Excellent Child Care App that will bring benefits to the parents as well as the school!

HiMama is an accessible child care app that is giving us the perfect way of communicating with our parents from the moment we started using it. The easy way of inserting information by our teachers and sending daily reports to our parents is ideally for our school. With just a few clicks we can keep track of attendance and even send messages to either our whole school, a specific classroom or just a selected family. With the app replacing the good old paper&pen we save a lot of time on written reports. There is also less room for error when using the app as filled in information is being stored and can be continued later. It can be accessed from any tablet or computer and is, therefore, suitable for working on-the-go and no information will be lost! We have received all positive feedback from our parents working with the app on their smartphones and especially the timeline feature with uploaded pictures and/or video is a favorite. Overall, If you are looking for a child care app we would highly recommend HiMama to anyone!

Pros

The easiest of access for us as a school with admin and teachers who work on the app daily to keep track of attendance, sending messages. And the easy way of working with it for our parents on their smartphones

Cons

The use of the calendar/schedule feature is too limited for us. We have classroom plans that change subject or activity every 30-45 min and it would be too much to insert all that information on it daily by hand for an average of 325 days a year our school is open. In the message center there is no search or filter option, so when looking for a specific message that has been sent, you have to click and look through hundreds of messages to find it. There is also no option to send messages to selected parents, it's either the whole school, the classroom or 1 family; there's no option in between.

Easy Great App

I've enjoyed the available updates and being able to have something available to me that allows me to plan for my child. As a parent, its nice to know that its already written down and available to you at any time vs having to remember information when you get home from daycare like "did she poop today?", "when was her last bottle/diaper change/nap?"

Pros

HiMama allows you to see what and when your child has been up to all day - diapers, meals, and naps are so important to helping keep an infant on schedule and HiMama does a great job. Plus we get to see pictures posted of our little one throughout the day! I appreciate having the reports at the end of each day that tell me if we're low on supplies and just generally how her day was.

Cons

I don't see her activities (tummy time, play time) and I'm not sure that's an option as part of this app (I also don't know if its already available). It would also be nice to know her mood throughout the day (happy, crying, just fine) so I know how my kid is going to be when I'm going to get her...or if I should try and get her a little early if she's had a tough day. These things are not obviously life changing as I already get the most important information already through the app.

We could not be happier!

We have been using Himama for over a year we could not be happier! Parents love the value and the extra channel of communication that they get with the easy with the ability to send messages directly to the classroom teacher. My teachers are able to send pictures, videos and update parents on how their child is doing. Over all this application was one of the best investments we made at our Daycare, and I can truly say that no other app compares to Himama.

Pros

how easy it is to use it and how fast my teachers can input the child's information thought the day

Cons

there are a couple of options that I wish could be a little easier, which i have noted on the advice box.

Thank You HiMama

HiMama has been very well received at all three of my Little Sprouts Learning Centers. Parents are thrilled to see their children interacting in class and feel reassured to see their child settled into the program just minutes after leaving the classroom. This was especially appreciated by our new parents, as well as parents whose children were starting school for the first time. Prior to HiMama, families received a monthly newsletter with photos, information on our monthly theme, reminders, birthdays and important upcoming dates. Now with a click of a button, the classroom teacher can send this information to parents anytime. The ability to keep updates current has helped parents ensure they are not missing important news, are less likely to forget upcoming events, and also allows them extra time to plan and prepare. Parents find the program extremely handy as they can speak directly to the teacher through the HiMama message system. Often times moms and dads are on the run and not always able to chat during drop off and pick up, or throughout the day. HiMama keeps everyone connected, by allowing parents to send a quick message to the classroom teacher at their convenience. Customer service at HiMama is very good and parents have found Caroline very efficient and helpful should they come across any issues. As the owner of Little Sprouts I feel the overall customer service has been excellent right from the beginning, and appreciate Ron's support in setting the system up with me back in February 2014. Areas I would like to see improved would be to have the option to send a message to a specific group of families. Currently the options are one family or the entire classroom. I would also like the option to put music to the photos so that a DVD could be created of the child's school year. Access to all the school photos would be a wonderful option as currently we have to go into each child's report to see the entire group of class photos. Although the classroom journal does show a few pictures, I would like to be able to see all of these photos as a running stream. Thank you to Ron and the staff at HiMama! You have made a wonderful difference to the parents and families at Little Sprouts, and I can't thank you enough!

Best reporting system.out there!

We tried many other reporting systems for our school to severyone and communicate with our parents but Hi Mama has been hands down our favorite and our parents love it! As a director/owner of my childcare center my personal.favorite feature is that our super odors can review each entry for each student on reports overview and see if there are excited tries missing before the report get sent out to parents. We love using the observations tools to attach skills observed to pics and videos of students to help parents know more about their child's day and what they are learning. We also use the notes section for reminders and to list a few of our Learning skills from the Daily lesson plan to keep parents informed about what lessons were taught. We love Hi Mama and we would highly recommend this to you!

Pros

Reports overview feature to see all students activities in one classroom to see any missing entries.

HiMama app

Benefits as a parent are stated in the Pros section above but mostly, it's having a consistent and electronic log of the days for reference (and for enjoyment with pics).

Pros

I liked that we are able to receive updates throughout the day (there is the capability but teachers don't always use it) and mostly the pictures/videos! It makes you feel like you know what is really happening during the day. I also like that there is an electronic journal that you can refer back to at any time. I also like the ease of being able to communicate to the teachers through the app and that administration is able to see any of that back and forth.

