In 2011, a survey by Edutopia.org found that an online parent portal was the second most desired ways parents wanted to receive news from their children’s school. At the time, nearly half logged in once or twice a week while another quarter of the parents surveyed checked in three to five times per week.
That was six years ago. Since then the online world has continued to grow with more and more people using the internet for everything from searching to shopping for groceries. It should come as no surprise that today’s parents expect to be able to keep up with their children’s daily lives online as well.
For childcare programs, a parent portal and other applications integrated into childcare management software have become necessities. The ability to invoice electronically and process payments via multiple pathways is one capability that benefits parents by providing a choice of payment options.
Most parents don’t want to leave their children in a care situation; anything that can ease their minds about how the kids are doing while the parents or guardians are at work is essential. In the same Edutopia, study parents gave the following feedback regarding access to a parent portal:
When a parent portal was available, 86% of parents took the opportunity to speak to their child about activities and information found on the portal while about half used it to communicate with the educator or staff.
The bottom line is that parents seek to maintain a close relationship with their children and appreciate the connection a parent portal offers.
Childcare management software offers the capability to send detailed invoices and annual tax statements via email or posted on the parent portal. While your facility can still provide printed invoices each month, an online document is easier to keep track of for parents, especially those with multiple children in care.
If you look at the amount of paper that is sent home each day, from art projects to invitations, it’s no surprise that a printed invoice could be missed.
As the use of online banking and payment has become more secure, the convenience of online payment is a positive addition to the parents’ experience of the childcare environment. Parents prefer online payment options for the following reasons:
Besides the attraction of online invoicing and payment, parents benefit from automated payment processing. For those parents who write checks for tuition, the check clears quickly and simplifies their record-keeping.
If a parent receives subsidies, your childcare management software is equipped to handle the additional administrative tasks of recording a payment from more than one source and crediting each subsidy to the correct account. The software also makes preparing refunds and prorated invoices convenient for both your facility and the parent.
The calendar function allows parents to keep track of dates your facility is closed as well as when various activities take place such as:
Childcare management software has features that allow parents to email documents or edit a child’s online records for immunization, address changes, and other information important to the child’s health and care. Also, you can easily provide a complete record for each child when parents ask.
Digital or automated check-in and check-out procedures benefit both the staff and parents by reducing the amount of pandemonium that occurs every morning and afternoon. Not only is the process quicker, but it is also more accurate than depending on manual written sign-up sheets. When parents need to get to work, the knowledge that there will be few delays at the childcare drop-off can ease the stress. At going-home time, everyone is tired, and automation makes sign out a snap.
For afterschool programs, automated attendance tracking tells parents whether their children are arriving at the program as expected, particularly for older children who are capable of leaving the school grounds with friends instead. Peace of mind is a cherished commodity in many neighborhoods and communities.
Automatic notification expedites urgent messages about weather and facility closings, lock-downs, or unexpected absences. It’s also a convenient way to send reminders on specific dates for events or to set up parent-caregiver meetings. Most software communicates notifications via:
Gone are the days when parents dropped their children off at daycare and had no further contact with the facility beyond the occasional emergency phone call. Parents who needed or wanted to speak to caregivers had to wait until the staff was available or rely on a written note sent with the child.
Today’s parents expect to be able to check on their child at any time of day.
The benefits of childcare management software are often touted for staff and childcare facilities. But the parents benefit, too. Research reviews of childcare facilities to see how many parents appreciate the various ways they can interact with their childcare facility when it’s so easy to make payments, sign in and out, and receive news about their kids.
Childcare management software has made the daycare and aftercare experience much less stressful for both the childcare program and the parents.