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View Full Version : do we HAVE to do daily diaries?



andreaschildcare
01-02-2011, 02:05 PM
Hiya

Just wondering as I write down what I tell the parent verbally anyway!!!

TIA xx

Hebs
01-02-2011, 02:07 PM
i dont think we HAVE to do one, i only do one for my youngest mindee as mum asked me to do one x

rickysmiths
01-02-2011, 02:11 PM
I did them years ago and the parents never wrote in them or left them at home. I haven't done them for years. I hand over verbally and all the parents over the years have been happy. I keep getting more so they must be happy!

kel1983
01-02-2011, 02:29 PM
I do one for the little 3 year old I have. Ive only had him for about 3 weeks. His mum drops him here and his step dad collects him so I like to just write what they have done in the day so that mum has an idea and can ask him about it.

When asked what they have done that day children usually say "Nothing". At least if i write it in his diary mum has some info to prompt him with.

Not sure how long it will last though.

JCrakers
01-02-2011, 02:29 PM
I do them cos I have a memory like a sieve and if ive got 3 little ones to remember what we have done all day I'd be in a right state...:D

Also its a nice bit of evidence to show Mrs O about how I work with the parents.

Becky x

ORKSIE
01-02-2011, 02:31 PM
I have always done a daily diary..its a two way thing, parents are encouraged to write things in the diary they feel they might forget to tell me, or dont have time to tell me in the morning.
I also put pics of what children have done during the day, so that parents and children can go thru the day together.
I also write what child has eaten, or not eaten and if they have had a poo that day.
I also put reward stickers in the diary.
I also write my holiday dates in it, so no one can say "You didnt tell me you were off" :D

It personal choice TBH, so whatever works for you and your families:thumbsup:

JCrakers
01-02-2011, 02:36 PM
I have always done a daily diary..its a two way thing, parents are encouraged to write things in the diary they feel they might forget to tell me, or dont have time to tell me in the morning.
I also put pics of what children have done during the day, so that parents and children can go thru the day together.
I also write what child has eaten, or not eaten and if they have had a poo that day.
I also put reward stickers in the diary.
I also write my holiday dates in it, so no one can say "You didnt tell me you were off" :D

It personal choice TBH, so whatever works for you and your families:thumbsup:

This is exactly what i do with mine :D

Pipsqueak
01-02-2011, 02:36 PM
No you don;t HAVE to do them.

They are considered good practice for under 3's



My parents NEVER look at them - they never get them out the bag. I put a newsletter in the other day (noted it in the diary) told parent as she collected.... 5 days later I have had to remind her to look at it as it has important info on it.

AliceK
01-02-2011, 02:37 PM
I have always done them for EY children, I write in there what they have been doing and add a pic or 2. there's a space for any notes to tell parents. I also do a seperate sheet with food detailed, nappies, sleeps etc. One set of parents always write in the diary about what the child has done at home which is lovely, the others don't but they have said on feedback questionnaires that they love them and when one of my EY children started FT school and I was going to stop his diary his mum begged me to carry on as they love seeing it so I do them for everyone still. They don't take long to do and it's nice to look back on.

xxxx

welshcake
01-02-2011, 02:39 PM
I do them, not for all thou.

The 2 1/2 year old that comes 3 times a week has one and her parents love reading it of an evening and asking her what she has been upto.

The 2 1/2 year old that comes for one day also has one but the 1 year old that comes for 3 hours doesnt as by time he arrives it takes half hour to settle him, we do stuff for an hour and then i have to walk him home so i dont bother with him.

As far as i am aware you dont have to do them but i like doing it I think is good practice and ticks boxes of passing info on to parents.

Ripeberry
01-02-2011, 02:40 PM
I do a daily diary about every single half hour of the day, have times of everything (daft I know), also photos of anything interesting (Pogo and stick it in).
Gets a bit difficult when I've got two diaries open at the same time, have to remember who's is which's, I usually have different styles of diary for the children so I don't get too mixed up.
I leave them open on the table and write in them all through the day, so it almost reads like a book!

ORKSIE
01-02-2011, 02:41 PM
I have always done them for EY children, I write in there what they have been doing and add a pic or 2. there's a space for any notes to tell parents. I also do a seperate sheet with food detailed, nappies, sleeps etc. One set of parents always write in the diary about what the child has done at home which is lovely, the others don't but they have said on feedback questionnaires that they love them and when one of my EY children started FT school and I was going to stop his diary his mum begged me to carry on as they love seeing it so I do them for everyone still. They don't take long to do and it's nice to look back on.


xxxx

My Older children have diaries too.
I get them to write them themselves or draw a pic of what we did that day ( this is for Holiday time only)

mrs_scottydog
01-02-2011, 02:43 PM
I do a daily diary for my mindee as mum drops off and dad collects. I tell dad what we've done but he never tells mum, at least with diary mum gets to know what her son has done! I now get mum to sign it when it's been read (for evidence for Ofsted), she has also written in a few times.
I also have one for my 6yr after schoolie but it stays with me, it's just for me really so I know when we've done different activities. Hx

mr man
01-02-2011, 02:43 PM
when signing a our contract, she put it in the book, ( little hard back excersize book) and its still there now, 2 months hate. :panic:
ive said loads of times, to keep it safe at home, but nope still there.

