.
Thoughts? Different ideas that might work? I'm kind of excited to do this if we have enough interest!
Lucy 01:42 PM 11-06-2013
Ok... let's all PM Blackcat with our info. I agree we could start fresh with January. I'm excited though!! If I get our match-up's info before that, I might be tempted to send an introductory letter right away!
Thanks for taking over the reins, blackcat! Since I brought up the idea, I was going to do it. But if you'd like to, that would be great!
PM coming soon!
Thanks for taking over the reins, blackcat! Since I brought up the idea, I was going to do it. But if you'd like to, that would be great!
PM coming soon!
Maria2013 01:49 PM 11-06-2013
Great idea! I'm in too but I'll have to ask the parents permission first and the oldest in my group is 3yrs old other than a few random letters and numbers he can only draw and sign his drawings 
I'm in too but I'll have to ask the parents permission first and the oldest in my group is 3yrs old other than a few random letters and numbers he can only draw and sign his drawings
Lucy 01:56 PM 11-06-2013
Another thought, blackcat... let's make sure these are established, trusted members since this involves giving out our home addresses.
Blackcat31 02:04 PM 11-06-2013
Originally Posted by Lucy:
Another thought, blackcat... let's make sure these are established, trusted members since this involves giving out our home addresses.
Another thought, blackcat... let's make sure these are established, trusted members since this involves giving out our home addresses.
great point!
TheGoodLife 02:06 PM 11-06-2013
Originally Posted by Lucy:
Another thought, blackcat... let's make sure these are established, trusted members since this involves giving out our home addresses.
Another thought, blackcat... let's make sure these are established, trusted members since this involves giving out our home addresses.
Tdhmom 07:18 PM 11-06-2013
I love this idea! I have 3 preschoolers that can write their names...and a bunch of random letters and then tell me what it says lol but my ds is in 1st so he would be able to write an actual letter to someone and would really enjoy it! Great idea!!!
Lucy 09:57 PM 11-06-2013
Oh goodie!! I'm so excited that we're going to actually do this! I hope I'm able to be matched though. Most of you have youngers. I have K thru 5th.
Maybe if there's a provider who wants to be matched with one provider for their youngers, and me for their SA'ers, I'd be up for that. Blackcat will do a great job of matching us, I'm sure!
Maybe if there's a provider who wants to be matched with one provider for their youngers, and me for their SA'ers, I'd be up for that. Blackcat will do a great job of matching us, I'm sure!
MarinaVanessa 10:13 AM 11-07-2013
Aww it sounds so awesome but most of my kiddos are under three. I have one DCB that is 4 and my own DD that will be 9 thext month 
. I would have loved to participate (I take kids from birth - 5yo only).
. I would have loved to participate (I take kids from birth - 5yo only).
Blackcat31 10:17 AM 11-07-2013
Originally Posted by MarinaVanessa:
Aww it sounds so awesome but most of my kiddos are under three. I have one DCB that is 4 and my own DD that will be 9 thext month. I would have loved to participate (I take kids from birth - 5yo only).
You can still participate. Why not you be the writer of the letters and ask the kids each time what they want to say or simply correspond back and forth with whoever you are paired with?Aww it sounds so awesome but most of my kiddos are under three. I have one DCB that is 4 and my own DD that will be 9 thext month
. I would have loved to participate (I take kids from birth - 5yo only).I think just corresponding back and forth with another daycare would be super fun!
I am going to try and match providers up according to the ages of their kids but still try to match everyone with opposites such as areas of the country/Canada sothat it can be a learning experience for everyone...including the provider.
MarinaVanessa 10:21 AM 11-07-2013
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
You can still participate. Why not you be the writer of the letters and ask the kids each time what they want to say or simply correspond back and forth with whoever you are paired with?
I think just corresponding back and forth with another daycare would be super fun!
I am going to try and match providers up according to the ages of their kids but still try to match everyone with opposites such as areas of the country/Canada sothat it can be a learning experience for everyone...including the provider.
