It’s another normal day at your childcare facility or school. Parents hug their kids goodbye. And they hope that everything goes well while they’re at work or out for the day. In contrast, when the kids stay with grandma for the weekend, the parents get regular updates throughout the day. The work days are long without their little ones.
Technology can help improve parent involvement and family engagement with regular communication.
This opens doors for parents to talk with their children after school about the activities they enjoyed. And parents can provide learning moments and engagement opportunities for any trouble spots the teachers mentioned.
Here are five ways technology engages families in childcare.
1. Keep the Conversation Going
Technology opens doors for two-way communication throughout the day between parents and teachers. For example, when a parent drops their children off for childcare, they might mention their child hasn’t seemed normal or might be struggling with something.
Teachers can ease this concern with a message a few hours later saying the child is eating and playing normally. Or a teacher might express concern over abnormal behavior during the school day. The parent can watch for this behavior throughout the evening and report back on it. It’s a partnership that helps raise amazing children.
2. Showcase Appropriate Technology Use
Children can learn the benefits of using technology from a young age. Seeing proper technology use from a young age can help teach them discipline.
Instilling in children an enjoyment for educational mobile applications can be a great benefit. Instead of just playing any mobile app games, they’ll enjoy games that enhance their lifelong learning.
3. Enhance but don’t Replace In-person Interactions
Remind your educators to use technology as a tool to enhance relationships. But never forget that nothing beats face-to-face time with parents at drop off, pick up and open house nights. Technology is a great tool to keep the conversation going all day long, but does not serve as a replacement.
4. Engage Children Through Technology
Show and tell can be difficult for preschoolers to remember why they brought in an item or what story they were going to tell. Parents can get engaged in their child’s education by taking photos and videos of their children presenting show and tell that can teachers can play in the classroom.
This gives parents a role in education and pride in what their children are learning. The videos and photos can also be a great keepsake as a reminder of what their children learned at your facility.
5. Use Technology to Communicate with Parents All at Once
If you have an online forum or email listserv, you can share tips on books children enjoy in the classroom so parents can read them at home too. You can also share information about good educational mobile apps and board games that can encourage learning to happen outside the classroom as well.
To maximize your childcare facility’s engagement with families, implement childcare management software. iCare builds customer loyalty, helps facilitate education and simplifies administration for facility managers.
Schedule a demo today to learn more about how childcare software builds engagement with parents.