Cloud-based management systems are increasingly becoming more popular – and it’s not surprising. Cloud migration comes with a lot of business-changing benefits such as scalability, software update automation, reducing IT costs, greater mobility, data security, and more. This technical jargon might sound strange but it all boils down to two things: easier business management and better revenue.
Because of these benefits, businesses from different industries are fast adopting this IT trend. Just like other enterprises, childcare centers can gain much from going digital. It can greatly help improve work efficiency and services in your daycare center. Childcare management software simplifies the complicated tasks involved in running a child care business. With the tedious back-office job done, your team can focus on more important matters.
Here we take a look at the competitive advantages of deploying child care software in your daycare center.
Automate paperwork
Child care forms are an essential part of running a daycare center for both the parents and staff. Daycare staff accomplishes numerous reports on a daily basis, such as daily report sheets, check-in signatures for licensing, progress forms, diaper checks, and infant supply lists. Aside from these forms, there are still other administrative documents that need to be filed every now and then, such as tuition bills and receipts, incident reports, and activity schedules.
Owners or managers still have various other forms to work on such as communication log, evaluation forms, staff survey, etc. Add to that, there are crucial regulatory documents that need to be presented for compliance and reimbursement purposes. Miss any paperwork and you’re license or reimbursement hang in the balance.
As you can see, running a childcare business is all about documentation. It’s essential for the staff to accomplish all these forms while fulfilling their childcare functions.
By implementing a childcare management platform, you can streamline processes and automate all these documents. It will free up a lot of time from you and your staff’s daily tasks. Using the software, they can easily accomplish necessary forms with just a click and in a shorter span of time.
Focus on childcare
Freeing up your staff members of the administrative duties will give them more time to focus on the children. Instead of running through a mound of paper forms, they will simply turn on the computer to complete daily reports.
Actually, one of the concerns of early childhood education professionals is that they’re spending too much time on paper reports instead of practicing what they love most – that is to take care of the kids. Automating the paperwork can help unburden your staff who become more productive and satisfied at work. After all, childcare professionals have studied and trained to guide children as they grow and not to fill out forms.
Observe closely the child’s development
Childcare management software enables you to record more information about every child under your care. With plenty of information, you create a more accurate profile about the child’s progress and development while in your program.
Recording milestones and observations in real-time allow your team to track the child’s growth more holistically and recognize patterns in behavior. This will give staff members a better understanding of every child’s progress and adjust their individual programs accordingly. Compared to paper and pen reports, digitizing your monitoring can record better information.
For the parents, they will have a detailed history of their child. Many parents want to have a digital record of their kids’ milestones that they can look back to. Medical providers can also use this information to identify developmental or health issues. For instance, a doctor can track what foods might have been eaten that has caused the allergies.
Improve connection with parents
Family participation and engagement is vital to a good childcare program. Messaging apps can be integrated into the childcare software so you can easily and instantaneously communicate with the children’s families. Through the app, parents can be kept well-informed about how their child is doing – and this can give them peace of mind and confidence in your center.
Regular updates also help them feel closer to the program. It also allows them to give suggestions as to how the program can be improved. There are also apps that allow parents to check on their kids in real-time. These guarantees that the children are well taken care of and that they are safe. The software can also automatically send a detailed daily report to the parents through email or mobile.
Child support software gives them virtual access to the center. It makes them feel they are still involved in the care of their child.
Safety and security
Childcare software guarantees the safety and security of data stored in it. It comes with security features that ensure that only authorized people can have access to the system.
When the daycare center doesn’t have a dedicated program, information is most likely sent through text or social media. This opens up an opportunity for hackers to snoop on your private details. In contrast, when you share information through childcare software, the data is encrypted and cannot be breached.
Improve service
As mentioned above, the bottom line of all these benefits is the improvement in the overall quality of the childcare program. Streamlining the administrative and business processes will lead to quality daycare services. Giving access to the children’s families opens up an opportunity for collaboration which will help further improve your center.
Employee satisfaction will likewise positively impact your business. Since they are focused on the children, they will be able to fulfill their duties and roles. Management-wise, you’ll be able to accomplish all necessary paperwork related to the day-to-day operations, legal and financial matters without much hassle.
With good service to offer, prospective customers will definitely feel more secured and confident about your program. Hence, they are more likely to entrust their kids to you.
Finally, investing in child care software is something that every early childhood education provider should consider. This might seem like a major undertaking, but once you’ve started the process, everything should go smoothly.
