DOES ANYONE USE A HOME CONTACT BOOK?

**silvermist** · 07-12-2011, 06:22 PM

Hi everyone, Do people generally use a home/childminders book or a seperate 'look what I did today' sheet or is a simple conversation with parents at the end of the day enough? Not sure what to do, any ideas?
Teresa x

**green puppy** · 07-12-2011, 06:43 PM

I use a hard back A5 book for each child as their "daily diary". This is the general layout:
Date
Breakfast
lunch
tea
sleeps
nappies
my day (this is a short summery of what child has done from child's perspective)
cm comments (could be noting achievements, child's mood, anything important to tell or questions I have.....)
parents comments

All my parents love them and put in comments, we don't always have as much time to chat every morning and evening with kids leaving at different times and sometimes things get forgotton so this works really well. Also shows a working parent partnership at inspection time!! I sometimes add little pogo photos and the children also like to add a line of "writing". Really up to you what you do though, it's not a requirement but is seen as good practice.

**VeggieSausage** · 07-12-2011, 06:46 PM

yes i use a daily diary for mine lo's, run down of what we have done, what lo has eaten, naps, nappies, drinks, and anything else, encourage parents to comment but they don't often

**kellib** · 07-12-2011, 06:47 PM

Originally Posted by green puppy

I use a hard back A5 book for each child as their "daily diary". This is the general layout:
Date
Breakfast
lunch
tea
sleeps
nappies
my day (this is a short summery of what child has done from child's perspective)
cm comments (could be noting achievements, child's mood, anything important to tell or questions I have.....)
parents comments

All my parents love them and put in comments, we don't always have as much time to chat every morning and evening with kids leaving at different times and sometimes things get forgotton so this works really well. Also shows a working parent partnership at inspection time!! I sometimes add little pogo photos and the children also like to add a line of "writing". Really up to you what you do though, it's not a requirement but is seen as good practice.

I do the same but I don't think the parents even read them! They certainly don't comment on them!

Penny1959 · 07-12-2011, 06:51 PM

I do a daily dairy for each child - as others a A5 hard back book

Penny

**Velleity** · 07-12-2011, 06:54 PM

I have receieved a single comment back from my parent in three months that said 'It would be nice if you could take her to the library sometime'. I had taken her to the Library the day before.

**silvermist** · 07-12-2011, 06:58 PM

Thanks everyone for replyling, think I'll go with the daily diary, hard back book. Great thats another thing sorted!

**jojobell** · 07-12-2011, 07:08 PM

i use comunication books, same as daily diary only parents also write in their days too................ofsted loved it!

**green puppy** · 07-12-2011, 07:15 PM

Originally Posted by jojobell

i use comunication books, same as daily diary only parents also write in their days too................ofsted loved it!

This is what my parents do, some write a full 2 pages after the weekend!! One child who I have had for 3 years has 7 books as his mum loves to write in it.

**silvermist** · 07-12-2011, 07:16 PM

Thanks, Im glad I asked now, do the parents write stuff in on weekends etc, so you know what theyve been up to?

**green puppy** · 07-12-2011, 07:18 PM

Originally Posted by kellib

I do the same but I don't think the parents even read them! They certainly don't comment on them!

That's a shame, maybe you could encourage them by popping a photo in or asking them to jot down a few things child has done at weekend or something. One of my parents told another one off for not always reading his childs diary as she said I put so much effort into them! They are friends so it was fine but it worked as he now jots the odd comment more often along with childs mum.

**green puppy** · 07-12-2011, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by tinksplace

Thanks, Im glad I asked now, do the parents write stuff in on weekends etc, so you know what theyve been up to?

Mine write in them every evening and any days inbetween that I don't have the child, they also write about holidays.

**loocyloo** · 07-12-2011, 07:22 PM

i use A5 folders and put a sheet in each day with food, sleeps, nappies and what we did. plus any notes for the parents, photos etc.

i use A5 sheets as then, if they forget one day, i can still write & send home the sheet! when the folder is full, i take all the sheets out, date them and ties them together an dgive them back to the parents to keep.

i have a couple of pages at the back for parents to comment, pass messages etc. amazingly at the moment ALL my parents write me messages !!!

**kellib** · 07-12-2011, 07:23 PM

Originally Posted by green puppy

That's a shame, maybe you could encourage them by popping a photo in or asking them to jot down a few things child has done at weekend or something. One of my parents told another one off for not always reading his childs diary as she said I put so much effort into them! They are friends so it was fine but it worked as he now jots the odd comment more often along with childs mum.

Believe me I've tried, I even put one parents receipts in the diary to see if they even opened the book, the book came back for 2 days with the receipt still inside

I'm still going to do them, it keeps me right

**silvermist** · 07-12-2011, 07:26 PM

Great, off to the shops for me for some A5 books,(any excuse to go shopping

) Im guessing you can use stuff written in them by parents to give you ideas for activities etc. If they've been to wedding or zoo you could use that in your planning?

**green puppy** · 07-12-2011, 07:28 PM

Originally Posted by kellib

Believe me I've tried, I even put one parents receipts in the diary to see if they even opened the book, the book came back for 2 days with the receipt still inside

I'm still going to do them, it keeps me right

It shows you are trying!! I think it's nice that we take the time to create something that I'm sure the child and parents will enjoy looking back on!!

I also find them useful for planning as I can look back at everything we have done.

**green puppy** · 07-12-2011, 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by tinksplace

Great, off to the shops for me for some A5 books,(any excuse to go shopping

) Im guessing you can use stuff written in them by parents to give you ideas for activities etc. If they've been to wedding or zoo you could use that in your planning?

Exactly! I sometimes photo copy pages that indicate any queries or possible concerns along with any complimentary feedback!

**loocyloo** · 07-12-2011, 07:32 PM

Originally Posted by tinksplace

Great, off to the shops for me for some A5 books,(any excuse to go shopping

) Im guessing you can use stuff written in them by parents to give you ideas for activities etc. If they've been to wedding or zoo you could use that in your planning?

yep! really good to link in with what the parents have been doing at home. if i've done that, i then add a comment to the learning journal to say why we did something!

hopefully, you will be able to 'train' your parents to tell you things in advance!

**silvermist** · 07-12-2011, 07:33 PM

Originally Posted by green puppy

It shows you are trying!! I think it's nice that we take the time to create something that I'm sure the child and parents will enjoy looking back on!!

I also find them useful for planning as I can look back at everything we have done.

I think its nice too, especially when you look at them years later and see how much fun your child had.

I do love making new things, folders etc!!!

**rosebud** · 07-12-2011, 08:14 PM

I use an A5 sized diary sheet. It has "about our day", meals, nappies & sleeps on the front and then a space for observations, next steps and parents comments on the back. I send them home in a plastic folder and ask parents to send them back the next day. Sometimes they write on them, sometimes they don't. I then file them in the childs learning journey - observations done, next steps done, communication with parents done.