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Countrygal 07:07 AM 01-07-2012
Do any of you hold parent meetings? How often and what do you cover/do? Do you provide refreshments? What have you found to be the best time - after school, evenings (weekday) or weekends?

And please, in the search engine, how do you search for combined words. For example I wanted to search for threads with both words - parent and meeting - I got a list of every thread title that had "parent" in it no matter what I tried. :P HELP!
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MissAnn 08:58 AM 01-07-2012
Originally Posted by Countrygal:
Do any of you hold parent meetings? How often and what do you cover/do? Do you provide refreshments? What have you found to be the best time - after school, evenings (weekday) or weekends?

And please, in the search engine, how do you search for combined words. For example I wanted to search for threads with both words - parent and meeting - I got a list of every thread title that had "parent" in it no matter what I tried. :P HELP!
I'm no help! We have to do parent meetings for our star system. I dread it! Problem is.....I don't want kids here for it, especially not the school age siblings who do not mind! I end up being the "crowd control" while trying to speak with parents at the same time. Last time I had an area set up in my home for parents to view the new curriculum I got. They looked at it while I had activities for kids to do and they could still ask me questions. It was kind of a "come and go" type thing.....as each child was picked up. I was just glad to have it over with. I'd love to hear what others do.
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Blackcat31 09:13 AM 01-07-2012
Originally Posted by Countrygal:
Do any of you hold parent meetings? How often and what do you cover/do? Do you provide refreshments? What have you found to be the best time - after school, evenings (weekday) or weekends?

And please, in the search engine, how do you search for combined words. For example I wanted to search for threads with both words - parent and meeting - I got a list of every thread title that had "parent" in it no matter what I tried. :P HELP!
What is the purpose of the parent meetings you want/have to do?
I wouldn't bother with refreshments. You aren't hosting a Tupperware Party...kwim?

If you are having these meetings to dicuss policies and child progress/development, I think they should be individual and private. Jimmy's dad doesn't need to hear about Billy's unwillingness to sit at circle or whatever.....

If I have 10 families I would schedule 30 minutes immediately after closing time for each family, one per night for two weeks. I would NEVER work on weekends or late into the evening without payment. Heck I would even consider cosing 30 minutes earlier than normal for two weeks in order to accomodate having to have these conferences. Look at how the schools do them. They close school, schedule the conference and parents figure out how to work the assigned times into their schedules.

Originally Posted by MissAnn:
I'm no help! We have to do parent meetings for our star system. I dread it! Problem is.....I don't want kids here for it, especially not the school age siblings who do not mind! I end up being the "crowd control" while trying to speak with parents at the same time. Last time I had an area set up in my home for parents to view the new curriculum I got. They looked at it while I had activities for kids to do and they could still ask me questions. It was kind of a "come and go" type thing.....as each child was picked up. I was just glad to have it over with. I'd love to hear what others do.
Why not do individual parent meetings like conferences at school? Schedule each family for 30 minutes, require BOTH parents to attend WITHOUT any children and discuss whatever it is you need to discuss in private.

I would absolutely stand firm about NOT allowing children to attend.

I would think group parent meetings are kind of pointless and not good at supporting confidentiality. Plus every family has unique needs, issues and children so group meetings seem odd to me...
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Blackcat31 09:16 AM 01-07-2012
This is the only thread I can find about this. The tags were parent teacher conference
https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28575
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MissAnn 10:03 AM 01-07-2012
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:

Why not do individual parent meetings like conferences at school? Schedule each family for 30 minutes, require BOTH parents to attend WITHOUT any children and discuss whatever it is you need to discuss in private.

I would absolutely stand firm about NOT allowing children to attend.

I would think group parent meetings are kind of pointless and not good at supporting confidentiality. Plus every family has unique needs, issues and children so group meetings seem odd to me...

For our star rating system, both individual conferences and a group meeting are required.

I think you are missing the point of a group meeting. A group meeting is not designed to discuss individual children.....but to keep parents informed of upcoming events, curriculum, goals, changes, etc. It's also a time for parents to give input and ask questions.
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Countrygal 01:38 PM 01-09-2012
MissAnn, you hit the nail on the head as to the "why" of wanting to hold meetings. Also to keep lines of communication open.

For example, I'm wanting to add some outdoor play equipment and want to discuss what the parents would like to see and what they'd be willing to do to make it happen. That's just an example. I want to discuss learning centers (pros/cons), activity days, weekly or daily themes, etc, etc, etc.

After all, these are THEIR kids, and I know that if/when my kids were in daycare I was never given a chance to have any input into what they learned or did. I'd love to, within reason, give my parents exactly that chance.

