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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Do Uniforms Make You Spend More?
Candy 01:32 PM 03-21-2014
I know some schools wear uniforms and some don't. Parents says it cost more when kids have to wear uniform. While I see that it's just seems so much easier for them to wear them. You don't have to worry about a kid fighting you in the morning about what to wear.they do get free dress once a month tho. Do uniforms seem to cost you more?
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Margarete 01:44 PM 03-21-2014
Costs more in that you generally have to have separate clothes for school, or if you typically buy second hand that is generally not an option with school uniforms.

There are some programs around here to help with school uniform costs for students. I was a shopper assistant for a sibling group where some of the neediest students were given a shopping budget, and a list of their clothing needs (and uniforms were marked significantly down for this event). The older sibling was so sweet, saying his little sister just starting out needed more, as he still had some from last year, and gave a huge chunk of 'his' spending money to her so she could get a belt as the smallest sized uniforms were still too big for her.
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jenboo 01:51 PM 03-21-2014
Uniforms generally cost more than regular clothes (in my experience) and then the children need two wardrobes (school and home/weekends).
When my niece and nephew went to a uniform school, my sister would buy 5 uniforms. She kept it at a minimum because they were expensive. Then after school she would have them change into regular clothes so that their school uniforms wouldn't get ruined and would last most of the school year, hence the two wardrobes.

Like the pp said, it is also hard to find second hand uniforms unless your area does a uniform trade in day or similar event.
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_Dana_ 03:19 PM 03-21-2014
As a parent and teacher, I LOVED uniforms!!!

As a parent, it was super easy to get ready in the mornings. No struggle over what to wear. Kids and I both knew what to expect day to day in the mornings. Yes, uniforms initially cost more, but considering that you end up buying less clothes, it costs much, MUCH less. I've considered changing my child care over to uniforms and with my kids' schools would.

As a teacher, uniforms ensure that children are more likely to be dressed in appropriate clothing.
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Kelly 07:58 PM 03-21-2014
As a former catholic school student, I hate uniforms. Our public high schools started requiring uniforms a couple years ago and my daughter hates them too. I think kids should be treated as individuals, not as just a part of the herd. As for cost, I don't think it's been too bad except for the first year when my sons were also in school. They both graduated in December that year so I had to buy uniforms for them that they would only wear for 3 months.
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safechner 08:29 PM 03-21-2014
Yes it costs more. I hate uniforms but I never wear it in my life (not my style). My older daughter have to wear the uniforms for private school. She dont mind but I dont like to pay too much money on it.
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Candy 08:48 PM 03-21-2014
I must say I do hate schools that require girls to wear dresses or either skirts. No girl wants to have a dress on in the middle of winter. Thankful not many schools where I am require girls to wear just that.
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Starburst 09:32 PM 03-21-2014
Originally Posted by Candy:
I know some schools wear uniforms and some don't. Parents says it cost more when kids have to wear uniform. While I see that it's just seems so much easier for them to wear them. You don't have to worry about a kid fighting you in the morning about what to wear
That's not exactly true. My elementary and middle school (all public K-8 schools in the county I grew up in) had uniforms and there were times my mom had to take my brother to school in his underwear because he refused to get dressed. Plus, if the child is overweight (as I was) it is hard to find uniforms that fit right (and the ones that do cost more) and the material that most school uniforms are made of wear out easily. NOTE: If they are expensive and hard to find, you most likely wont have many different pairs, which means you have to wash them more often (especially if you only have 2 or 3 sets of uniforms and there 5 days in an average school week). Which costs more for washing (we lived in an apartment; no in-unit machines & laundry mat= pay per wash) and it also causes the uniforms to fade and wear out faster.

Plus, most school uniforms are just plain ugly (Elementary schools were dark green {some were navy blue} bottoms and white tops; middle schools white shirts w/ black bottoms) which can lead to lowering self-esteem (which is already an issue with most children these days).

