Blog

How do you leave your mark on the world through child care? Establish a vision with your own child care philosophy. Learn why this is so important.

Knowing which child care positions need to be filled is key for a well-run center. Learn more about what role they play in your succcess!

Check out these five gobbly good ideas for turkey crafts that each promote a different learning objective for your preschoolers!

Our tips and activities will help you develop a self-regulation program for children in your child care center.

Prioritizing self care and and creating a supportive work culture can breathe new energy into your teachers' resilience and passion!

Spooky treats, crafts, indoor trick-or-treating ... Halloween is coming and we've got ideas to help you celebrate at your child care center!

Running into behavior issues with your students? Here are 10 strategies to promote positive behaviors in the preschool classroom.

To keep staff happy and make sure they don’t burn out, you must find ways to reduce their stress year-round!

Check out five Halloween party themes for preschoolers to ensure that little ones enjoy themselves without feeling overwhelmed!

Let’s take a look at for ways to help you and your staff avoid burnout and fully enjoy your work with children.

Child care centers and daycares must keep sensitive data safe. Let's look at some best practices in child care cybersecurity.

If you’re not on Facebook, you’re missing easy access to relevant information, child care industry updates and timely tips!

Here’s a step-by-step guide to improve your child care center's QRIS rating to significantly influence your reputation and boost enrollment.

Let's look at five ideas for fall-themed bulletin boards in your preschool classrooms to encourage creativity and fun!

Tammie Hogan, chief customer officer of Procare Solutions, shares how Procare is the only true all-in-one solution for child care centers.

Let's look at four fun birthday board ideas that preschool teachers can create to celebrate the special days of little learners!

We answer questions about anecdotal records such as what they are, how they differ from other types of records and tips for using them!

Learn how Procare can take care of many day-to-day burdens for your ECE staff to help improve retention!

Check out five ideas for child care and ECE teachers to make that first day of school memorable and smooth!

Preschool assessments allow you to understand how a child learns best and the optimal ways to support their mental growth.

Let's look at six key elements of an effective daycare routine, as well as three ways to implement and maintain routines!

Consistent routines not only provide a sense of security but also foster independence, emotional stability and cognitive growth.

Monitoring cognitive milestones can provide insights into a child’s mental progress. Let's take a look at milestones for each ECE age group!

ECE expert Beth Cannon shares why you must identify potential leaders and invest in their development so they can grow within your center.

Developmental domains in early childhood provide a framework for observing and fostering a child's development.  Let's explore each domain!

Get weekly, monthly and seasonal preschool theme ideas for your child care center, and learn about thematic units!

Infant routines in daycare create a sense of security and must meet parents' expectations for baby schedules as well.

Learn how your child care center can benefit from a state-approved ECE curriculum, including bettering your chances of securing grants!

Show children how to make self-inflating balloons, experiment with color mixing and absorption and make their own fossils!

Let’s take a look at how to build and maintain a positive culture for ECE staff, including how to recognize and reward efforts!

In this comprehensive checklist, we’ve outlined 100 of the most important daycare supplies you should consider for your center.

Preschool daily schedules help children feel secure and understand. Let's look at examples of preschool schedule ideas!

Check out these daycare lesson planning tips and see weekly lesson plans with themes for 3-year-olds, 4-year-olds and infants!

Let’s answer some questions about emergent literacy and look at ways you can implement this learning into your daycare classrooms!

Developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) help children learn and also help de-stress teachers. Learn more about DAP from Prerna Richards!

Let's look at five tips to teach sight words to preschoolers, including using beginner sight words as well as repetition and consistency.

Let’s take a look at four tried-and-tested tips to help you boost enrollment and grow your daycare business!

This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know about hosting a memorable preschool graduation!

Let's look at some tips to inspire career growth among your child care center's employees, including how professional development can help!

Coming up with circle time activities for a variety of ages and seasons can be challenging. Here are a few ideas to try our at your center.

Check out some ideas for Fourth of July daycare art projects for preschoolers and toddlers that are simple, safe and fun!

A child care center's curriculum can tell you a lot about a center. Let's take a look at five important questions parents should ask about a child care center's curriculum before you enroll your kids in their program.