Oh okay!! Then I'm in!! Do I pm you the ages of my other littles??You can still participate. Why not you be the writer of the letters and ask the kids each time what they want to say or simply correspond back and forth with whoever you are paired with?
I think just corresponding back and forth with another daycare would be super fun!
I am going to try and match providers up according to the ages of their kids but still try to match everyone with opposites such as areas of the country/Canada sothat it can be a learning experience for everyone...including the provider.
Blackcat31 10:25 AM 11-07-2013
Originally Posted by MarinaVanessa:
Oh okay!! Then I'm in!! Do I pm you the ages of my other littles??
Yep, PM me the ages of your kids, your name and address. Oh okay!! Then I'm in!! Do I pm you the ages of my other littles??
I will collect the info and make the matches by the first of December. We'll start corresponding in Jan.
I will start a thread today about it....I just got busy so I haven't had a chance yet but I will do it today
Sugar Magnolia 10:59 AM 11-07-2013
I need an adult pen pal program for me! I love my hubby and business partner, but sick of only talking to him!
Good idea though Lucy!
I love my hubby and business partner, but sick of only talking to him!Good idea though Lucy!
Blackcat31 11:06 AM 11-07-2013
Originally Posted by Sugar Magnolia:
I need an adult pen pal program for me! I love my hubby and business partner, but sick of only talking to him!
Good idea though Lucy!
Participate! Like I said to MV, if the kiddos are all too small to write themselves, the provider can do it. I need an adult pen pal program for me!
I love my hubby and business partner, but sick of only talking to him!Good idea though Lucy!
It would be super fun just to correspond back and forth with monthly news/updates and fluffy talk with another daycare! Fun way to make connections and be a bit more personal!
Consider joining in.....
MarinaVanessa 12:50 PM 11-07-2013
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
Participate! Like I said to MV, if the kiddos are all too small to write themselves, the provider can do it.
It would be super fun just to correspond back and forth with monthly news/updates and fluffy talk with another daycare! Fun way to make connections and be a bit more personal!
Consider joining in.....
I think she means like provider pen pals! I like that idea too Participate! Like I said to MV, if the kiddos are all too small to write themselves, the provider can do it.
It would be super fun just to correspond back and forth with monthly news/updates and fluffy talk with another daycare! Fun way to make connections and be a bit more personal!
Consider joining in.....
. Like we have to pen pal each other too, not just the kids!!
Great Beginnings 01:08 PM 11-07-2013
Originally Posted by Lucy:
Another thought, blackcat... let's make sure these are established, trusted members since this involves giving out our home addresses.
Good idea. I haven't been a member long but I was hesitant to sign up because I wasn't sure about my address info being out there. So sad to say but there are sickos out there that would join just to get info Another thought, blackcat... let's make sure these are established, trusted members since this involves giving out our home addresses.
Blackcat31 01:14 PM 11-07-2013
Originally Posted by Great Beginnings:
Good idea. I haven't been a member long but I was hesitant to sign up because I wasn't sure about my address info being out there. So sad to say but there are sickos out there that would join just to get info
Your info is safe with me, Good idea. I haven't been a member long but I was hesitant to sign up because I wasn't sure about my address info being out there. So sad to say but there are sickos out there that would join just to get info
https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=66562
Neekie 06:14 AM 11-08-2013
Originally Posted by Great Beginnings:
Good idea. I haven't been a member long but I was hesitant to sign up because I wasn't sure about my address info being out there. So sad to say but there are sickos out there that would join just to get info
Here in Wisconsin our addresses are online anyway and are available to the public if we are regulated. Everything about us is put online by the state. Some sites even show pictures of our day cares and have a map showing people how to get here.Good idea. I haven't been a member long but I was hesitant to sign up because I wasn't sure about my address info being out there. So sad to say but there are sickos out there that would join just to get info