Another thing to think about, it may make it even harder to pin-point neglect because one of the signs of child neglect is not only wearing dirty clothes but the same clothes multiple days in a row. How can a teacher tell if all uniforms look pretty much the same?
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countrymom 04:18 AM 03-22-2014
my odd wears a uniform to highschool and we both love it. Now I know everyone thinks that girls wear skirts but hers is acually a skort. She also owns shorts and pants that she can wear to school. They can wear any time of shoe and most of the times the socks can be anything but the color is blue or grey or black. Does she need 2 sets of clothes, yup but its no different than some parents who make their kids change when they come home from school into play clothes.
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Laurel 06:18 AM 03-22-2014
When I was a child I wore uniforms and loved them. Not as much in high school as elementary but the high school one was still okay. In high school we even had to wear certain shoes (saddle shoes). This was in the 60's. The school was brand new so they wanted the floors to stay nice.

I still have fond memories of my elementary school beanie and my high school blazer.

As far as not being individuals I think it did just the opposite. It made our individuality stand out more. I say that because I specifically remember an incident where we were allowed to not wear our uniforms. They did this occasionally for a treat I guess. It was high school and I remember thinking of one girl "Wow, I always thought she was kinda cool and never thought she would wear an outfit like THAT." So I was actually judging someone on what they wore but when I only had their personality to go by...well...(by the way I'm not proud of that but it was just a thought..it never changed anything). So I think uniforms can be an equalizer.

I'm sure ours were expensive but we only wore them to school and changed right away.

Laurel
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Laurel 06:21 AM 03-22-2014
Originally Posted by countrymom:
my odd wears a uniform to highschool and we both love it. Now I know everyone thinks that girls wear skirts but hers is acually a skort. She also owns shorts and pants that she can wear to school. They can wear any time of shoe and most of the times the socks can be anything but the color is blue or grey or black. Does she need 2 sets of clothes, yup but its no different than some parents who make their kids change when they come home from school into play clothes.
I keep wondering what odd means in your posts.

We only had skirts or jumpers in grades 1 and 2 but we wore tights, knee socks, etc.

Laurel
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Play Care 09:41 AM 03-22-2014
Originally Posted by Kelly:
As a former catholic school student, I hate uniforms. Our public high schools started requiring uniforms a couple years ago and my daughter hates them too. I think kids should be treated as individuals, not as just a part of the herd. As for cost, I don't think it's been too bad except for the first year when my sons were also in school. They both graduated in December that year so I had to buy uniforms for them that they would only wear for 3 months.


I went to catholic school from K-12. We could only purchase the uniforms at an expensive uniform shop. And then you needed "play clothes."

I guess the one good thing is that kids were always appropriately dressed, but let's face it, parents shelling out extra money for private school aren't (usually) going to have inappropriately dressed kids.
That said, You always knew who had money and who didn't, the uniforms are not the great equalizer everyone thinks they are.
I worked in an office during college where they suddenly required uniform shirts - I quit pretty quickly after that lol.
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Meeko 07:55 PM 03-22-2014
Depends on the "level" of uniform.

My daughters attended a charter school until 8th grade. School colors were white, red, navy and khaki beige. Tops were polo style shirts. Bottoms could be pants or skirts. They could wear a variation of whatever they wanted as long as it was school colors. So one daughter could wear a navy skirt and white shirt and the other one could wear khaki pants and a navy shirt and they were still in uniform. The items were easy to find in any store anywhere.

On the other hand, I was educated in England. My school uniform was extremely strict...right down to underwear. It could only be bought in John Lewis in London...an expensive department store. It was painfully expensive and my parents loathed having to drive into London to buy it. Our outerwear was uniform, we had to have a blazer AND a raincoat....our shoes were uniform....gym wear was uniform, swimwear was uniform......etc etc......all identical like the military. It was a ghastly green and grey ensemble...

