May is a month of graduations. Colleges and high schools find seniors getting ready to transition from one stage in life to the next. High school graduates prepare for their college days to begin and many college graduates prepare for their careers to begin. And while much focus is put on the high school and college graduations, even the youngest child care students at preschools across the country mark their last days with their own graduations ceremonies.
Child care families approach the education that they seek for their children as just as important as the families of older students. Although babysitting used to be a fairly simple arrangement between a neighbor or a relative and the family of the young child, child care today is far more involved than anything that was going on a generation ago. Parents expect caring, safe environments and educational opportunities for even their youngest children. It makes sense then that the payment and record keeping systems of day cares and preschools around the country need to be more detail oriented and accessible than what parents wanted just a few years ago.
We live in a world that is dependent on technology so it should come as no surprise that families who spend a significant portion of their income on day care want access to their payment records for both personal book keeping and tax preparing reasons. A child care management system can help providers generate immediate digital records for the parent any child under their care.
Some of the things that a child care management software system can provide include:
- Collections and payment records. No more disputes about who has paid and when they paid.
- End of the year summaries for tax purposes.
- Daily details for infants, including feeding, changing, and napping schedules.
- Child safety recalls and other important national news that may be of value for families.
- Security measures that provide photos of other trusted adults who are allowed to pick up day care children at the end of the day.
- Social media posts about upcoming family events and days when a center may be closed, including emergency weather announcements.
- Social media posts about upcoming family events and days when a center may be closed, including emergency weather announcements.
- Parent phone apps that allow clients to check on the progress of their child during the day without calling and interrupting the care their child is receiving.
- Weekly announcements like daily meal choices.
In a society where many homes have two working parents more and more parents are looking for quality child care and preschool options. And while many centers may be able to offer care that is comparable to other centers, these owners need to find a way to acknowledge the financial investment that is being made. In a country where 32.7 million children are in child care arrangements during the day, organized facilities take care of 25% of those child care arrangements.
As an increasing number of families entrust the care of their children to out of home locations, these parents need to know that their child is being cared for and educated, but they also need to have a way to access what is going on in their child’s day. Imagine how many times during a week an employed mother thinks about her child who is in preschool during the 36 hours hours a week that child is in day care.
Apps that allow parents to see details about their child’s day are less likely to worry about the their child when they are apart.
Today’s Day Care Center Choices Are Financial Investments That Families Make
While many families in the past, and some families today, entrust the care of their young children to in home care by relatives, a growing number of families look to day care centers to provide the educational stimulation their children need. Child care centers need to provide excellent care for the children entrusted to them. They must also, however, offer extras their competitors do not. A day care management software system can help your center improve the communication with parents as well as provide daily, monthly, and weekly updates. Financial records and payments become much easier to manage with the best software package.