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Comparing Yaoumy to the notebook, WhatsApp, Excel and desktop software

Logbook, WhatsApp group, Excel spreadsheet, software installed on a PC or Yaoumy: twelve criteria, five ways of running a daycare in Algeria, to see what each one gives you and where it stops.

Twelve verifiable criteria, in short sentences
Notebook, WhatsApp, Excel, desktop software: what each one does well
Table updated in September 2026

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The comparison in one table

Scroll the table horizontally to see all five columns.

Comparison of five ways to run a daycare in Algeria, criterion by criterion
Criterion	Yaoumy	Paper notebook	WhatsApp group	Excel spreadsheet	Software installed on a PC
Attendance tracking and history	Yes, in one tap, timestamped	By hand, copied out	No	By hand, after the fact	Yes, from the PC
Daily report sent to parents	Yes, the same day	By hand, in the notebook	Partial: a message to the whole group	No	Depends on the software
Photos seen only by the parents concerned	Yes, targeted by child	Not applicable	No: the whole group sees them	Not applicable	Depends on the software
Educator's personal number protected	Yes, in-app messaging	Not applicable	No	Not applicable	Not applicable
Who picks up the child: record and signature	Yes, with on-screen signature if the daycare asks for it	By hand, if a logbook exists	Message, with no filed record	No	Depends on the software
Absences reported without a phone call	Yes, from the app	No	Yes, if the message is read	No	No
Weekly menu and allergy reminders	Yes, allergy alerts in the app	Posted in the hallway	Photo of the board	File to be sent	Depends on the software
Payments: tracking and receipts	Yes, PDF receipts	By hand	No	Yes, receipts retyped	Yes, from the PC
Re-enrollments	Yes, signed online	Paper forms	No	List to keep up to date	Depends on the software
Accessible on parents' phones	Yes, free app	No	Yes	No	No
In Arabic and in French	Yes, Arabic, French, English	Depends who writes	Depends who writes	Depends who enters data	Depends on the software
If the phone, the notebook or the PC is lost	Nothing is lost: everything is on the server	Everything is lost	History lost	Lost with no backup	Lost with no backup

Table updated in September 2026. The criteria cover the Yaoumy app's functions and common daycare practices. “Depends on the software” means it depends on the product installed at your daycare.

The paper logbook: replace it or not?

The notebook works: it never breaks down and everyone knows how to use it.

A small daycare runs perfectly well on a notebook. The educator writes three lines in the evening, the parent reads them in the morning. No training, no subscription, no network outage. As long as parents come by every day, the information gets through.

It falls short when the notebook stays in the bag, when the handwriting is illegible, or when you need to find March's attendance. A digital logbook doesn't change what the educator writes: it changes who can read it, and when.

When it's enough: few children, and parents who come every day.
When it's enough: nothing to install, nothing to learn.
Where it falls short: finding a month of attendance takes a whole evening.
Where it falls short: the notebook forgotten at home, the information never arrives.
Where it falls short: a lost or wet notebook, and the year goes with it.

Still on the fence? Our guide Digital Daily Report covers what to note down each day and how to go digital without losing parents along the way.

Running your daycare on WhatsApp: what the group does well

The WhatsApp group is fast, free, and already installed on every phone.

For announcing a closure or sending a party photo, nothing moves faster. No one has anything to learn, and parents reply within the minute. Yaoumy doesn't even ask you to close your group.

It falls short on privacy and on memory. A photo sent to the group is seen by every family, then reshared with no control. The educator's personal number gets passed around. And an absence announced at 7 a.m. gets lost between two messages.

When it's enough: general announcements, closures, last-minute reminders.
Where it falls short: a child's photo is seen by every parent in the group.
Where it falls short: the educator's personal number is exposed to everyone.
Where it falls short: an absence buried in the conversation goes unhandled.
Where it falls short: nothing is organized, nothing can be found six months later.

Daycare software or Excel: what the spreadsheet can do

Excel calculates, sorts and adds up better than any notebook.

For the month's payments and the list of children, a well-kept spreadsheet gets the job done. It costs nothing extra if you already have it, and you already know it inside out.

It falls short as soon as more than one person is involved. The file goes out by email, two versions start circulating, and no one knows which one counts. Receipts get retyped one by one. Above all, no parent will ever open your spreadsheet on their phone.

When it's enough: one person enters data, once a month.
When it's enough: calculations, totals and sorting, with nothing new to install.
Where it falls short: two versions of the file, and no one knows which one counts.
Where it falls short: every receipt gets retyped by hand.
Where it falls short: a computer failure with no backup takes everything with it.

Software installed on a daycare PC

Software installed at the office files records and prints documents without depending on the internet.

This is often the choice of a daycare that was first looking for accounting: invoicing, entries, documents to print. Data stays on the machine, and the director has had her habits there for years.

It falls short because everything stops at the office. The educator in the classroom has no access to it, nor does the parent. Every update has to be reinstalled by hand, and the hard drive remains the only place your data lives.

When it's enough: administrative work is done at the office, by one person.
When it's enough: data entry doesn't depend on connection quality.
Where it falls short: the educator has nothing on her phone, in the classroom.
Where it falls short: parents see nothing of their child's day.
Where it falls short: without a backup, a PC failure wipes out the history.

Switching to Yaoumy without changing everything at once

You don't have to give up your notebook and your group on the same day.

We recommend starting with one thing: attendance. Two weeks later, educators add the daily report, then photos. The notebook keeps going during that time, and you stop using it when you decide to.

The list of children is carried over from your existing file, with no retyping. We set up your classes, sort out Saturday and your fees, and then every educator and every family receives their invitation.

Start with attendance alone, keeping the notebook running in parallel.
Your list of children is carried over from your file, without retyping everything.
Classes, Saturday and fees set up with you, in less than 24 hours.
Educators and parents invited by link; the app is free for them.
The Yaoumy team supports you through the whole first month.

Questions before switching methods

Can I keep my WhatsApp group with Yaoumy?

Yes, nothing forces you to close it. Keep the group for quick exchanges and route what needs to leave a trace through Yaoumy: attendance, the daily report, a child's photos, absences and payments. The educator then writes to parents from the app, without giving out her personal number.

How long does it take to move from a notebook to the app?

Less than 24 hours to get started: we set up your daycare with you — classes created, list of children carried over from your file, fees and Saturday sorted out. After that, it's a matter of habit: expect two to three weeks for attendance and the daily report to become a reflex. The Yaoumy team supports you through the whole first month.

What happens to my Excel files?

They serve as a starting point. Your list of children is carried over from a file, based on a template, with checks before import to avoid duplicates and errors. Your old spreadsheets stay with you: Yaoumy doesn't delete them. After that, attendance can be exported to a file whenever you need it.

My educators aren't comfortable with phones.

That's the most common case, and the app is built for it. Attendance takes one tap. The daily report fills in by swiping from one child to the next, with nothing mandatory to type. Each educator works in her own language, in Arabic or French. Start with attendance alone the first week: the rest comes after.

What if my internet connection is poor?

The app is designed to work over a simple mobile connection. If the network drops, it lets you know, and you try again once it's back. If your daycare's Wi-Fi is unstable, tell us during the demo: we'll look at your case.

Explore further

See what changes for your daycare

Fifteen minutes on WhatsApp is enough. Show us how you work today, with your notebook and your group, and we'll show you what Yaoumy would do in their place, on a case close to yours.

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Every feature, one by one

The table says what Yaoumy does; the Features page shows it one function at a time, from attendance to receipts.