Child care apps help families and teachers communicate, but do so much more!. Which features should you look for in a daycare app?

Let's look at summer art activities that emphasize the process rather than the final product for your preschoolers!

Let’s take a look at how to select the best books to read to infants and toddlers in your child care center!

Use these tips to show off your child care center's curriculum to prospective parents and set yourself apart from other providers!

Leaving a child at daycare can be a challenging experience for both a child and parent. Let's look at tips to make dropoffs easier!

Check out these five Father's Day craft ideas for all the age groups in your daycare to create a memorable gift!

Understanding the cost of child care in America is important for both parents and child care providers. Get a state-by-state breakdown here.

Let’s take a look at five preschool open house ideas for your child care center that will highlight your center's program.

Let’s take a look at preschool extracurricular classes for your child care center, including music, dance, gymnastics and other sports!

A child care app helps you communicate with parents, collect tuition and more!

Scaffolding in early childhood education uses successive levels of temporary support to help children learn. Let's look at examples!

Let's dig into the the four main challenges faced by child care centers and explore how Procare can solve each one!

Here are 10 ways to show your appreciation during Teacher Appreciation Week!

Want to boost your child care center's enrollment? Let’s look at some tips for enrolling new families and how Procare can help!

Let’s take a look at five things you can do as early childhood educators to prioritize your mental health!

Let's take a look at the most sought-after child care billing and accounting features center's need to run a healthy business.

Paper-based curriculum, which becomes outdated quickly, is still being used in many ECE programs. Here's what a digital curriculum can do!

Earth Day is coming up! Here are five ways to celebrate in your child care center's classrooms with activities, crafts and singing!

Active supervision includes multiple strategies to ensure that caregivers are fully engaged with children. Let's look at some strategies! 

Check out these tips and activities for how to teach preschoolers about feelings, emotions and self-regulation!

April is Move More Month! Let's take a look at 10 activities that blend fun with fitness to keep young children active!

Let's look at activities you can do in your child care and ECE programs to safely teach kids about the solar eclipse!

Our 2024 child care trends report found that 61% of respondents struggle to hire and retain staff. Let's look at ways to reverse this trend!

We’re giving you a step-by-step guide to creating or choosing the best daycare curriculum for your center.

Starting a successful after school program offers an important service to working parents and their kids. Here are 6 key steps to starting an after school program.

The 2024 child care industry trends report found that ACH is the most common form of tuition payment among child care centers surveyed.

Celebrate spring with this Procare Early Learning lesson plan for a fun and educational spring-themed activity for your pre-K classrooms!

Late payments can hold your child care business back. Learn how to end late payments and simplify running your business!

With the right approach, integrating technology in preschool classrooms can support learning and development.

A Procare Solutions report found that 44% of child care programs rely on on paper and pencil to run their businesses.

Let's take a look at how phonemic awareness and phonological awareness help develop pre-reading skills in young learners!

Black History Month provides a perfect opportunity to introduce ECE books that celebrate Black heritage. Let's take a look at one such book!

Black History Month provides a perfect opportunity to introduce ECE books that celebrate Black heritage. Let's take a look at one such book!

Black History Month provides a perfect opportunity to introduce ECE books that celebrate Black heritage. Let's take a look at one such book!

Let’s take a look at five ways to help your child care center's staff get the most out of professional development days!

Black History Month provides a perfect opportunity to introduce ECE books that celebrate Black heritage. Let's take a look at one such book!

Check out these three activities that mesh Valentine's Day, a day to celebrate love, with a love of science!

The top 5 Procare Solutions webinars of 2023 covered topics you care about, from streamlining registration to transforming daycares into ECE centers!

Learn the benefits of having a daycare parent handbook for your child care center and 10 items your handbook should include.

The new year is almost here! What are your plans for your child care center in 2023? We have three ways to set goals and propel your business forward.

Child care staffing and explainers on ECE funding topped this year's list of the most popular episodes of the Child Care Business Podcast!

In 2023, Procare Solutions released enhancements that helped child cares grow their businesses and educate young learners.  

Each year, Procare Solutions surveys thousands of child care leaders for a technology report. Here's who won prizes for taking the survey! 

