KidGenius

Pros

It is an excellent way to keep in communication with the teachers and caregivers. I can receive daily reports of my child's school activities through a single channel, as well as see photos of these reports.

Cons

It took me a bit to adapt to the new updates. The interface could be more pleasing to the eye. However, it is an excellent tool

Pros

Customer reps are incredible people to work with. They truly value the brand, the software they have created, and the ideas and input from the staff they speak with.
As an administrator, being able to view and export both an individual child's and centre wide attendance reports makes completing child care claims significantly easier. It is the same with staff. Being able to view just subsidy children, set date perimeters, and edit reports where needed has been very helpful. My claims time has decreased significantly!
The dashboard where staff can view the ratios of current teachers to children is fantastic. I know who is where in every classroom and whether the ratio is correct right off the bat. It makes keeping in compliance with licensing a breeze.
I am also really enjoying the new document feature that was just added in March. I love being able to keep all my staff's documents in one place and for them to be able to upload when they get new PD certificates.

Cons

The daily report that goes to parents is not as aesthetically pleasing as the previous software we used. It does the job, but it is all in a long line whereas the previous software was in coloumns and colourful. A few families have mentioned this to us.
It is great you are able to add photos to the daily report, however not being able to upload more than one at a time can be frustrating at times. It would also be nice to have photos and activities combined so one could add a photo of the activity that was done. There is a space where you can write notes under the photo, but there are two sections where there really only needs to be one.
Making a few things a little simpler would be very helpful: a back button to go back to the staff or children page (after adding a document or changing attendance), having a sign in and out button on the attendance adjustment page, the ability to not only adjust attendance time and date but classroom as well.
The in-ability to bulk add children is difficult when we are collecting a number of them from a school to bring to the program. It is time consuming to do the same maneuver for 15 children, especially in the cold.

Pros

1) pages layout at a glance
2) dashboard
3) editing is simple
4) self generated previous menus
5) Calgary based start up

Cons

1) no space for simple info on parents @ a glance, such as their names. *particularly helpful for new families or relief staff
2) dislike having to input meal times
3) Staff have to scroll through entire ATTENDANCE report to make a correction in real time.
4) can only upload 1 photo at a time
5) hard to correct or edit shifts

Pros

Moving from paper recording to electronic, Kidgenius easily fit with what we needed; being able to sign children in and out, recording of absences, parental information, etc. I have been in contract with [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] about adding features that best suit our needs and he has been very responsive to suggestions and concerns. He offered to my staff, training on how to use the program when we first implemented it. While the program offers many features that we do not need as we are a before and after school program, I am sure that centres that require those features find them to be of value.

Changes to the program from the older version to the newer one (2021) have been great, especially if you have multiple programs or need to track absences due to things such as COVID. Being able to access only our centre has been very helpful.

Cons

We have always had troubles using the app version. Difficulty in downloading and navigating through it. This may be due to how old our work phones are rather than the app itself.

Pros

I like that I can keep up to date with my children's day, and can easily do it through my computer or phone. It is easy for the workers at the daycare to enter their meals, their diapering, and their naps. I like it because I can quickly check before I leave for the day whether they are still napping, so I can plan the time I pick them up accordingly.

Cons

That this is not way to opt out of the daily emails, and there is no way to scroll through the days without going through the "go to date" calendar every time.

Pros

That it is fast and easy to use. The way that the menu and whole site is set up, I like how everything is easy to access and ready to use right away. Easy to train someone to use it as well which is always really helpful.

Cons

Sometimes the site doesn't work and we have to call to get it fixed. During the days sometimes it says that the site is unavailable, and we can't use it until we call the administration office of kid genius, and they will have to fix it for us.

Pros

Prior to implementing KidGenius, the answer to my question "How Was Your Day" was often just "It was good". Now with the daily emails I get to find out what my daughter ate, played with and even get photos sometimes. I enjoy having the reports to track how she is doing at daycare.
Other things I like are the bulletin board postings so I can see the meal schedule as well as the messaging between myself and the staff. We don't have to pay for access so Value For Money is obviously 5 stars :)

Cons

The system works well but it's dependent on the providers entering the info. So sometimes they are too busy to take as many photos as I'd like.

Pros

Easy way to communicate with families and staff. Allows us to be paperless for all communication. Parents are able to communicate on this app as well which is a great bonus.

Cons

Nothing I haven't liked. The team always took feedback and applied them.

Pros

This helps keep our records organized and all in one place.

Cons

More features would be good but it's forthcoming

Pros

I love that it is easy to use, great that you can see how many teachers and children are signed in and where, and such an easy to tool to contact parents with.

Cons

I don't like that you can't sign kids in and out in bulk, also editing times only goes from closest 15 minutes.

Pros

I really love that I can communicate with my child’s teacher and see what she has been doing during the day including pictures.

Cons

I do not like how you can’t just scroll through each day. It can be hard to navigate the app at times

Pros

I like that I can log-in throughout the day and see how my children are doing at daycare. I love that we get pictures and can see what they have eaten. Getting an e-mail report each day is great!

Cons

My childcare provider does not use the software to the full capacity. There are many sections that they do not use, such as the activities. It would be nice if we received even more detailed information about our children's day. This is not a software flaw, but it is the only thing I would change!

Pros

Easy to use.
Effective way for communication to parents.
I like that I can email parents through the app.

Cons

- This softwear could be more estically pleasing. (Minor)
- I wish the bulk add list to add meals, for example, was of the children who were live and not the entire classroom list.
- App could be more like website.

Pros

I believe it is an essential tool for our child care program. I love how easy it is to communitcate with our families.

Cons

The app. Not as user friendly as the website so I've deleted it off my phone. I also don't like how the connection tends to go down once a day.

Pros

it has a clear layout of what children are in each group and who is signed in and who isn't. it is super helpful.

Cons

not being able to sign in multiple children at a time. it is difficult and frustrating to have to sign in upwards of 15 children one by one.

Pros

We love Seeing how our child ate, napped at daycare as well as photos. As well as bowl movements and daily activity.

Cons

Video would be neat..... I don't really know what else is a con it is a pretty great system that we really like using to monitor how our child's day is at daycare

Pros

Ease to navigate, can sign in from any computer, simple readable format with no clutter, no complications.

Cons

Wish we could use it on an Android phone or tablet, after signing in there would be problem loading at times

Pros

I like the instant feedback and ability to upload photos. You are also able to enter longer descriptions and details about how each child's day went.

Cons

Not everyone uploads information consistently, but that is on the user and not on the software. Sometimes the log in process and navigation are not as intuitive as I would hope.

Pros

Easy to use even for employees who do not use electrontics often. Great communication tool used between parents and staff.

Cons

The program workwd well. , the tablets we used were slow and small which was annoying at times.

Pros

Its very easy to use, straight forward, I like the suggestions for learning tags, it makes my life easier when I can't find the words to say.

Cons

It takes a very very long time for videos to upload. I have waited over an hour for a 30 second video to upload.