Running a childcare center is a time-consuming, often chaotic business. Trying to manage parents, employees, regulations, finances, and children can be overwhelming. Fortunately, in this modern age, there are a variety of electronic tools that can help. Here are six areas in which technology can benefit childcare centers.

 Website and Marketing

The days of relying on word of mouth to attract customers to your business are past. Potential clients are utilizing the internet to research everything from restaurants to dog groomers. Employing a website to provide information to browsing parents is a smart move. 

Additional technology can also keep track of potential families showing interest in your centers, allowing you to gauge demand within the community, and can even provide waiting list management to easily identify and communicate with parents about upcoming openings and their current position on the list.

 Parent Portals

Once a family commits to taking a seat at your center, technology can assist with the enrollment process. A parent portal provides a platform for personal student data, emergency contact information, and specific caregiving instructions. A system like this not only houses the student information but also allows you to easily structure call-outs to families, create calendar invitations for special events, and organize specific information about every student and their family contacts. 

The best part of a parent portal is the flexibility of communication: Parents can log in at their convenience to peruse the information you place there. They can provide you with valuable feedback through the same system.

 Employee Management

Using an online employee management system for housing staffing information, schedules, substitutes, and payroll allow you to focus your time and energy on the children instead of human resources logistics. This technology automates those tedious tasks and drastically reduces your bookkeeping time.

Check-In and Check-Out 

One of the biggest concerns in running a childcare center is student safety. Pick-up and drop-off times can be overly stressful as you implement security protocols to make sure students are arriving safely and leaving with the appropriate caregivers. An online check-in/ check-out system takes this hectic process out of your hands. It organizes it electronically, utilizing parent ID swipes and password-protected log-ins to ensure children are securely transferred from parent to teacher and back again.

 Tuition

Your business can’t be successful without the financial piece, but no one enjoys telling parents they’re late on payments. An electronic tuition system takes this unpleasant job out of your hands. Parents can pay online from the comfort of home, or they can pay cash in your office, and you log in. 

Overdue notices can be automated, so you don’t have to deliver the uncomfortable message personally. Tuition systems can also be integrated with parent portals to keep everything in one convenient place.

 Education Content

Technology not only is wonderful for running the business end but also is extremely helpful in supplementing the “care” aspect in childcare. If you want your center to be more than a babysitting service, consider utilizing technology to supplement your education offerings.

Online platforms can assist with documenting and communicating learning events to engage families in the early education process. Videos, snapshots, and journals from children and their teachers can be shared online with parents, along with tips for continuing the learning once the child goes home. Children can develop online learning portfolios that can follow them throughout their educational career, growing with them as they progress. Technology can also assist your childcare professionals in developing age-appropriate lessons that are also engaging and fun.

You could try to run your business the old-fashioned way, relying on notebooks and file folders. However, technology can handle that side of the job efficiently, allowing you to focus on what’s important: the children.