Let’s explore more about process art and effective methods for teaching process art in a preschool setting!

Let’s explore what natural and logical consequences are, when to use them and examples of these consequences for preschoolers!

Running a daycare center can be costly. Let's look at the most common expenses and learn how to navigate these in order to get the most value in return.

With the Procare child care mobile app, you can share pictures and videos with parents, collect tuition, send documents and more!

For World Usability Day, let's get answers from Melissa Skrbic-Huss, director of UI/UX design for Procare Solutions, to four questions!

Here's a quick overview to see if a dependent care flexible-savings account could be a good fit for parents of the kids in your care!

Let’s look at fundraising ideas for your preschool, and we’ll break them down by season of the year and the ages of kids in your school!

Let’s take a look at activities and crafts that teachers can use on the first day of preschool, including lessons for kids ages 3 and 4!

Let's look at how you can incorporate unoccupied play in your child care center's baby rooms to foster their development!

Fall assessments in child cares are essential to helping kids be ready for kindergarten, and they benefit educators, students and parents.

Child care management software can help with billing complexities of divorced or separated parents who both make daycare payments.

A digital curriculum can support ECE teachers while helping children recover from pandemic-related learning delays.

Building family connections at your child care center or preschool contributes to the well-being of children, parents and staff.

Solitary play gives children the freedom to explore their interests without the influence of others. Let's look at how to nurture this play!

As a loss of federal child care funds looms, some states are paying to continue policies and programs created through the relief funds.

Check out this Procare Early Learning lesson plan for a fun and educational fall activity for preschoolers!

Collecting tuition for your child care center can be one of the least pleasant parts of your job. Learn how Procare can solve five tuition challenges for you!

Let's look at how to craft a daycare sick policy, as well as examples of what to include in the policy to keep kids and staff healthy!

Let’s explore how to teach letter recognition in your child care center's preschool rooms, as well as fun activities to make it fun!

Here are 5 tips to help you minimize backlash when you raise child care tuition rates.

Onlooker play helps children observe, learn and build confidence. Let's look at ways to nurture this type of play in your daycare!

Through parallel play, children develop social skills like independence, observational learning, confidence and respect for boundaries.

Check out these tips for providing a nutritious food program to ensure you're meeting nutritional guidelines for child cares.

The associative play stage is when kids truly begin to play together. Let's look at why it's so important as part of your ECE program.

The 2023 Child Care Management Software Industry Trends Report shows that half of child care centers not using software rely on manual processes to track their business operations. 

Let's look at examples of cooperative play, which is children engaging in organized group play with specific roles and rules.

Learn how automation software can save child care centers and daycares up to 80 hours a month!

The six stages of play are how children learn at different ages. Let's look at how to incorporate play activities into your child care center!

Learn how using morning drop-off notes in the Procare child care mobile app can make dropoffs less chaotic!

Check out these child care sensory activities for infants that will stimulate their senses and promote cognitive development. 

Learn how social media can boost you boost child care center's credibility, help parents find you and use reviews to your advantage!

Small group activities help kids develop skills like cooperation and sharing while socializing and developing their own interests.

Want to grow enrollment at your child care center? Learn how Procare can keep track of families who are interested in your center!

Hiring great staff for your child care is critical to the success of your child care business. Here are five traits to look for when interviewing candidates to find the ones best suited to your daycare!

Whether you’ve run a camp every summer for the last 20 years or this is your first time, these five tips will help you run your best program!

Emergent curriculum is often associated with ECE. We answer five questions about this style of learning in child care centers.

With eDocuments, you can create an electronic signature, format and store documents, all within Procare.

Here are some tips to help parents prepare for the Fourth of July, from staving off sunburns to keeping kids safe in the water and around fireworks.

Updated for 2023! Here are the best apps for early childhood education, including math and reading apps for daycares and child care centers.

Learn three ways to onboard new child care teachers and employees to improve their job satisfaction and keep them as valued staff!

Early childhood assessments provide vital information about student progress, inform instructional strategies and identify learning gaps!

Check out this preschool lesson plan that's perfect for summer learning!

