The 2025 Child Care Business Trends Report from Procare Solutions showed that using a daycare app continues to grow — the number of respondents to the survey used to compile the report who said they use a child care mobile app increased 7% from last year.

This confirms that a child care mobile app is no longer a nice perk. Families expect them and they are a necessity for real-time communication. 

And this type of family communication makes days less stressful for your staff! This is important because the report also found that about half of respondents said staff burnout is a serious problem.

Another stat — the report found that roughly one-third of respondents said parent communication is a task that takes up most of their time when managing daily responsibilities, along with lesson planning and reporting:

Using Technology Isn’t Just for Young Employees

Some of the youngest ECE staff were raised during the COVID years. That means they understand and prefer technology to working with pen and paper. Using apps is second nature to them. 

But don’t assume more seasoned employees will be apprehensive to use apps! According to Forbes, 65.6% of baby boomers (aged 57 to 75) own a smartphone and around 55% have a tablet. 

“This generation uses apps that help them maintain a better quality of life,” the magazine said. And less stress at work is a key part of reaching that goal. 

Using Apps Frees Up Staff Time

Families love seeing what their child is doing every day. But often, teachers are too bogged down to spend time developing relationships with families.

Too many centers aren’t using an app to take care of simple administrative functions. For example, half of survey respondents said they still use paper and pen sheets to sign students in and out of their centers. This is more work for staff who are already busy. 

And about 40% still use paper notes given out at pick-up time to tell parents what their children did during the day. Again, this is another manual task for time-strapped teachers that could be completed more efficiently with the use of an app.

Here’s what the Procare Solutions report found about how teachers are communicating with families:

Simplify Assessments 

Online assessments are easier when teachers can log milestones in a single platform, with an app. This eliminates tedious paperwork and ensures all information is organized, searchable and easy to access. 

So instead of jotting down notes and then later transferring them to a report, teachers can input their observations directly into an app! Using technology that can connect customized learning standards, daily activities and milestones with early learning education state standards will aid centers in meeting these state requirements.

Vine Assessments integrates with Procare’s engagement functionality and allows teachers to assess their students in the moment by recording observations and tracking milestones with ease. Child care staff and teachers can quickly and easily make observations and share them with families through the child’s digital assessment portfolio with the Procare child care mobile app.

Teachers can tie their lessons and observations directly to the appropriate Vine Assessments indicator, all from within the web-based software and the Procare child care mobile app!

The Procare Child Care Mobile App Can Help!

Using child care management software for automated tuition collection and payment processing continues to grow as it becomes necessary to successfully run a business and give families the technology they crave. The same is true of child care mobile apps. 

But even as families continue to want more engagement and digital payment options, the Procare Solutions survey showed that about 44% of respondents rely on paper and pencil to run their businesses, which can translate to more work — and more stress — for staff.

Procare streamlines administrative functions while making life easier for administrators, teachers and parents so you can focus on what matters most — better outcomes for the children in your care. 

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. The Procare Solutions report shows that centers continue to embrace using daycare apps.

If you center is not using a child care app, now is the time to catch up!

Procare’s robust child care management solution has enhanced family engagement functionality. 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. This also reduces the time your teachers must spend on these tasks! 

Procare enables contactless check-in/out with the choice of using QR codes, GPS curbside or both with our child care mobile app and optional kiosks. 

Learn more about how the Procare child care mobile app can de-stress your staff, simplify running your business and give families the real-time communication they want!