Tracking current attendance and ratios is no doubt one of the most important priorities a childcare director or owner faces each day. Staying ahead of where the teacher to student balance currently sits and trying to make decisions about the next few hours, days, or let’s be honest -minutes – of ratios can take up most of your time throughout the day. In order to serve your students, staff and families effectively, it’s important that you’ve got a system on your side to help you manage the ins and outs of attendance reporting.

At any given time, a director needs to be able to account for who is in each classroom while also considering effective use of ratios and staff.

The importance of childcare attendance reports

Attendance reports are vital when it comes to tracking who has come and gone from your childcare center, including staff as well. It could be for a particular day or over a specific period of time.

For student attendance records, you’ll need to be able to track which guardian or contact is clocking the student in and out so that you can ensure only pre-authorized individuals are picking up each child is important to the safety of your little ones.

For staff attendance records, it is necessary to see when staff were officially on and off the clock. In the event that there is a question about a particular event, you know exactly who was onsite that day to answer any questions you have.

Having a childcare management system

Who is here now?

Jackrabbit Care can help with your attendance tracking and reporting needs. With quick and easy access, you can see a list of students and staff currently checked in. The Here Now Report tells you exactly that.

With a quick link on your dashboard, you can access this information instantly. We understand it is necessary to know who is on campus at all times for various reasons. In the event of an emergency, you can easily account for everyone in the building from this one report.

Are there different types of childcare attendance sheets?

You want to feel confident that your attendance records are valid. Since Jackrabbit is an online childcare management solution, you can use the Clock feature to track attendance the digital way.

Parents and caregivers can check students in and out using the pin pad on a tablet or computer as they enter the facility. Using PIN codes to check students in and out ensures the security of each child since only authorized adults will be able to successfully check the student in or out.

Being able to access the attendance records with an online system keeps the information up-to-date and saves a ton of paper. On the other hand, printed attendance sheets can lose value quickly.

Once a change is made in a single class, the roll sheets are no longer accurate. However, if changes in enrollment aren’t happening regularly, this may not be a concern for you. If you prefer a tangible list to print out for the day, we have those too. From Sign In/Out sheets for the day to Class Rolls for each class, we’ve got you covered.

State regulations can sometimes play a role in determining which attendance method you use, in addition to child-to-adult ratios. Find out if your state has any stipulations on attendance records as you decide what method best meets your childcare center’s needs.

Using the attendance records can also help you determine the best childcare ratios for the programs you offer.

What’s the importance of childcare ratios?

Child-to-adult ratios vary by state and also what type of program you have. You can confirm your state requirements here.

Some programs choose to have a lower child-to-adult ratio than dictated by their state. Either way, being able to easily determine how many staff members should be present on any given day is a necessity.

Other than determining how many adults should be onsite, there are other benefits to consider when deciding on childcare ratios.

• Reasonable group sizes are easy to manage for your staff, ensuring a safer environment for the children.
• Having multiple adults in one room can help reduce frustration and keep children calm.
• Staff can build relationships and bond with the children, giving them one-on-one attention as needed.
• Parents consider the child-to-adult ratio when deciding on a childcare center that is best for their children.
• Staff can provide better quality of care when they are able to focus on teaching instead of just managing the room.

Juggling your administrative tasks, teacher coaching, parent relationships and ratio management can be more than a full time job. With Jackrabbit Care and the Here Now Report, you’ll breathe a little easier knowing that your child care management system is on your side and tracking your attendance accurately and effectively.