A family handbook is key to your child care center’s bottom line and reputation. A logical structure can make or break the effectiveness of your child care center’s family handbook.
That was one of the lessons shared by Kelly Matthews and Paula Drew of the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association in a recent episode of the Child Care Business Podcast about child care family handbooks.
Let’s break down their advice for the structure of a family handbook, which includes organizing the content sequentially to mirror a family’s interaction with your program from enrollment to daily operations!
1. Welcome Section
Begin with a warm welcome and an introduction to your mission, values and programming philosophy. Use this section to connect with families on a personal level and share what makes your program unique.
2. General Operations
Outline everyday processes families need to be aware of, such as:
- Hours of operation (including drop-off/pick-up windows and contract-specific hours).
- Annual closures for holidays or professional development days.
- Field trip logistics, including permission slips and volunteer guidelines.
- Specific expectations for attendance, and policies for absences, vacations and withdrawals.
3. Policies for Daily Routine
Cover the essentials, such as:
- Lunch and snack arrangements (including accommodations for allergies or food preferences).
- Procedures for toilet training, ensuring your approach is clearly communicated to align parent and program philosophies.
4. Emergency Procedures
Include detailed evacuation plans, communication protocols and steps in case of unforeseen circumstances such as inclement weather or lockdowns.
Clearly outline how parents will be notified and where children will be relocated if necessary.
5. Health and Safety
Explain how you ensure cleanliness, monitor immunization schedules and conduct health checks. Describe your process for managing communicable diseases and ensuring children’s well-being.
6. Tuition and Payment Policies
Specify tuition fees, sibling discounts, payment methods, late payment penalties and fee-raising schedules. Transparency here minimizes surprises and fosters trust.
7. Curriculum and Learning Philosophy
Share details about your curriculum, learning goals, methods of assessment and communication around milestones. Include how parents can participate and stay informed about their child’s progress.
8. Confidentiality Policies
Explicitly state how families’ private information will be stored securely and who has access to sensitive documentation.
9. Staff Qualifications and Ratios
Communicate staff credentials, child-to-teacher ratios and your approach to maintaining a safe and nurturing environment.
10. Acknowledgment Form
End with an acknowledgment form that parents sign to confirm they’ve read and agreed to your policies.
Stay Connected to Your Families!
It doesn’t matter how useful your child care handbook is if families don’t read it. And today’s families expect a digital version that you should provide them by email and through an app.
Create, format, digitally sign and store important documents all in one place with Procare’s eDocuments feature. This feature enables a center or school to send and manage documents online, including handbooks, enrollment contracts, incident reports and permission slips. Convenient reminders can be sent to review and digitally sign documents, removing the need to print documents to sign.
When you are looking to build stronger connections with the families you serve, a friendly and easy-to-use child care mobile app is the answer.
Procare’s robust child care management solution has enhanced family engagement functionality and through the child care mobile app, you can immerse parents into their children’s day-to-day activities – from tracking developmental milestones to sharing photos and videos to enabling two-way communication.
Learn more about how the Procare child care mobile app can help your child care center keep you connected with your families!
