Documenting your day

[MonkeyPrincess]

Do you document how your day has gone? Do you do a write up for each child or do a general write up with major points, like a journal entry?

I used to do a write up for each child at the end of each day and it would take half an hour. Plus it would use up so much paper. I stopped doing that a few months ago when some providers told me they don't even document their day. I don't like NOT documenting, i feel like i should be doing it but i don't want to spend half an hour writing up each child. What do you do?

[Daisy123]

I don't document for everybody. I do use a school type printing book as a communication book for kids under 3 but I figure that after that they're old enough to tell mom and dad bout their day on their own! I keep a notebook around for my personal observations (just as reminder notes for myself) but I don't often use it.

[Wonderwiper]

I don't do any sort of book for parents.

At pick up I chat a bit about our day or if something special or out of the ordinary happened.

Some daycare providers document everything. I personally find it tedious. I think it's really a personal preference.

[MonkeyPrincess]

i always tell the parents how the child's day was, how much they ate, pees/poops, and anything else i feel the parents should know, like an injury etc. but i feel like i should document things so i have a record.

[mickyc]

I don't document anything. If I have something I think the parent should know then I tell them at pick up. If it is really important I send a text during the day (example - I need more diapers). Some parents ask how the day went and some don't. If a child has had an off day I make sure and mention it.

[happy@home]

While the children are having their afternoon snack I send out a group email to all daycare parents. It includes what was served for snacks and meals, daily activities and any special notes
such as upcoming daycare closures. I do not send out any child specific information in this email. I offer all parents a daily text letting them know their child's nap times and pees and poops.
I hadn't thought about documenting the day for my own record but this may be a good idea should I ever need to look back:)

[5 Little Monkeys]

I speak to the parents at the end of day about things we did, ate, their BM's, naps etc. I send texts for reminders such as diapers/wipes just because I often forget to tell them at pick up! (I have a terrible memory!!)

If there is something that I need to tell all parents than I either send a mass email or I put it in the monthly newsletter that I started doing recently.

I have a dry erase board that I use to write snacks, lunch, art, special activities that we did that day on. I haven't done that in months though as I find most parents weren't reading it anyways. I usually tell them this stuff anyways or have sent pictures of their kids doing throughout the day.

[daisy]

I do a daily e-mail. I send it during nap-time.
It includes what was served at morning snack & lunch and what will be served at afternoon snack. I also include how many bowel movements (bm's) and a recap of what we did that day. It is also how I notify parents if I need diapers & wipes or a change of clothes for their bin.
For any other issues, I send those in a separate e-mail - like upcoming vacation days, appointments etc. I find if they don't have their own e-mail with a dedicated subject line, information can get missed.
I also send pictures via e-mail - I upload them to an online album & the parents can view them and share them with their families.
Everyone likes the daily e-mail and I find it so easy to communicate with everyone.
I also text with parents for more child specific stuff.

[ttremble88]

I send home a daily report for all of my full day children 3 and under. It has what we had for lunch, bowel movements and pee diapers (for those in diapers only), the time they went for a nap, when they woke up and any additional comments. Which is usually what they enjoyed or if we need any more diapers, wipes, clean clothes ect. I send emails home on a weekly basis touching base on any important things.

[Sassygirl]

I did send a report home and also have my menu posted on my wipe board at my front entrance. I was finding my reports on the floor or crumpled in diaper bags so stopped sending them out. I also found the same, no interest no one reading it, with posting the daily menu on the wipe board so I have stopped doing both.
I give my brief report at the end of the day "ate well, had xxx today tried xxx and liked it/hated it" played well went to the park, stayed inside and did more arts, and don't usually mention nap unless there was an issue.

[MonkeyPrincess]

Ya, i have a wipe off board with the weekly meals and snacks etc.

[mickyc]

I was posting our meals on my white board when I first started. Parents didn't even read it so I quit doing it. I find the only parents who ask are the new ones and even then they stop asking after awhile.

[Spixie33]

I do a daily report for each child.
If I see parents aren't reading it or a pile starts to accumulate in a backpack then I stop for that particular child and see if the parent mentions anything.

