DON'T

This is a major issue for daycare providers--DON'T bring your child to school when they are sick.  If they have been sent home sick, keep them there for 24 hours after their fever or other symptoms  are gone. Even public schools have this policy.  And don't bother loading them up with fever reducer.  Believe me, we know you're doing it.  More then likely we can tell the minute we see your child that they are sick, with or without medicine.  Besides, if they are over 2 years old we'll simply ask them and they are more then happy to tell us which medicine Mommy gave them that morning.   Plus, these meds wear off after a few hours.
If we call you at work to pick up your child because they are sick, don't get angry with us.  It's not our fault.  He/she is SICK.  They need to be at home with Mom or Dad, sitting on the couch, wrapped in their favorite blanket,  getting your undivided attention.  They do not need to be lying on a mat on the floor in the corner of their classroom with NO ONE paying attention to them because their teacher is taking care of 10 or more other children.  All kids ever want is their own mommy or daddy when they are sick.
The reality is that children in daycare get sick a lot.  You need to have a backup plan for when your child gets sick.  In fact,  have a backup to the backup.  And state policy requires that we send children home that are sick--period.  We do not have an isolated room for sick kids.  While your sick child is in our care they are spreading their cold, flu, stomach bug, etc. to everyone else at the daycare, including their teachers.  And we do not like to miss work any more then you do.  When we miss work the other teachers have to be shuffled around or classes combined.  It's not fair to the children.  They need to know that they'll be seeing their regular teacher each day and be in their own classroom.
We realize that you may not have an understanding boss when it comes to leaving work for sick kids, but these are children who need their parents and need to be at home.  So, please work with us.  We're sorry your boss doesn't want you to miss anymore work, but our one and only concern is for the children.  
               

DO

Teachers, please find something positive to say about each child when talking to the parents in the morning and especially at the end of the day.  Yes, even that little one who seems to spend more time in timeout then any other child in your class.  Try not to bombard parents with negative comments about their chid each and every day.  Parents begin to dread talking to you or even seeing their child at the end of the day.  And the child might not look forward to seeing their parents because they know they're going to be in trouble yet again.  
When I have a child who seems to have problems day in and day out, I try to find something--anything--positive I can share with their parents at the end of the day. Even a tiny improvement is worth praising--hey, it's a start, right?  And it means a lot to these children when you tell their parents--in front of the child--that they have had a much better day.
At our daycare we send home notes if a child has had a "not so good day." I always try to follow it with a good note if they've had even the tiniest improvement.  I can't tell you how many parents have told me that they put that note in their child's scrapbook or framed it because they had never received a "good" note before.  That's not right--every child deserves some positive feedback from their teachers--especially preschoolers.  So many times those same kids would end up being some of the best kids in my class.  
You really don't need to tell the parents about every single time Johnny or Susie was in timeout during the day.  I tell the parents that if I don't tell them about their child being in timeout each time it's because I feel I have resolved the problem at school and the child has corrected him/herself.  The issue happened on "my shift" and was taken care of on "my shift." I call these things "not worth writing home about."  Even those parents who say they they want to know EVERY time their child is in trouble, seem to be happy with my policy.  I've never had a parent disagree with me.  I think it's a relief for the parent because then they know they won't be getting a long list of all the times their child was in trouble.  Don't get me wrong--I do write notes home for serious problems or any ongoing issues.
As a teacher, I want parents to be excited to see their child at the end of the day and for their child to be equally happy to see their parents.  They haven't seen each other all day, so let's help them all have a fun end-of-day reunion.