From initial registration forms to contracts, emergency contact forms and questionnaires about each child, there are hundreds of possible documents that your staff and parents must complete so your child care center has the information it needs to operate each and every day.
Child care providers are ALWAYS busy, and COVID-19 has only added more tasks to a laundry list of items that need to be completed on a daily basis. One of the activities that drains the most time is storing and sorting critical information needed to run the center. Fall behind, and it becomes impossible to find what you need, when you need it. However, by implementing a digital document policy for your child care forms, you can start to tackle the mountain of paper records your facility has likely accumulated and give all your staff time to focus on other essential tasks.
In fact, HiMama customers save an average of 3 hours a day after making the switch to digital documentation! Here’s a step-by-step guide on how you (and your staff) can get time back in your day as well.
Send Electronic Forms
The simplest way to start making your child care forms more accessible is to provide parents with electronic documents to complete, rather than handing out physical paper forms. Whether you are gathering information for new enrollments or just need to update your records, consider emailing parents the forms you require in a Word or PDF document that they can complete easily from their computer and send back to you. Having this information enclosed in digital files makes it easier to find, search and update records at any time.
Create an Online Portal
Completion of forms and registration can be made easy by creating a space on your website for parents to access and fill out any required documents. You can simply direct parents to this area on your website, where all forms are hosted for their convenience. The completed child care forms can then be emailed directly to an administrator at your daycare center or stored in an electronic database for reference at a later date.
Increase Parent Confidence
If you’re interested in further reducing the physical paper records that your daycare creates and manages, you may wish to invest in childcare software. Everything from your attendance tracking, daily reports, meal records and more can be recorded digitally using a tablet. During COVID-19, having all the important information easily accessible is critical to ensuring parents maintain trust in your center. Best of all, they are way more affordable – and helps in many more ways – than you may think!
Thinking of going digital in 2021? We’d love to help you understand your options and make the transition to digital recordkeeping as easy as 1-2-3!
