This journal is designed to help parents track their child's diabetes journey, facilitating communication with school care teams and providing a daily record of health events throughout the year.
Now Available In Digital Format!
Due to popular demand from parents in our community, the Diabetes School Journal is now available as a downloadable digital copy! Designed for 4 months of use, the typical length of a school semester, this version makes it easier than ever to manage and track your child's diabetes care throughout the school day.
Whether you're traveling, transitioning between schools, or simply prefer the convenience of digital tools, this downloadable version ensures you never miss a beat in your child's diabetes care at school.
This journal is designed for use for 4 months, the average duration of a school semester. You need to print a new copy at the start of each new semester to continue tracking your child's day-to-day at school.
After placing your order, you will receive an email with your Diabetes School Journal.
Semester-Based Tracking
With each semester requiring a fresh journal, this 4-month version ensures all information stays current and organized.
Instant Access
Download immediately and start using right away, no shipping needed.
Flexible Printing
Print it at home, at school, or at a local print shop whenever needed.
Customizable Use
Print only the pages you need, or multiple copies for different caregivers or settings.
Eco-Friendly Option
Print-on-demand reduces waste and allows for more sustainable use.
The Story Of Diapoint's Diabetes School Journal
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Leaving your child at school after a diabetes diagnosis may be a very frightening experience.
When Diapoint Founder Pamela Durant's son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at just 20 months old, her new reality of carb counting, insulin ratios, glucagon, and so much more was overwhelming. She wondered how he would ever have a normal life.
She knew that her child needed to live as normally as possible while she learned as much as she could about this condition. This included going to nursery to have regular social interactions with other children.
The nurse at the nursery school was supportive, and they somehow figured it out together. She would consistently call Pamela to discuss her son’s blood sugar or the carbohydrates he ate.
Pamela found herself writing all this down in a small notebook that went to school with her son every day so the nurse could track all his snacks, blood glucose levels, insulin doses, and times when blood sugars were off. Even though they talked through all those decisions, this notebook served as a record for everything.
From Pamela's experience in hospital management and healthcare accreditation, she knew the importance of medical record keeping. Proper record keeping provides such important information. And in this case, she was experiencing the necessity in a very deep, personal way. When it came time for her son to go to primary school, the need to keep a journal of his diabetes management became even more important.
In this much larger school, the medical staff informed Pamela that they would not be able to call her as the nursery did to check in with her. They insisted that they would handle it. They would ofcourse call for an emergency, but they assured her that she had no cause to worry about the day-to-day. These were the days before Continuous Glucose Monitoring and data sharing. While she was scared about not having updates in real time, she also understood why they suggested this. Pamela's son would not be the only child in school with a medical need, and it is not easy to call a parent when taking care of hundreds of other children.
Without regular calls throughout the school day, Pamela fine-tuned her notebook tracking and used a consistent format each day. This way, she could ensure that she was communicating clearly and the school was following her son’s recommended treatment in his Diabetes Medical Management Plan.
The school health office liked this idea of tracking in a notebook as it helped them as well. A few weeks later, Pamela noticed all the parents of the other children with Type 1 Diabetes were asked to provide a notebook and document things for their children in the same way.
Enter the diabetes school journal.
While this condition is not always easy to manage, Pamela hoped that this journal could ease some of the challenges and help parents communicate with their child’s care team at school while serving as a daily history of what happens throughout the year.
No parent or guardian of a child with Type 1 Diabetes ever rests or stops worrying. But what Pamela hopes is that this resource will give parents just a little more peace of mind while their children are off thriving at school.
How to Use This Journal
This journal is designed for use for 4 months, the average duration of a school semester. You need to print a new copy at the start of each new semester to continue tracking your child's day-to-day at school.
You will likely speak with your school nurse and/or teacher daily about your child’s diabetes. In addition to your verbal communication, using this written approach will be helpful to build stronger relationships and understanding that will enable everyone to better support your child.
These pages are not dated, so you can start using this journal at any time of the year, in any school system. The child’s parent or caretaker will complete the items in grey every day before school. This includes entering the date, information about blood glucose, carbohydrates eaten at breakfast, and insulin taken before school.
There is also a space for you to write any other notes you would like to share about the previous night or upcoming reminders for the day, such as after-school activities, parties, or field trips. Also include the information about the food that is planned that day for school snacks and lunch. You may include food and its serving size in the ‘Planned’ section, and the amount of carbohydrates for the planned serving in the section that says ‘Carbohydrates’.
The rest of the page is available for the nurse or caretaker at school to make notes throughout the day. For snack and lunch, there is space to note what was eaten. It may be that the child (especially a very young one) does not always eat everything, or perhaps there was not enough time to finish. In the section labeled ‘Eaten’, the school nurse can write how much was eaten and the total carbohydrates. The next line is about the dose of insulin given. It includes the amount of carbohydrates, time, blood glucose, and dose given.
Please note that if insulin is given prior to eating, the carbohydrate section may have a different number than what was actually eaten. This is a scenario that the school nurse would then write in the Nurse/Teacher Notes and include any other actions that were taken. If no action was taken, then that would be noted. In our example, we put a line through it to acknowledge that.
There is also space for the nurse to log the daily activities of the child. In our sample page, we have used an example of basketball practice after school. In this case, the child’s parent instructed the nurse to give the child a banana before practice. The nurse noted this in the communications section, along with the time the parent will arrive for pick-up. At the end of each week, there is a ‘Weekly Reflection’ page. This is for the parent to review the week and make notes. Highlight things that went well and note areas you wish to discuss with your school nurse or teacher. You may even use it to make notes about highs and lows you wish to discuss with your doctor. Or sometimes you do not have anything to write, and your child just wants to draw a picture of how awesome their week was. All of this is perfectly acceptable, as this is your diabetes journal.