Cons

The pictures and videos were blurry, especially when downloading. Also not sure if the videos are limited to :06 or that's just what the teachers did. I also think that the auto-population for food makes it less likely that the teachers actually update appropriately.

Lucky Mom

Pros

I love getting to feel like I have an inside scoop to my little guy’s day - menu, diaper changes, naps, and photos of play. I have some friends whose daycares use a log book, but I get to catch this info in real time from my phone at work and don’t have to wait until pickup to hear about it. Honestly, it was a huge factor in keeping me going through the emotional trial of going back to work and leaving him at a full time centre.

Cons

It does this weird thing where you can’t enlarge a picture once you click on it (phone version). I had some trouble in the beginning as software was being updated too, missing emails etc. but the support staff was surprisingly responsive and most of the problems were alleviated by just keeping the app on my phone and not relying on the email service.

Himama is very user friendly and makes our job easier at our daycare centre.

Easier communication and connection with parents at our child care centre.

Pros

It is easy to understand and use. They are constantly updating the features to make them better. The app works well on a variety of devices and the software is also quite visually bright and engaging. The customer support is wonderful, they always get back to you quickly and with comprehensive answers.

Cons

If we had to pick one thing, it would be the reset time for the classes. Sometimes if children are signed out and reports sent late in the day, the next morning the class still isn't reset to start over, and then we have to manually check students back in.

Glad we have it.

Pros

When we first signed up, we received an update/summary at the end of each day for our children. If teachers had a question or a note to send home, they could do so through this program and those notifications showed up in an email. Now that I have the HiMama app on my smart phone, I enjoy it even more because I receive updates throughout the day about my children. Using the app or simply logging into the website, you have the option to also message your child's teachers throughout the day. This program, whether you have the app on your phone or not, is a great way to stay connected while you are away from your child.

Cons

It takes time to learn how to navigate the site. Otherwise, no complaints as of yet.

HiMama gives me peace of mind

Pros

I love that I can stay up to date on my daughter when she's at school during the day. From what, when and how much she eats to the activities she does throughout the day, I feel like I'm in the know from the moment I drop her off to the time I pick her up at the end of the day. I especially love that her teachers can send us photos and videos so we can actually see her in real time. As a working mom, I can't praise this app enough for giving me peace of mind.

Cons

I have no cons. This app has been such a blessing for us. I have other friends that get written reports at the of the day - I can't imagine having to wait all day for these kinds of updates.

Overall, a good software and love that I can get the daily reports for my kids electronically.

Pros - getting pictures of the daily activities, knowing what my kids eat in a day and how much and what was offered even if they didn't eat it. Being notified if diapers/wipes, etc are needed, however a couple days notice of "running low" might be good as I sometimes forget to bring the item on the following day care day, especially if it's over a weekend. I do love the emails that we receive through the app regarding things going on at the centre. It is so much better than either word of mouth or having to locate the information on a bulletin board or something like that. Cons - some of the teachers are not as thorough as others with providing details of the day. I never receive pictures of one of my sons in the preschool room but I receive a lot of my other son in the toddler room (which I like to receive the pictures). It might be good to list if there was a incident in the app as well, instead of finding out about it when we pick up our kids and then having to sign the report at that time. Maybe there is a way to use electronic signature/response with the incident reports. Have the report in the daily report for the kids and then the parents have to click on a button within the incident report to acknowledge that they are aware of the incident and the measures taken to make it better (just like the paper copies). That would also lessen the burden of the teachers at the end of the day (when it's crazy busy) to have to get a parent to read and sign the incident report. I understand that parents might not respond to the report in the app. If that's the case, if the app is 2-way (as in the teacher can see that the parent has either responded or not by the time they pick up their kids) then the teacher can have the parent read the report at the time of pick up.

Nice app to keep track of your child's day

Pros

I like that we get the daily updates, it shows usually a picture of the child doing the activity, and then what they did that day, and what they ate and how long they napped for, etc.

Cons

I know times are busy for the daycare staff, so not always can they put an update on the app. but I guess the con is, if i make a comment on in the app, i don't get notified if the comment was sent to my child... it would be nice to maybe know that the comment i made about a picture or something was relayed to the child.

very user friendly

Pros

I like the way i can give access to different personals and different rights to different persons.
I can see what my son is doing whole day with continuous updates of photo/video.
I can message his care provider and get message from his care provider.
Any other updates related to him is centered at one place. I don't need to dig/search my email box for any updates from his care provider.

Cons

I didn't explore this app too much so I am not sure if this feature is already present.

I would like to categorize notifications. I don't like to get all notification for his regular photo/video upload. but on the other hand I would like to receive notification for critical information. for e.g. information for some upcoming event, child sickness etc. so if I turn off notification from app I dont get any notification.

Awesome Communication Tool

I have been using HiMama as a parent for over a year through my childcare provider. It is an amazing tool to track the daily activities of my child, including her meals and snacks, bathroom routines and naps, and her ongoing learning and activities. The use of pictures and videos with the descriptions is really awesome. The layout of information, whether through the app or website, is also easy to follow. I am a huge fan!

Pros

I love the ease-of-access through the website and the app. HiMama allows me to remain in contact with my childcare provider and easily see/view activities throughout the day.

Cons

Sometimes the app randomly signs me out, which can be a bit annoying, so I have to wait for the end-of-day report to arrive.