Daily Report....Question

[daycare]

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?

[Oneluckymom]

@ harperluu , just curious what's the name of the app you're using?

[daycarediva]

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.

[kathiemarie]

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"

[Cradle2crayons]

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...

[Josiegirl]

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.

[e.j.]

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.

[originalkat]

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.