Daily diaries, do your parents look at them and or write comments?

[yummymummy]

I have one parent who who writes a novel! I get told every single thing they have done over the weekend etc etc and one mum who I rarely see as dad does drop off and pick up uses it to tell me any pertinent information for the day.
BUT with everyone else I might as well not bother, they never write in them and I don't think they even look at them either as anything sent home i.e artwork etc seems to stay in there forever. I do feel it is important for them to look at what I've written about their child's day, but I do tell them anything important on collection of child. The funny thing is the one who writes the most stays and chats for the longest too!!!!
What do your parents do?

[balloon]

I used to think they read them but recent events have shown me they dont. I haven't written one in weeks now I just tell the parents when they come to pick up...

[Pedagog]

I do one for mindee (23 months), I surprised mum with it, as her other childminder (for whom I am covering maternity leave) doesn't do one, mind you mum was also shocked when I gave her a receipt. And today when I gave her a picture we had done together I though she was going to cry.

[katickles]

I do them & i seem to have wonderful parents as mine all loved them!! One set of parents also uses it as a form of communication, letting me know things like if lo has had some medication etc, mum will write in amount & at what time lo had it.

[Jen4Kids]

I only have one mindee and he has an A5 ring binder book which we use as his daily diary. I write in his basic day ie sleep times and lengths, when he had nappy changes, where we went and also talk with his mum at collection time - she also writes me notes from over the weekend ie 'hope dad included your cheque' and todays message 'he bruised his cheek on coffee table' She was very impressed with what i do as her friend looked after him for the past 2 months and im her first childminder :)

[Mollymop]

Mine all did write comments to begin with but they have slowly fizzled out. A few do now and again only when they need to put something.

I do find that if i write "Sign -" "Any comments" at the end of the week or month, I get a signature and sometimes a comment about how happy the children are.

I would keep writing the diary though, it's a record if you ever get a complaint and ofsted need some evidence and find it written down in the diary.

My childminding friend had ofsted round after a complaint. One of the complaints was my friend put her child on "the step" as punishment/timeout for being naughty and that the parent didn't want her to be put in time out.
My friend doesn't use a diary to record the child's day but if she did she would have the evidence that she uses the timeout step when the child was misbehaving. All my friend could do was say that the parent knew and never said she didn't want her in timeout on the step.

[huggableshelly]

my new mindee's mum signs to say she has read it as I've requested.

I do not offer a diary for over 4's.

[nokidshere]

I only have one child that I would do one for and I used to do it religiously. Mum always lost the book though so I would have to start a new one. Now I don't bother, she sits and has a coffee and chats about everything instead :thumbsup:

[PixiePetal]

All of mine read them.

They put cheques/vouchers/cash in for fees. Write up any meds given before arrival and I sign (also put in my book, but saves time in morning rush), what they did at weekend, thanks for pictures/art/photos, any changes of time they need to discuss at pick up (gives me time to think)

I do basic day, funny comments, wow moments, things needed(nappies/milk/creams/suncream)

Must be lucky with my parents :thumbsup:

[Chimps Childminding]

I have never done one in the past - send the childnre's All about me books home, but rarely get any comments back apart from off one parent!!

Having said that I have a new baby starting, so I am going to start a daily diary for her and see how it goes!:thumbsup:

[loocyloo]

i've always done daily diaries both as a nanny and a childminder. sometimes with nanny charges, it would evolve into a weekly diary of special events etc, but i found it useful as i also kept a weekly menu plan in there! all my old charges parents liked the diaries, and even now, the children look back at them!

i do a daily diary (in an A5 file) for each child until they go to school! what they ate, what they did, when they slept, nappies etc, and then a brief run down on the day/how they were and anything interesting, usually with a 'using hand/eye co-ordination to push the cars through the tunnel' type comment. i add photos too.

the parents seem to like them, i have parent comment sheets on the back page..some parents use them, others don't! i just insist on them coming each day, and say its for my benefit so i know what they have done/eaten/slept etc since they were last with me! some do use them to put the fees in. i like the idea of the parents signing them :D but i doubt it will happen! ( i do have one mum who said would i like to keep it at my house?:rolleyes: i said, no, its so you know what your little one has done during the day!!! )

x

[Curly Quavers]

Everybody's comments on daily diaries are great.

What do you all use as a daily Diary?

Did you design your own format then print and bind them?
Can you buy daily diaries already designed with childminders in mind?
Or do you just use an A5 note book??

Thanks
:laughing: :clapping:

[haribo]

i spotted this thread just as i was going to ask the same. on friday i was chatting to a los mum and i mentioned how i was about to start diaries again as i stopped before xmas for various reasons . she said ooh yes i used to like looking at that . i said oh right i thought maybe was a bit of a chore to remember to sign and that( was being slightly sarky but nice lol as she never signed never mind wrote in it) she said ooh no it was nice ... so wrote diary day after (friday) with note saying please feel free to comment or share anything your child is doing at home you would like me to follow up on" and it went home for weekend.. came back nothing in it :panic: was slightly fuming so tonight wrote at bottom" please comment or sign so i know you have read"and popped it in childs bag . now im wondering if ive been a bit pushy and maybe its hard to think of a comment if your not used to it but then its sometimes hard writing them when ive los around and the least they could do is sign the thing. at least i know others have this problem too lol but not sure what ill do if comes back with nothing again- maybe just keep a general diary instead to keep here .