Last week I was second guessing whether I should just keep it simple and save myself the time each nap but then a parent arrived and said how much they look forward to reading the reports every day so I took that as an answer to my unspoken question. The reports are staying.

I remember in our daycare training course that I took - the teacher said to keep a spiral notebook. She said to write a date for each day...write who attended and anything that happened that day that may be noteworthy. She said that some day someone might sue you or accuse you of something 5 years later for molestation or something else. Then you can go back to the book and see what happened that day i.e Today I had a water heater maintenance man here etc. You would not remember that off the top of your head. Or "today Stephanie took a fall off the slide". etc It would also help you see if the child was even in daycare that day etc.

[Mike]

I remember in our daycare training course that I took - the teacher said to keep a spiral notebook. She said to write a date for each day...write who attended and anything that happened that day that may be noteworthy. She said that some day someone might sue you or accuse you of something 5 years later for molestation or something else. Then you can go back to the book and see what happened that day

Good idea. I plan to keep detailed daily records, but that's to give the parents. I'm going to keep a book for my own records.

[MonkeyPrincess]

I do a daily report for each child.
If I see parents aren't reading it or a pile starts to accumulate in a backpack then I stop for that particular child and see if the parent mentions anything.

Last week I was second guessing whether I should just keep it simple and save myself the time each nap but then a parent arrived and said how much they look forward to reading the reports every day so I took that as an answer to my unspoken question. The reports are staying.

I remember in our daycare training course that I took - the teacher said to keep a spiral notebook. She said to write a date for each day...write who attended and anything that happened that day that may be noteworthy. She said that some day someone might sue you or accuse you of something 5 years later for molestation or something else. Then you can go back to the book and see what happened that day i.e Today I had a water heater maintenance man here etc. You would not remember that off the top of your head. Or "today Stephanie took a fall off the slide". etc It would also help you see if the child was even in daycare that day etc.

See that's what i think i am going to do. Just a note book with anything pertinent, instead of the paragraph i would write for each child.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I think I am going to start a journal for myself too! Thanks for the idea :) It will be nice to look back on as the years go by and will give me an idea of what we have done already. It will also come in handy, if god forbid an accusation comes at me! I never even thought of that.

I will continue to do the daily chats though with the monthly newsletters.

[mia]

I use to do the e-mail reports, binder reports, and written reports everyday.. I stopped all that for many reasons. Mostly because clients never read or returned the binders/books so I could do the next days entries.... I have a teachers ( Lesson Plan and Record Book ) that I use for attendance for myself, I then have a note book to write the days events for my records which include ( how child's night went, if any issues happened throughout the day, what we did, like walks or park). I then just give a brief talk to clients when they pick up.... I also have the sign in and out binder in my cubbie room for clients to put time of drop off and pick up with Intel's for my records.....

[jodaycare]

I do a daily report each day, it isnt very detailed. Basically it says what they ate and how much, sleeptime, diaper changes/washroom and then a small blurb about what we did that day. I fill it out throughout the day or at sleeptime.

[Secondtimearound]

I bought an awesome calendar book , it has the monthly page and then breaks up into a daily section with room to write , a lot of room ! $3 at the dollar store . I wrote each day who is attending on the monthly and then on the daily planner I write snacks , what my day should look like , meals ect craft , theme , any child concerns or special things that happened , nap time !!
I love it !!!
I fill it in each morning and recap the previous days information that happened after I filled it in !
I love being able to flip back and find out anything !!!
I know I'm going on about it lol but I love it !
For parents I let them know at pick up , although not what dck ate , mostly how naps went , bm info , that sort of thing .
I was thinking of starting a daily notice , "Ask Me " to have parents go over things we have done during the day , but I'm not sure if I will stress if I don't feel like we've done enough !

[Gloucestermom]

I have a checklist with how much they ate, if they slept, and if they played outside. Then a room for comments if they're running low on diapers or if there's anything I'd like to tell the parents. I set it up as one week per page, and double sided. I find this is the quickest for me, I just check things off during naptime or afternoon snack.