I'm pretty sure I have one parent who will not attend, and almost as sure I have one who will. If I have to have kids here, I will attempt to bring in a "babysitter" for the time and will ask the parents to all chip in for her pay. My rates do not include paying a babysitter for a meeting.

As to discussing personal "issues", I haven't had too much of that yet, but usually I find a time when I'm alone with the parent for a few minutes during drop off or pick up. If a major issue arose, I think calling them in for a half hour right after closing would be a great idea, Blackcat. But it's not really what I'm looking to do with these meetings.
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Countrygal 01:41 PM 01-09-2012
Originally Posted by MissAnn:
I'm no help! We have to do parent meetings for our star system. I dread it! Problem is.....I don't want kids here for it, especially not the school age siblings who do not mind! I end up being the "crowd control" while trying to speak with parents at the same time. Last time I had an area set up in my home for parents to view the new curriculum I got. They looked at it while I had activities for kids to do and they could still ask me questions. It was kind of a "come and go" type thing.....as each child was picked up. I was just glad to have it over with. I'd love to hear what others do.
MissAnn, do you think it might work to put the oldest two in charge and tell them that if they do a good job and keep the others occupied without being bossy that there will be a reward for them? The reward could be a couple of bucks the parents chip in or some video time at daycare......whatever you come up with. Would that work, do you think?
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Blackcat31 03:29 PM 01-09-2012
Originally Posted by MissAnn:
For our star rating system, both individual conferences and a group meeting are required.

I think you are missing the point of a group meeting. A group meeting is not designed to discuss individual children.....but to keep parents informed of upcoming events, curriculum, goals, changes, etc. It's also a time for parents to give input and ask questions.
Nope, didn't miss the point of group meetings. I know what that means.

OP asked about 'parent meetings'. The word group was never mentioned.
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familyschoolcare 03:36 PM 01-09-2012
Originally Posted by MissAnn:
I'm no help! We have to do parent meetings for our star system. I dread it! Problem is.....I don't want kids here for it, especially not the school age siblings who do not mind! I end up being the "crowd control" while trying to speak with parents at the same time. Last time I had an area set up in my home for parents to view the new curriculum I got. They looked at it while I had activities for kids to do and they could still ask me questions. It was kind of a "come and go" type thing.....as each child was picked up. I was just glad to have it over with. I'd love to hear what others do.
so could the parent meeting if it needs to be a group thing be someplace other than the daycare. Such as a park on a sunny day or anywhere that has something besides your house for the children to do.
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Meeko 06:56 PM 01-09-2012
Originally Posted by MissAnn:
For our star rating system, both individual conferences and a group meeting are required.

I think you are missing the point of a group meeting. A group meeting is not designed to discuss individual children.....but to keep parents informed of upcoming events, curriculum, goals, changes, etc. It's also a time for parents to give input and ask questions.
I keep parents informed of upcoming events, curriculum, goals and changes in writing....individual notes, posters on the door and personal conversation etc. Parents can ask as many questions as they like face to face, by phone or email.

As for parents having input at a group meeting....ain't happening! MY house my rules!

I don't need 16 sets of parents all ganging up on me and telling me my sick policy is too strict...my hours aren't long enough etc etc. I don't need to explain myself to a group.

I am all for individual conferences if it's needed to discuss discipline etc. But I would never let parents think they have a say in how I run my business. I have a suggestion box by my front door. They can suggest all they want, but I make no changes unless it benefits my business as a whole. If I started letting parents think they could make changes......I'd go out of business. I am not their nanny and they are not my employers.

I have worked too hard for the last 27 years to get this business exactly where I want it, to let parents think they have a say so. The care I provide their child is all that matters and if they have concerns about that or anything else, they can bring it up in person. How I run things, policy etc is quite frankly none of their business.

I have state parents who if they banded together at a meeting.......oh boy!!! Don't need them telling me I need to be open 24 hours at half the price in order to be "fair"!!!!
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Rachel 11:01 PM 01-09-2012
I don't live in the US, here parent meetings are standard, usually at the beginning of the year (childcare runs like school year here, Sept. - Aug).

A bit of an intro who I am and what I do, what we will cover this year, daily schedule, etc. General policies before they become issues, then the supervisor comes in and gives over the policies for the whole orginization (payment, be on time, no sick kids, etc).
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Ariana 12:19 PM 01-10-2012
The only time I would hold a parent meeting is when their were serious "issues" I wanted to discuss at length with them. It would be without kids and it would be preferably in the evening. I wouldn't expect to be paid for this. Other than this, no I don't hold parent meetings. I have a daily log where we communicate back and forth and I tell the parents what we're working on and any accomplishments they've made. It's very casual!
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Tags:conferences, parent - conversation
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