Default Style Register
Daycare.com Forum
Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Daily Report....Question
daycare 12:50 PM 06-13-2013
So I used to do daily reports way back in the day. I have not done them in years.

One of the reasons that I stopped, was because of how time consuming they were.

My question to those of you who do them is:

Do you find yourself constantly having to explain the daily reports to parents when you have written on their report something about bad behavior?

What exactly do you put in these reports, besides eating, toileting and so on? Also do you have a cut off age for doing them?

I am thinking about going back to doing them again. Wondering if I were to just send it home that it would become a normal routine on reporting behavior (good and bad) and wonder will the parents even read them????
Reply
cheerfuldom 01:02 PM 06-13-2013
Why are you going back to reports???

I hate them. I won't do them again EXCEPT for the first few weeks of an infants stay in my care and thats if I was to take an infant again some day.

either the parents:
1. never read them and threw them away or left them in the diaper bag till I did
2. used them to review what I was doing.....keeping things to later point out any small mistakes or discrepancies or worse, accuse me of something
3. the very few parents that actually were helped by them and even then, that was just during the transition to care. after a couple weeks, its the same thing every day. plus parents of older kids don't need to have detailed every wet diaper or bowel movement.
Reply
Unregistered 01:07 PM 06-13-2013
As a parent with a 3 yr son in daycare, I appreciate the daily reports from my provider. They are simple on a index card, but they give the basics of food, activities (like outside time or walks), toileting and (the big one) nap duration. I read my card and know what kid I am going to have for the evening.

It is also a great peek inside the life that I miss. I can use little notes from his provider about their activities to open conversations with a 3 year old about their day. Otherwise you ask a 3 yr old what they did and they say "nothing" or "watch TV" which I know is not an all day event.

I will admit my provider and I did have a talk a while ago about reducing the amount of afternoon sugary snacks, but the open dialogue is appreciated.
Reply
daycare 01:18 PM 06-13-2013
I am very good at open communication, sometimes maybe too much.

I think that it would hinder my TOO much.

I Have a few parents that I give updates to at nap time, only when they ask me first and I sometimes will let them know without them asking and they love it.

But then there are a few parents that I have to avoid saying anything to that really does not warrant a note home, because I can't stand the drama it kicks up.

FOr example:
Johnny had an off day today. During circle time he could not keep his hands to himself, so was asked to leave the room.

If I were to tell some of my parents this they would say:
well why do you think they are doing that?
what was the other kid doing to him?
was he trying to get their attention?

they would come up with a million questions of WHY their child is behaving in such a way.

I feel that any time a child physically hurts another child, that a parent should be informed........Lately, I have not been able to do that, because I have been trying to leave daycare at daycare and avoid the above.......
Reply
butterfly 01:24 PM 06-13-2013
I only do daily reports for infants or a child with special needs. I will put the feeding time/amount/BM/Wet w/times (I have one parent that wanted very detailed info about BM due to a child with intestinal issues.) I may also include something cute they did that day. After a year of age I don't bother with the reports (unless the case of a special needs child - and then only at the parents request). Our menu is posted at the door. Our school activity outline is also posted there so I don't feel the need to write all this information down again. I also send out monthly news letters with our activities/accomplishments/learning focus for the month. I make sure to try to verbally share information about the child's day with parents at pick up.
Reply
blandino 01:25 PM 06-13-2013
We give daily paper reports for infants up to 12 months. They are a half-sheet of paper and the top portion parents fill out at drop-off listing when they woke up & the time and amount they last ate. Then we will out bottles/food/ BMs/naps and any special notes.

We use the tadpoles app for children over 1, and it delivers daily reports and pictures.

We used to only do daily reports for 1 year and under, and for the older kids I would write their meals/activities/etc on a white board by the sign in sheet - or list it on FB.
Reply
daycare 01:48 PM 06-13-2013
Originally Posted by blandino:
We give daily paper reports for infants up to 12 months. They are a half-sheet of paper and the top portion parents fill out at drop-off listing when they woke up & the time and amount they last ate. Then we will out bottles/food/ BMs/naps and any special notes.

We use the tadpoles app for children over 1, and it delivers daily reports and pictures.

We used to only do daily reports for 1 year and under, and for the older kids I would write their meals/activities/etc on a white board by the sign in sheet - or list it on FB.
so when you report for your over 1 crowd, what do you report?
Reply
JLH 01:52 PM 06-13-2013
I do preschool daily reports. I made a printout with several subjects listed on it, such as our weekly theme, calendar, weather, letters, numbers, shapes, colors, story, art, etc. I fill in the blanks next to each subject, telling what we did in preschool that day. I find that it's a great selling point during tours but once the kids are enrolled they rarely ever get read by the parents. Atleast this way the parents don't think we just sit and watch tv all day though.
As for diapering, feeding, napping, and behavior; I don't send home reports with this info. Too many kids and not enough time.
Reply
blandino 01:53 PM 06-13-2013
Originally Posted by daycare:
so when you report for your over 1 crowd, what do you report?
Tadpoles has categories for meals/naps/ potting/ activities/ any extra supplies & notes needed.

