Monday, August 17, 2009
The Uniform Debate
.
It's an internal debate, this one -- just in my own head. But, I can't seem resolve it. I have never "outfitted" my children, per se, for school at home. The older two boys wore school uniforms when they were in Catholic day school, but I have not dealt with uniforms since. I feel called, however, to examine the issue for our home school.
I can name a few pros and a few cons, but haven't come up with any of either than brings me to a conclusion. The two biggest are: pro -- the children know what to wear every day and there are no debates (this is primarily for Peach who likes to change her clothes, and puts together outfits I would not), and con -- cost.
Have you had this debate, either internally or with others? Did you resolve it? I would love to hear your thoughts.
.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Yes and am getting closer to doing it with my kids.
ReplyDeletePros- stops people in their tracks from asking if your kids go to school when you have them with you when you're out and about during the day.
- stops the kids from feeling like they can be lazy and not get dressed every day. Great thing of homeschooling to be in PJ's all day, but my kids need to have that "stage" set for them, ya know?
- my oldest three are girls so they love the idea of their skirts. We're also Scotts/Irish so I'm in the process of finding material to match our family tartan and making the skirts myself. Kohl's normally has school polo shirts on sale this time of year too.
Cons- I could never come up with any. Even in my discussions with other homeschooling families that do use uniforms, we couldn't think of any cons that would prevent us from using the uniforms.
I haven't gotten to the stage of making them wear uniforms only because I don't have the materials to make the skirts just yet. However, I do make them get dressed in the morning in a nice skirt and shirt that would be acceptable to wear should they have gone to school.
My kids all go to school and wear uniforms and I love the uniforms. My big CON is the cost. BUT if you went to Walmart or Sears or JC Penney you could find "uniform" clothes (khaki pants, skirts or jumpers, golf shirts) at a very reasonable cost. There are also many websites that carry uniforms. I did a post on uniform deals at my coupon blog:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ultimatecoupons.com/blog/?p=2069 so maybe you will find some sources that way.
Dirtdartwife,
ReplyDeleteI guess my only con is that we have clothes to wear and technically don't need to buy any -- uniforms would be unnecessary, albeit helpful, cost. I agree with "setting the stage."
I like the idea of dressing in specific clothes -- maybe ones we already own. Still thinking.
Barb,
I'm going to look for reasonable prices before deciding. Part of the problem is my 7th grader wears mens' sizes.
I love the uniforms my high schoolers wear. Grey flannel w/ ties for boys! I have tried it at home, but it got old and they got tired of it and I didn't enforce it.
ReplyDeleteI particularly like the air of respectability it gives homeschoolers when out in public.
I think it sets the stage for the kids---they're dressed in their work clothes.
The most common reason I hear is the laundry issue---somehow it cuts down on laundry. I don't know how, but I'm all for anything that does that!
We just wear whatever will make it easiest to do what we need to do in a given day. Nowadays, it's mostly blue jeans and t-shirts. :-) I wouldn't consider uniforms at all now, though I did once or twice early on. Uniforms would be "good clothes" that you can't get cow poop on.
ReplyDeleteWe do get dressed every day, though. I've never let the kids dawdle the day away in their jammies. If you want breakfast, you get dressed. That probably helps with the whole "setting the stage" thing. And I don't worry about unique outfits. :-)