Parent daily reports are a regular part of early childhood education, particularly among daycare and preschool centers. As a childcare provider, delivering daily reports to every parent can sometimes be challenging. There are many details to keep track of, from sleep times and potty breaks to achievements and learning milestones.
Every child is unique in their behaviors and daily needs, which means you have to stay highly attentive and organized when writing daily reports. Remembering all the details to include doesn’t always come naturally, especially when you have many children or even multiple classrooms to keep track of.
How is a daily report written, and what are some ways you can optimize the reporting process? Here is a quick guide to creating the best parent daily reports. Keep reading to learn all the tips.
Why Create Daily Reports for Parents?
A parent daily report — also called a daily sheet, daily progress report, or behavioral report — lets parents and guardians know how their child experienced their time at daycare. It’s a key element of parent communication.
Daily reports are necessary and often anticipated by parents of young children. Early childhood education is an optional but statistically beneficial phase in child development, and many parents miss their young kids after sending them to daycare all day. Parents want to know how their child felt, behaved, learned, and interacted with other children each day.
Daily reports help you share this useful information with families. Not only does a report show parents that you’re actively involved in their child’s development, but it also allows parents to catch up on the moments they feel they missed.
The Parent Daily Report Checklist
To make things easy, here’s a list of what to include in a daily report for parents to help both you and your customers.
1. Milestones
Begin daily sheets with some milestones: what went right for the child that day? What did the child learn or overcome? What fun activities did he or she enjoy? Were they a good example to their peers? What seemed most interesting and engaging to the child? Give positive feedback and share the special moments.
2. Activities
List any new or noteworthy activities a child took part in throughout the day. You might also want to include activities the child didn’t participate in, as well. This informs parents of their child’s struggles, dislikes, and areas that could use improvement.
3. Behavior and Mood
Behavioral reports are an important part of daily sheets. Be honest with parents about their child’s behavior, from outbursts or social challenges to “off days” and mood changes. Sometimes, a child behaves differently at childcare than they ever would at home. Communicating this to parents lets them know the whole picture of how their kid interacts.
4. Sleep
Sleeping and napping are important for young children, but not every child naps the same every day. Some kids might get cranky before nap time and feel better after some sleep. In the daily report, record whether or not a child napped, how long they slept, and what helped them fall asleep. Even if a child didn’t fall asleep, let parents know if they rested silently, and for how long.
5. Meals and Snacks
Let parents know how much their child eats at daycare. This helps parents learn about their child’s appetite, nutrition, and food preferences when they’re away from home. If a child tries a new food and likes it (or asks for seconds), tell their parents! It’s a delight to hear and can help families plan new meals together. Also, inform parents when their child refuses to eat.
6. Bathroom
Some children become potty trained earlier than others, which is normal. Daycare kids often need their diapers changed or help going to the bathroom and washing their hands. Report to parents the frequency and necessary details of their child’s bathroom needs, including any irregularities or accidents.
7. Health
Whether it’s a runny nose, an upset tummy, or an overall sense of seeming “run down,” keep parents updated on any health symptoms that come up during childcare. Of course, if the child vomits or has a fever, they need to go home. But other milder symptoms are important to relay to parents as well.
8. Pictures
As a bonus, you can include pictures in parent daily reports. Parents love to see their children learning and growing. They also want to see visual proof of certain incidents, such as a bee sting, injury, or displays of abnormal behavior. You can easily share photos by making parent reports digital, which is a readily accessible option for daycare businesses today.
Sending a Daily Report to Parents: Digital Benefits
Digitizing your childcare daily reports can save you time, money, and confusion. With the help of a childcare software or app, your daily reports offer several added benefits to parents.
Instant Notifications
When daily reports are available on a digital platform, you can send instant notifications to parents. If a child gets injured, for example, you can upload a picture of the incident and deliver notifications to parents’ email or smartphone without disturbing them via phone call.
Parent-Teacher Messages
If a parent needs to quickly communicate with childcare providers but can’t make a phone call, they can send you or your staff a message. This lets you receive messages without waiting on an email. It also gives you a secure, convenient way to reply to parents.
Secure and Reliable Childcare Organization
Digital parent reports in childcare are a secure way to maintain records so nothing ever gets lost. It’s also reliable for both you and your customers, as everything’s stored in one place. Digital reports help you stay organized in your business and help parents keep their child’s records clutter-free.
Take Parent Daily Reports to the Next Level With Daily Connect
To set up a daily report template and get all the benefits of making your parent reports digital, Daily Connect is the best solution.
As a leading childcare management software, Daily Connect helps daycare and preschool providers save time and efficiency. For parent reports, you can:
- Send automatic, digital reports to parents once they sign their child out.
- Deliver a daily summary plus a breakdown of all category entries.
- Save money and resources on paper and ink.
- Delegate reporting tasks to support staff so you can be more productive.
- Securely communicate with families.
- Easily reference past reports for learning assessments or legal purposes.
The best part about offering digital daily reports to parents is that it’s convenient for everyone involved. To see how you can improve daily reporting for your childcare, daycare, or preschool business, sign up for a free trial of Daily Connect.