When I filled out a white board I would do meals and activities.
Reply
Cradle2crayons 01:59 PM 06-13-2013
I do daily reports for under one only and for my special needs 18 month old. I weigh her diapers as well and she has her own customized sheet with every diaper change, breathing treatments if needed, blood pressure and heart rate checks prior to administering her cardiac medication at 900 pm and information about her Mickey j button, her feeding pump rate etc etc. it's VERY DETAILED.

For my other under ones they would get just basically meals and diaper changes and anything momentous that happened or they did that day.

If they are potty training they get a report on that as well.
Reply
Crazy8 02:00 PM 06-13-2013
I fill one out mostly for feedings, diapers and sleep. I have a space for comments but I don't write too much down there - if there is a behavior issue I'd rather talk about it face to face.

As a parent who's infant was in child care I absolutely wanted to know how much she drank/ate, if she had any poopy diapers and how her naps were so I want to provide the same for my dc parents.
Reply
spud912 02:51 PM 06-13-2013
I don't do daily reports for 2 big reasons:
  1. I don't have time nor do I want to make the time to do them.
  2. I found that the reports tend to be more negative and opens me up for a lot of criticism from the parents on how I run my daycare.

When I first opened I did daily reports and I had one very nit picky family. I should have known they would use those reports against me! Anyway, they would tell me at least one criticism per week based on what I wrote in the reports. Here was one example: "Oh you were startled from a bug outside and the kids laughed at you? You shouldn't act that way in regards to bugs because we are trying to teach our daughter not to be scared of such things." Seriously, it was a lighthearted moment that I was trying to pass along, not to be criticized .
Reply
Lyss 03:34 PM 06-13-2013
I do infant reports (I fit 3 on a page and print them each week) that has bottle times, diapering, & napping plus a line for comments (like if I need more diapers or a note about how much frozen milk I have left). I do these til 12 month or when the child is on the same meal/snack schedule as the rest

I have one DCG that gets a toddler report (I used to do for 12mo to potty trained; nap, mood, diapering, meals, special note space) but I only do it for her and no longer do it for new families. Her parents save them in a scrapbook and really read them or I'd discontinue them for her but it was part of my interview and selling point with them so I'm keeping it for her, no new families though.

I never put negative behavior things on them, I always do that in person or on an incident report form. I've also never had anything used against me or received any criticism from them but I just got tired of tracking everything for the toddlers and buying ink.

Every one else can read the white board I put up next to the door that tells what we ate, nap time, and what activities we did.
Reply
harperluu 04:00 PM 06-13-2013
I use an app on my phone for daily reports, but I just started using it. It has worked pretty well. Otherwise, I hadn't done them in quite some time because I found the same things others were saying such as:

-I found parents weren't reading them.
-I found parents making annoying comments like "I see you had broccoli and pineapple for lunch. So junior must not have eaten very much today."
-They were extremely time consuming to write out and I was running out of ways to say, "Junior pushed cars around on the floor." I found that I was asking the kids to hold on a sec while I finished writing on a chart.

The app on my phone is handy because I can keep track of when a baby needs to eat again, and diapering and such. I can take a photo that posts right in each child's "stream". It is quick with a click and I don't really have to write anything. Parents can download the app or check online. The app is $4.99 and the online version for parents is free. No more wasted paper, ink, etc. And I don't write out meals, just when they ate so I don't have to be annoyed by parents insane comments about food, quantity, timing, likes/dislikes, what they'll eat for me and not for parents, on and on ad nauseum.
Reply
kathiemarie 04:10 PM 06-13-2013
I post a note on my front door.

What we ate today:

then I list what we ate.


What we did today:

sometimes it will say "PLAYED" other time I will go in to detail. If we have a bad day I might put something like "drove Kathie crazy! : That will open the door to questions about behavior... if the parents care to ask.


I really don't say to much about bad behavior. I take care of the problems that happen at my daycare here just like I want the parent to take care of the problems that happen at home there.
Reply
daycare 04:13 PM 06-13-2013
Originally Posted by kathiemarie:
I post a note on my front door.

What we ate today:

then I list what we ate.


What we did today:

sometimes it will say "PLAYED" other time I will go in to detail. If we have a bad day I might put something like "drove Kathie crazy! : That will open the door to questions about behavior... if the parents care to ask.