Let's learn more about three Black leaders in ECE who shaped minds, empowered generations and broke down barriers.

Check out these five ways to teach emotions to preschoolers and help support their emotional development!

Here's how you can make parents feel more comfortable when they drop off their kids at your preschool for the first time.

Let's take a look at the four early childhood age ranges you need to be aware of and appropriate care techniques for each.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month! Let's look at ways that child care providers can recognize and deal with stress.

Finding time for child care directors and staff to fit in exercise is difficult. Check out this list of five ideas to keep active.

Proper management of child care waitlists is key in staying fully enrolled. Let's look at how software can help!

Let's look at five ways to keep kids active in your child care center when there's bad weather and you're stuck inside!

Looking for preschool exercises for your child care center? Check out this list of five ideas to keep your kids active!

Let's look at 5 toddler exercise activities you can incorporate into your child care center!

Spring is a great time to get your preschool classrooms organized. Check out these tips to spruce things up!

At a time when child care programs should be amping up their enrollments, a shortage of staff is directly linked to most programs being under capacity. 

Let’s look at ways to improve child care staff retention by building a positive work environment!

If your child care center has the capacity to take in more students, spring break is a great opportunity to boost enrollment and revenue.

Let’s discuss when to call a snow day and four ways to prepare your child care center for snow closures.

Diversity in the classroom not only means understanding that each student brings unique experiences to a classroom, but also exploring these differences to enrich learning. Let’s take a look at five ways to emphasize diversity into your child care center’s classrooms.

Let's look at some fun daily schedule ideas for your preschool classrooms!

Let's take a look at five fun and educational sensory play ideas for toddlers in your preschool or child care center.

In 2022, Procare Solutions' five most popular webinars covered topics ranging from attracting and retaining child care staff to how directors can build a healthy work climate. 

Childcare staffing and explainers on government policy affecting ECE topped this year's list of the most popular podcasts from Procare!

From offering an easy-to-use digital curriculum to simplifying staff scheduling, #TeamProcare worked hard in 2022 to bring #childcare providers the tools you need!

As #TeamProcare celebrates our 30th anniversary, we remember that we started by listening to the needs of a #childcare provider, a philosophy that remains at the heart of our mission. 

Is your child care center ready for cold and flu season? We have five tips to help!

The Programs and Insights feature from Procare gives administrators more options to create unique schedules to enroll children into more classes and programs! Plus, you get a clear view of your enrollment, staffing needs and open programs. 

If you’re looking for ways to increase family engagement at your preschool, consider hosting parent teacher conferences!

A well-crafted child care budget can make or break a center. Learn how to craft yours with these tips and operate at maximum efficiency.

If you're a Procare Desktop customer using Procare on a local machine, you may be missing out on all the great features that Procare releases each month!  

By the end of September, more than half of the money available through the employee retention tax credit program will have been applied for.

Simplify your child care center's subsidy process by using subsidy management software.

Procare Solutions can help you consolidate your child care center's statements and billing, and easily process tuition payments!

Today's parents want to fill out documents online. Procare's eDocuments lets your #childcare center create, send, get signatures and store documents in one place!

Procare gives your daycare the necessary tools to help parents feel confident in the care you're providing.

When early childhood education centers communicate well with parents on their child’s activities, families and your center thrive.

Procare helps your early childhood education center easily connect with families through our family engagement app. See how easy it is!

Being in control of your child care center doesn’t mean you need to manually do everything. Let's take a look at how Procare simplifies running your early childhood education program while keeping you in the driver’s seat.

Asking your employees a handful of simple questions will garner the most complete information to determine how engaged they are.

With these 10 questions to ask potential employees, you can learn about each candidate and find a new employee that everyone is excited about.

Procare is the only child care center management software with integrated proprietary payment processing!

School is starting back up again in no time. Do you feel ready? Make sure teachers, parents and even you are up to date and ready to take on this new year.

Save the date for #TeamProcare's second The Business of Child Care Conference! It's virutal and will include sessions featuring important new product enhancements and how to grow your center while advancing children’s learning.

Paying by credit or debit card has become the norm, especially for millennials who make up the majority of today's parents.

No doubt your child care center is all about fun in the sun. Check out this guide to make sure your daycare is ready for summer activities.

