Procare U: Sneak Preview
Introducing Procare U
Looking for a way to improve and test your knowledge of Procare Software®? We’re introducing a new type of learning with Procare University, affectionately known as “Procare U”.
There are already a few sample lessons available, but before we get to that I want to share our vision of Procare U for the future.
As of April 2012, new lessons are available. See: Learn Procare at Procare U
Will Procare U be Different from Webinars or Training?
Yes! Procare U will target specific task competencies by the type of work done (and your level of responsibility) with the pace controlled by you. Maybe you just need to learn to add family information, set up billing and run a few reports, but nothing more. You, or someone from your company, will be able to assign just the classes you need – making the best use of your time by quickly getting to the heart of your studies. Continue reading
A Car Seat for Your Daycare Data
Of course you know the motto “Safety First”. On field trips I’m certain every one of the toddlers and preschoolers in your care (and perhaps a teddy bear too) is lovingly helped into their car seats to keep them secure. You may even have posters displayed or a song to sing about being safe. In fact at my children’s elementary school “Be Safe” is the very first part of their school motto.
Car seats for children? Well, of course. That kind of precaution is so ingrained in us it’s practically automatic. But how is using a car seat in any way related to the childcare database entered on your computer? Well, your data is important for sure. Can you imagine losing all that accounting history – payments received, deposits made, balances owed – not to mention basic name, address and emergency contact information, immunizations and more? It could be not only time consuming, but perhaps impossible to accurately re-create.
So what do I mean by a “car seat” for your data? Continue reading
Cool Kid Activities for Indoor Summer Fun
Beat the Summer Heat with Creative Indoor Activities
During the summer months, I talk to a lot of child care center owners and directors who live in warmer climates and tell me that some days are so hot they have to keep the children inside to avoid dehydration. I can’t imagine how hard that would be for kids when the sun is shining but it’s just not safe to play outside. In Oregon, our kids don’t go out when it rains but then again, who wants to anyway.
Keeping kids indoors all day can drive both adults and children stir crazy. The reprieve of running around and blowing off steam helps keep children better focused while in the classroom and not having that outlet can be difficult.
As a mother, I run into this with my own 6 year old. Too many hours without exercise or projects can be a source of frustration for both her and I. Here’s a list of projects that have fared well for our family in keeping our daughter happy and well occupied. Continue reading
Pinewood Derby Day at Procare
In celebration of July 4th and just to have a little fun, the staff at Procare Software® recently ran our 1st annual pinewood derby style race known as the “Firecracker 5000”. Each person built their car starting with a standard pinewood derby car kit and customized it to their liking. There were separate competitions for speed and cleverness of design.
The secret to a fast race, according to winner Steve Suarez (tech support), was to use massive amounts of dry graphite to lubricate the wheels, so much so, that the sleek yellow car ended up graphite gray by the time the race was finished. Coming in second was software engineer Danny Pomeroy with Andy Spliefhof (web design & marketing) taking home the third place trophy.
For the design portion of the competition each person voted for their three favorite cars. There were a lot of nicely crafted cars so it was hard to choose but the top three are shown below. Continue reading
New! Pre-Register Children Online
Finger painting is fun all right, but it can sure get messy! Perhaps the pre-enrollment process at your child care business is like that too – a little bit messy? Although you want to follow up with families who express interest you don’t want to spin your wheels or spend excessive staff time on data entry or paperwork until they’re ready to put some money down and officially enroll.
Clean Up Your Wait List & Pre-Registration
How many times have you spoken with an enthusiastic parent – ready to get on your waiting list – only to discover a short time later they found other child care or are no longer interested? You might refer to this period before enrollment as the “research” or “waiting” stage when a family wants to be on your list, but isn’t yet ready to commit – or perhaps is waiting to see if a slot will open up for their child.
Of course you could spend time manually taking down information about their children, or ask them to fill out your full set of enrollment forms, but there is an easier way. Continue reading