I really don't say to much about bad behavior. I take care of the problems that happen at my daycare here just like I want the parent to take care of the problems that happen at home there.
so If one child hits another you dont tell the parents?
Reply
Oneluckymom 04:20 PM 06-13-2013
@ harperluu , just curious what's the name of the app you're using?
Reply
daycarediva 04:23 PM 06-13-2013
I do daily reports, I can email it to you or upload it here if I can figure it out (it's Microsoft word I think). Mine is a checklist style, and takes 2 minutes or less to complete 6 of them daily.

On the form is everything parents need to know. Breakfast/lunch/snacks and I just check how much they ate, what activities we did (personalized the most frequent ones) mood, time outs, and bathroom times. During interview I tell parents that if they have any questions about the daily report or need further clarification, to please email me.

I DO NOT like to discuss a child's behavior in front of the parent. If the parent is supportive of me, it's no big deal. More often than not lately, I have parents who want to excuse behavior. NO, it's NOT developmentally appropriate that your 4 year old HITS. It doesn't matter WHY she did,, just that it happened and hitting is not OK! That sort of thing.

If a child has a time out, it is on the report and why. I don't give them often, but I do when there is physical aggression. I also let parents know that I handle 99% of my issues with the kids here. Just like kids act different at home, they act different at daycare. I am capable of dealing with almost anything and only tell them if it's an ongoing, repeated issue that I need help addressing. THEN I expect them to back me up on it/give me ideas.
Reply
kathiemarie 04:57 PM 06-13-2013
Originally Posted by daycare:
so If one child hits another you dont tell the parents?
Nope.
I feel the parents get so little time with their kids why would they want to hear about the bad stuff. If it gets out of hand I will say something but it is a last resort. My motto is "What happens here stays here"
Reply
Cradle2crayons 04:58 PM 06-13-2013
I don't report every little thing to parents either... Unless its a repeated undesirable behavior and I end up having to write up a behavior plan...
Reply
Josiegirl 04:59 PM 06-13-2013
I'm not thrilled about doing the daily notes, they are time-taking. But some of the parents tell me they love getting a glimpse into more of their child/ren's day. I have a mom that started her 1 yo last week and she said it's the first thing both she and her dh look for when they get home. Then there are parents who you know haven't looked at them at all because they have no clue. But I still do them.
Mine consist of what we had for meals and how much their child ate(all, some, wasn't hungry)
Then what they did during naptime, whether they slept, was quiet but didn't sleep, wasn't very quiet.
Their mood was happy, playful, quiet, sleepy, wild, bossy, helpful, sad, fussy, angry, aggressive, other
Today I played in the following ways: free play, painted, arts/crafts, storytime, music/dance, outside play, sandbox, waterplay, dress-up, puzzles, puppets.
Then another line saying Please bring:_______
Even for infants I don't get into the whole how many times they peed/pooped, unless the parents want to know.
Oh and I always add my own little notes if their child was exceptionally helpful or good or funny, etc. OR naughty, sassy, etc.
Reply
e.j. 05:47 PM 06-13-2013
Originally Posted by daycare:
My question to those of you who do them is:

Do you find yourself constantly having to explain the daily reports to parents when you have written on their report something about bad behavior?
I don't include behavior issues in my daily reports. If I need to make the parents aware of poor behavior, I speak to them directly about it at pick up time. I rarely bring up bad behavior, though, unless it's a serious, ongoing issue that I can't resolve without the parent's help or follow-through at home.

What exactly do you put in these reports, besides eating, toileting and so on? Also do you have a cut off age for doing them?
I include snacks and meals, nap time, diapering and whether they had a good day or they were fussy since I usually give the daily reports to parents of infants only. My cut off age is 1 year. If a parent asks me to continue with the daily reports past that age, I also include a basic run down of the day's events: craft, outside play, music, what books were read...

I am thinking about going back to doing them again. Wondering if I were to just send it home that it would become a normal routine on reporting behavior (good and bad) and wonder will the parents even read them????
I stopped doing the daily reports for older kids because they are time consuming and because most parents didn't seem interested in reading them. I usually give all parents a quick overview of their child's day at pick up time anyway so they really don't need the written reports, although I do provide them if a parent of an older child wants one.
My reply is above in blue.
Reply
originalkat 06:05 PM 06-13-2013
Originally Posted by kathiemarie:
Nope.
I feel the parents get so little time with their kids why would they want to hear about the bad stuff. If it gets out of hand I will say something but it is a last resort. My motto is "What happens here stays here"
This is me too. I really dont see the point of reporting every little thing. Parents can relax and enjoy their kids in the evening without worrying about things that are truly just typical preschool behaviors.
Reply
Tags:daily report
Reply Up