[nokidshere]

i spotted this thread just as i was going to ask the same. on friday i was chatting to a los mum and i mentioned how i was about to start diaries again as i stopped before xmas for various reasons . she said ooh yes i used to like looking at that . i said oh right i thought maybe was a bit of a chore to remember to sign and that( was being slightly sarky but nice lol as she never signed never mind wrote in it) she said ooh no it was nice ... so wrote diary day after (friday) with note saying please feel free to comment or share anything your child is doing at home you would like me to follow up on" and it went home for weekend.. came back nothing in it :panic: was slightly fuming so tonight wrote at bottom" please comment or sign so i know you have read"and popped it in childs bag . now im wondering if ive been a bit pushy and maybe its hard to think of a comment if your not used to it but then its sometimes hard writing them when ive los around and the least they could do is sign the thing. at least i know others have this problem too lol but not sure what ill do if comes back with nothing again- maybe just keep a general diary instead to keep here .

I wouldn't worry about them not commenting back to be honest. Its for you to share information, so if she feels there is nothing to tell you then there is no need to comment. If you are happy doing it then carry on, but if neither of you are bothered then just give it up.

[nemo97]

I print off an A4 sheet of paper containing
information for that day.I have a template for each child stored on my laptop
which includes

Nappy/potty/toilet times
sleep times
todays mood
what i've eaten/drank today
activities
photo of the day
childminders/parents comments

I've only got one mindee for two days a week, not sure if I could cotinue
using this format if I was full.
I dont do a daily diary for after shool kids, I just do a weekly one for them.

[mushpea]

at the moment i use an A5 note book and put in about their day but i am looking to change this to a simpler format so if anyone can suggest an easy way of doing diarys that would be great.
as for the parents reading them, no they don't, i did used to have a chld with special needs, dad would collect and drop off and so mum would catch up on the childs day through the diary and would sometimes write comments and i could tell she had read throug some of her comments to me via text but now i don't think any of them bother.
can i just ask, if you have two children from the same family do you do one diary or two? wondering if i could do just one as they arent really for the eyfs but for parents to know about their childs day.

[loocyloo]

i have an A5 sheet that i print off that says

daily record

breakfast;
morning tea;
lunch;
afternoon tea;
tea;

today i slept ...

today i ... waved bye to mummy. i took my shoes off by myself and investigated the book box ..... etc etc etc

i don't write every little event down, just a summary!


i have siblings ... one each!!!

photos get stuck on/printed onto another piece of A5 paper and slotted in!

[Roseolivia]

My parents are pretty good. One writes in it every week and signs it, the other writes in it when she needs to tell me something but i know she reads it as she sometimes comments on what i've wrote.

[tigger]

I do daily diaries. I started handwriting them and went into detail, the times we did anything, lunch, tea, nappy changes etc. I then changed them to an easier format for me and then I thought I would use the pc to type them up which I thought was good aswell. The only thing that I got from one of my mums was the fact that because I had changed them she didn't think I had enough space to write things in. (I used the lola one I found one here just to see how she would react as her child is now older, I have a few to write out and the ones I used to do were a bit time consuming). The other parents like them I just can't win.
Should I change them to suit the parents or me?

[cher25]

I did do a daily diary for a full timer and his brother. But their parent's never read them and never made comment's. In fact i've been waiting for month's for them to bring the books back. :rolleyes:

[ORKSIE]

All of my parents read my daily diaries, and when they leave me they sat what a lovely keep sake:)

[sophiestars]

I have 4 little ones - 3 years, 2 x 1 year olds and a 7 month old (not all at the same time!) and I use an A6 notebook which is small enough to fit in their bags.

I write in there a summary of the day including activities, snacks naps, nappy changes etc. I get occassional comments but more along the lines of 'she's had a bit of a cold so didn't sleep as well as normal last night...etc'. That's fine by me as it lets me know things they might forget to say at handover time especially if they are in a rush to get to work! I don't get them to sign, though, maybe I should?

[TheBTeam]

I very rarely get comments in the book, but i do know what indian take away they had ordered, where they get their go-kart helmets, and the design of a wooden structure for somewhere!!!

I have had pages ripped out, dogs chewed them and the very odd nice comment.:rolleyes:

[PixiePetal]

Everybody's comments on daily diaries are great.

What do you all use as a daily Diary?

Did you design your own format then print and bind them?
Can you buy daily diaries already designed with childminders in mind?
Or do you just use an A5 note book??

Thanks
:laughing: :clapping:

I use A6 notebooks for most - fits in their bags. Siblings have an A5 - more room to write about them both. Thought separate ones would be too much effort and I would be repeating myself.

[Toothfairy]

I do a daily diary for my pre-schoolers (not my after schoolers) but the only time the parents write in them is to tell me of their holiday dates.

[atmkids]

I bought some books from poundland which have different coloured pages and a space on the front page for a photo. When the child has their first settling in session I take a nice photo of them and have it ready in the book for when they start with me. I then do a daily summary of what we've been up to and add lots of photos. I give it to the parents on a Friday and they return it on Monday. I did put a note in saying they can add comments but they don't. Doesn't really bother me as I know they enjoy reading the diary and looking at the photos, it's just a bit hard sometimes to know what comments to make. I must admit it's a bit time consuming keeping the diaries up to date but I want to carry on as I think it's a nice touch which not all childminders do.
Nikki x