Im not too fussed, but i bet nusery and his auntie he goes to, have had a good peep. :)

if its not necessary then i would prefer not to do them.

i'm writing quickly at what we;ve done, and i do knonw a nother mindee tell ssmum she ust sat there watching telly missing her. - :mad: the telly is never on, only after school while i cook tea. - or maybe the've asked for it to watch a programme.

Mollymop
01-02-2011, 02:58 PM
I do Daily Diaries for children under 5 because I find them very helpful things to keep and I can always use it as a reference for things such as "Oh look, it was last Wednes when Molly had a bad stomach ache" or "I know Thomas didn't have sweets that day here, as we never went to the shop!"
It can even be a good safeguarding tool - especially if someone was to report you for doing something such as shouting at Caitlin in the street near Tesco - when you can prove in their Diaries that you never went into town that day and Caitlin wasn't with you it was her day off, etc, etc

I also like the parent's to have something at home to look in as well - ie, if child has paint all under finger nails and they werne't sure what it was .. look in diary it says did painting today

I spend a good 10 mins at home time chatting about our day but sometimes I miss the most obvious things such as cake making which we did the other day... mum came the next morn and said she found a cake in his lunch box and after reading diary she realised why it was there!:D

You don't have to have one, but I think they are very helpful things to have for me anyway, than prove anything to ofsted.

Joda
01-02-2011, 04:11 PM
I've always done daily diaries for my mindee's - when I sent a parent feedback questionnaire out - one of the mum's wrote that the highlight of the day was reading what activities her son had been doing while he was with me.
I must admit it's a bit of a chore at times - especially when I have 3 diaries at a time to fill in though.

AliceK
01-02-2011, 04:34 PM
I do a daily diary about every single half hour of the day, have times of everything (daft I know), also photos of anything interesting (Pogo and stick it in).
Gets a bit difficult when I've got two diaries open at the same time, have to remember who's is which's, I usually have different styles of diary for the children so I don't get too mixed up.
I leave them open on the table and write in them all through the day, so it almost reads like a book!

Same here :thumbsup:

xxx

caz3007
01-02-2011, 06:12 PM
I have started them in the past and then in the end the parents dont bother sending back.

I have started one with a new LO who will be nearly 1 when she starts, but I wont be seeing mum from week to week. Big sister will be dropping off and various others will be collecting her, so mum and I talked about it and felt it was important that we had some kind of contact going. Although obviously I am available for a real time chat if mum needs to

sarah707
01-02-2011, 06:58 PM
I have asked my parents whether they want them or not!

2 said yes please and 2 said it's not worth me writing in them...

1 said she finds it handy for taking out paper when she can't find any :rolleyes:

I used to spend a lot of time doing them and I find my days are freed up now I am only writing a few :D

zillervalley
01-02-2011, 07:07 PM
i think its nice if the parents do take an interest in what is happening in their childs day at a mindee

but i have found that once the mindees reach about 1yr , and are off the bottles and eating normal food, parents loose interest, only gey asked how much sleep he/she had


i have asked parents to sign if they are not wanting me to keep one, just for a reference when mrs o comes

ziller

Baildon bears
01-02-2011, 07:17 PM
I do a daily diary for my 10 month old but it is really brief notes, what he's eaten, poohed, slept. What we have done. I also do a more detailed diary for myself to help me remember what they have done and said and help with my planning. But this is a personal thing that helps me with EYFS

funemnx
01-02-2011, 07:28 PM
I do them cos I have a memory like a sieve and if ive got 3 little ones to remember what we have done all day I'd be in a right state...:D

Also its a nice bit of evidence to show Mrs O about how I work with the parents.

Becky x

My memory's terrible, I'd get mixed up with who slept when and who ate or didn't eat!

Helen Dempster
02-02-2011, 09:27 AM
I've got 4 mindees and only do a daily diary for one of them. I used to do one for all of the mindees, but after speaking to the parents, they all said they weren't that worried as we speak verbally and they didn't read it every day, so we all decided I wouldn't do one unless it was asked for.

Siana
02-02-2011, 11:30 AM
I do a daily diary for myself if that makes sense! I write who i've had, what we did and any issues/observations so that I can show what we have done day to day if asked.

I tell parents verbally what we have done, and do a learning diary of observations.