What to put in a daily report for parents, a ready-to-use template you can copy, real examples for a toddler and a pre-K child, and practical tips for writing teacher notes parents actually read.
For parents of young children, the daily report is the window into a day they did not see. Did she eat lunch? How long did he nap? Why is she so tired tonight? A good preschool daily report answers those questions in under a minute of reading, and takes a teacher only a few minutes to complete if it is logged as the day goes. This guide gives you a template you can use tomorrow, plus examples and tips to make it genuinely useful.
Every program adapts its daycare daily report sheet to its age groups, but the strongest reports cover the same core areas. Keep each one short and factual; parents scan, they do not read essays.
Health observations such as a minor bump, a temperature or medication given should follow your center's incident and medication procedures and be communicated directly, not buried in the daily report.
Copy this into a document, print it as a daily sheet, or use the fields to set up an app. The example column shows the level of detail that works well.
| Field | What to record | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Child / class / date | Name, room or class, date | Maya R. · Toddler Room · Mon 26 Oct |
| Arrival | Time and who dropped off | 8:10 am, Dad |
| Breakfast / snack | Food offered and amount eaten | Oatmeal and banana, ate most |
| Lunch | Food offered and amount eaten | Pasta, peas, yogurt; ate all the pasta, some peas |
| Afternoon snack | Food offered and amount eaten | Crackers and apple slices, ate all |
| Drinks | Water, milk or bottles with amounts if relevant | Water through the day, milk at lunch |
| Nap | Start and end time, how the child settled | 12:45 to 2:20 pm, settled quickly |
| Diapering / toileting | Time and type of each change, or toilet successes and accidents | 9:30 wet, 11:50 BM, 2:30 wet |
| Mood | One word or scale, and why if unusual | Happy, a little clingy after nap |
| Activities | What the class did | Painting with sponges, outdoor play, music circle |
| Learning moment | Something this child did, tried or said | Named three colors while painting |
| Photos | Number attached and what they show | 2 photos: sponge painting, slide |
| Supplies needed | Items to send from home | Diapers (3 left), spare socks |
| Teacher note | 2 to 3 personal sentences | See examples below |
| Departure | Time and who picked up | 5:20 pm, Grandma (authorized) |
Toddler reports lean on care routines. Parents of a two-year-old want exact nap times and meal amounts, because those shape the whole evening.
By pre-K, parents care less about every bathroom visit and more about learning, friendships and independence. Keep the routine fields brief and give the activity and note sections more room.
The teacher note is the part parents remember, and the part that is easiest to make generic. A few habits make a big difference.
Paper sheets work and many centers still use them. The trade-offs become clear once a room has more than a handful of children.
| Paper daily sheet | Preschool app | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Print and go | Set up classes and parent accounts once |
| Logging during the day | Clipboard, filled in when hands are free | Quick taps on a phone right after a meal, nap or change |
| When parents see it | At pickup, if the sheet makes it home | As soon as the teacher sends it |
| Photos and video | Not practical | Attached directly to the update |
| Two-way communication | Notes in the bag, or a conversation at the door | Parent replies by chat |
| Both parents informed | Only whoever picks up | Every linked parent gets it |
| History | Filed or lost | Searchable record per child |
| Cost | Paper and printing | Software subscription |
If you are moving from paper, start by mirroring your current sheet's fields exactly so teachers do not have to learn a new structure at the same time as a new tool. Our guide on how to choose school management software lists questions to ask any vendor before you switch.
The NovaClassHub preschool app is built around the routine above. Teachers log the day on their phone and parents receive it on theirs.
Because it runs on the same platform as the rest of NovaClassHub, centers also get attendance with absence alerts, fee management, a notice board and an event calendar, with native iOS and Android parent apps and a staff web dashboard. Growing into a full school later? The same system covers exams and report cards and bus tracking as part of the school ERP.
See nap and meal logging, photo sharing and parent chat on a demo class. 14-day free trial, no credit card required.
Book a free demoArrival and departure times and who dropped off or picked up, meals and how much was eaten, nap start and end, diapering or toileting, mood, the day's activities and what the child learned, a photo or two, any supplies needed from home, and a short personal note from the teacher.
Toddler reports focus on care routines: exact meal amounts, nap times and every diaper change, because parents use them to plan the evening. Pre-K reports shift toward learning and social development, with toileting noted only when relevant and more detail on activities, skills and friendships.
Log care routines as they happen, such as right after a meal, nap or diaper change, rather than from memory at the end of the day. Add the activity summary and teacher note during a quiet moment in the afternoon so the report is complete before pickup.
Yes. An app lets teachers log meals, naps and activities from a phone during the day, attach photos and videos, and send the update straight to parents with a push notification, so nothing is lost in a bag and parents can reply through chat.
Tell us about your preschool or daycare and how many children you care for. We'll get back within one working day to set up a demo with daily updates, photo sharing and parent chat for a class like yours.