Sharing Information With Parents

[Guest]

I work in a creche that has a large proportion of under 3 year olds. I wonder how other people share information with parents of children in this age group? We have a sheet with lots of headings that we fill in during each session for each child (which is quite time consuming I think). Do other settings do this? I wonder if there are other methods that could be used instead eg a nursery/home book or just a chat with the key worker, or just a board showing the activities of the session and what they had to eat?

 

Would be very interested to see what others do - whether creches or other types of setting? I quite like the idea of a home/setting book, (as this would mean a two way flow of information rather than just one way as at the moment) although would parents remember to bring it in if only attending once a week?

[Cait]

WE have the two-way books, which we write in and parents write in , both stick pictures in. We make parents aware that by using this they are contributing to their child's learning story file.

We have whiteboards showing the adult, or planned activities, and also complete these over the course of the day for child-led and spontaneous activities.

We have a rota for children choosing snack - they are the session helper and also do the weather, day/date board. They stick pictures of the food they would like for snack time on the snack board.

Any parent who is interested can be informed what their child has eaten, but we find that normally they are quite happy for us just to get on with it. Naturally if a child chooses not to eat, then we would flag that up with the parents after the session. All the food available for choosing is liked by all the children, with the exception of a few of the older children who don't like bananas, but as that's only one choice from the selection, there's always something else they can have instead.

[Guest]

Thanks for that Cait - your two-way books sound really good - and also like the idea of the whiteboard showing parents what they children have done that day. Also love the idea of children choosing the snack (and that parents don't mind not having a detailed account of the snack each child has eaten) - lots for me to work on here!

[Guest]

I use a daily contact book for the under threes - not linked at all to learning diaries, no photo's/observations - but details nappy changes, what food and drink they've eaten, sleeptimes and a brief overview of activities they've taken part in and enjoyed or places we've visited. Parents can then let me know if, for eg. their child has had a bad nights sleep etc.

[Guest]

Hi,

 

We used to have sheets but started using home-link books and they have been very well received both by parents and staff. We bought some bright fluorescent coloured A5 size books from a large stationery provider and I think the colour interests the children as they are very fond of their books. They are always really interested in what we put in them, which varies from toiletting, what they had for lunch/snack or what they did during the session. Parents are encouraged to contribute with news of what they did at the weekend, mentioning lost items, or warning us of ups and downs in their child's moods. All in all a good idea and you can look at the progress of the child as it is all recorded. Also, each book starts as a blank canvas, which can be tailored to the individual child, not fitting the child to the columns on the printed forms.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Regards

Lesley