Scheduling can be as easy as 1,2,3!

Scheduling in childcare is most often one of the biggest challenges that Directors and Administrators face each and every day, especially in our post Covid world. How are centers keeping up with the ever growing demand of childcare without appropriate staffing? Many centers nationwide are overworked, understaffed and on the brink of closing their doors. In a childcare world full of counting FTE's and al a carte hours, centers simply cannot keep up.

Many times as a childcare director, I would put myself in a classroom to send home teachers and staff to prevent burnout, all the while burning myself out. And sadly that is the norm each and every day. But why? Why do we as childcare professionals allow this to be the norm? Here is why: we have not had the tools to make scheduling easier, more efficient, and quite frankly brainless. Our pen and paper, notebooks, excel spreadsheets and sticky notes are just not cutting it! Countless hours sitting behind the computer with software that is suppose to help you, yet not getting the help that we really need. Scrambling at the last minute to cover someone's lunch break because you missed someone on your 2 page staff schedule masterpiece, and now you need to cover a break all the while needing to get yourself something to eat because your lunch is sitting at home where you forgot it, because you had to come in and open due to a call out. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL!!!!

A lot of us have experience using a variety of childcare software, and the software is supposed to help us, but does it really? Does it give us the information to help us with one of our biggest pain points: scheduling? What if I were to tell you that there is a tool to make this part of the day easier for you? You heard that clearly, there is a tool out there that was designed by a child care owner to help alleviate the pain he saw his own directors going through with scheduling. And get this- it really works!!

I had the pleasure of using this software in the childcare centers I managed and it was a dream come true! It literally saved me 10-20 hours a week on scheduling alone! I had no idea what to do with my extra time, and peace of mind! I was able to connect with my teachers, children and families in a way that I had never been able to before. I was able to take a lunch break and not worry that I missed a break for a teacher. I was able to leave at the end of the day and know that everything was in place and there was accurate coverage. My overtime hours went down, my teachers were happier, and my center started to run like a well oiled machine. After 20+ years in childcare I finally had found the holy grail of childcare management software- Child Care Seer.

Let me explain a little. Within Child Care Seer, there is a tool called Schedule Insights. It uses the schedule you set for the children, and for the staff, and tells you where your staffing holes or overages are. Let me repeat, the software tells you where your holes or overages are! I'll hold while you think about that for a minute (que hold music). Now that you have had a moment, just imagine what you can do with that information. Oh and here is the best part, are you ready? Child Care Seer lets you see scheduling into the future, so weeks from now when you have 3 teachers off, Schedule Insights will tell you that you are in need of staff and what shifts and days you need it for. And if you have children absent, especially during the holidays, it will automatically give you up to date information and let you see that you are able to send a teacher home early, combine classrooms, or give extra planning time!

I know it sounds to good to be true, but it's true! Oh and one more thing, you can try Child Care Seer for free, yes free! Who doesn't love free? I know I do. Once you try it, you will see just how intuitive this software is. Our job as a director is challenging enough from day to day, and having tools in our toolbelt to help us with our challenges is invaluable. Go on over to the Child Care Seer website and take a look and go ahead and start for free, you will not regret it!