Why do child care centers need digital accounting, bookkeeping and payment software? We answer five questions!

Looking for ideas for summer learning in your child care center? Check out this fun and educational beach-bag activity that focuses on physical development and more!

Cognitive development involves how children think, explore and grow. It's vital that your child care center uses a curriculum to nurture it.

A new Colorado law will go into effect in 2023 that will give all 4-year-olds access to 10 hours of preschool a week at no cost to families.

Learn how a fully digital early childhood education curriculum ensures teachers have everything they need at their fingertips.

Let's look at how a strong early childhood education curriculum benefits your students and your child care center!

When it comes to hiring the best employees, two myths abound: that job candidates ONLY care about incentives and benefits, and about the pay they’ll receive. These things matter, but there's more to hiring and retaining the best staff, says Caroline Jens, founder and is CEO of Child Care Biz Help.

It’s time to celebrate with these five fun activities you can do with kids at your child care center to celebrate the changing of the season!

We have St. Patrick's Day-themed activities you can do with kids in your child care center. Whether you're looking for outdoorsy excursions or cute crafts, we've got you covered!

Handwriting is a skill that translates beyond what goes on paper. Children who learn to write at a young age achieve higher reading and spelling scores, and learn fine-motor skills. We have four tips to share with you for teaching this valuable skill in your child care center, starting in your infant room!

provided a foundation of professionalism for educators that continues to guide and motivate child care advocates today.

Fannie C. Williams spent most of her career in education at New Orleans public schools. There, her achievements included founding nursery school and Kindergarten classes in the early years of the Depression — the first for Black children in the city. 

Dr. Edmund Gordon's list accomplishments is long. It includes his work in founding the Head Start program, which he undertook in 1956 when President Lyndon B. Johnson commissioned him to help design the Head Start program.

The new partnership between Procare and IntelliKid Systems, a customer relationship management company, means centers now can access a system to help attract and register new families, as well as tools to help with recruiting staff. It’s a way to maximize enrollment opportunities based on current availability for centers using both platforms. 

Let’s take a look at nine ways to promote literacy in your child care center, from babies to school-age kids!

Child care centers are reeling as many teachers and other staff fall ill to COVID-19. Owners and directors are scrambling to keep the doors open and stay within student-to-staff ratios, all while ensuring a high quality of care. Let’s look at a few tools offered by Procare Solutions that can help!

The new year is here! What are your plans for your child care center in 2022? We have three ways to set goals and propel your business forward in a meaningful way.

Let’s look at five tips to make your child care center more efficient so you can get more done, stress less and enjoy the business you've built!

From marketing your child care business to slowing the revolving door of staff turnover, we wrap up our top five webinars of the year!

An accurate financial forecast will help you stick to your budget. When you understand how much money is coming in, you can better regulate how much money goes out, allowing you to manage your business. Let’s take a look at four steps to incorporate forecasting into your child care center’s budget!

Due to recent price hikes of everything from food to rent, increasing the tuition at your child care center may be something you must consider. We have four tips to help you share the news of increased fees with your families.

Ready to start your own child care business? One of the first things you need to decide is whether you'll open a franchise location or an independent center. We have four questions to help you choose which best suits you and your goals!

The emergence of Omicron, coronavirus variant could mean changes to your child care center's mask policy. Here are three things you should NOT do when sharing rule changes with the families you serve.

Here's a quick overview to see if a dependent care flexible-savings account could be a good fit for parents of the kids in your care!

The Build Back Better plan being considered by Congress includes $390 billion to cut child care costs for many families and provide free preschool for all children in America.  Let’s take a look at how it could affect your child care center, if implemented.

Let's take a look at six programs to consider if you're ready to open your own child care business!

Considering buying software for your child care center?. Let's take a look at seven questions you should ask during a demo.

Audra Wilson-Russell, a certified public accountant, answers questions about how the employee retention tax credit can be used for child care center owners.

Election Day is coming up in many places, which means it’s a great time to focus on the concepts of voting and encourage children to be curious about what is happening in their communities and country. Here are five election-themed activities for your child care center that also would be great for a before and after care program in schools!