I personally think the IDEA of uniform is great. I also think that it should be easy. Jeans and school t-shirt in the summer and jeans and school sweatshirt in the winter!
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SquirrellyMama 06:05 AM 03-23-2014
I had to wear uniforms from 2nd-5th grade. I loved it and would have preferred to wear them all through school.

Play clothes don't have to be more expensive. Since the kids aren't wearing them to school you can buy less clothing. So what if your kid wears the same pair of pants after school 2 days in a row.

I think kids generally have way to much clothing.

Kelly
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Blackcat31 07:58 AM 03-23-2014
Originally Posted by Laurel:
I keep wondering what odd means in your posts.

We only had skirts or jumpers in grades 1 and 2 but we wore tights, knee socks, etc.

Laurel
odd = oldest daughter
mdd = middle daughter
ydd = youngest daughter

Here is the acronyms page... The initials throw me for a loop once in a while too. Sometimes I "get it" just by the content of the sentence/post but other times I am scratching my head...

https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16317


(of course reading over the list of acronyms, I see "odd" isn't included... LOL!)
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Candy 10:53 AM 03-23-2014
Originally Posted by Meeko:
Depends on the "level" of uniform.

My daughters attended a charter school until 8th grade. School colors were white, red, navy and khaki beige. Tops were polo style shirts. Bottoms could be pants or skirts. They could wear a variation of whatever they wanted as long as it was school colors. So one daughter could wear a navy skirt and white shirt and the other one could wear khaki pants and a navy shirt and they were still in uniform. The items were easy to find in any store anywhere.

On the other hand, I was educated in England. My school uniform was extremely strict...right down to underwear. It could only be bought in John Lewis in London...an expensive department store. It was painfully expensive and my parents loathed having to drive into London to buy it. Our outerwear was uniform, we had to have a blazer AND a raincoat....our shoes were uniform....gym wear was uniform, swimwear was uniform......etc etc......all identical like the military. It was a ghastly green and grey ensemble...

I personally think the IDEA of uniform is great. I also think that it should be easy. Jeans and school t-shirt in the summer and jeans and school sweatshirt in the winter!
This is true so uniforms can be different colors which is easier kids can still choose what color shirts and pants they want to wear and still be in dress code.
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Laurel 10:59 AM 03-23-2014
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
odd = oldest daughter
mdd = middle daughter
ydd = youngest daughter

Here is the acronyms page... The initials throw me for a loop once in a while too. Sometimes I "get it" just by the content of the sentence/post but other times I am scratching my head...

https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16317


(of course reading over the list of acronyms, I see "odd" isn't included... LOL!)
Okay, thanks! I didn't think it meant her daughter was odd.

Laurel
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Michelle 02:49 PM 03-23-2014
My daughter wears uniforms and each piece..polo shirt/shirt/skorts/pants etc. costs between $35-$45 but she goes to private school and can only purchase from one store in Orange County. They are only open from 9-4 Mon-Fri and a few random Saturdays

The public school's have informs and they can buy like a polo shirt for $8-$15
and any bottoms for about $15
They sell them in thrift stores and schools always give sets away to the neediest of families.

I like uniforms except for the white shirts.
I've seen kids come home looking like they were involved in a pizza/chocolate war at school and I cringe at the thought of their poor moms getting those stains out
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Leanna 04:27 PM 03-23-2014
Originally Posted by Starburst:
That's not exactly true. My elementary and middle school (all public K-8 schools in the county I grew up in) had uniforms and there were times my mom had to take my brother to school in his underwear because he refused to get dressed. Plus, if the child is overweight (as I was) it is hard to find uniforms that fit right (and the ones that do cost more) and the material that most school uniforms are made of wear out easily. NOTE: If they are expensive and hard to find, you most likely wont have many different pairs, which means you have to wash them more often (especially if you only have 2 or 3 sets of uniforms and there 5 days in an average school week). Which costs more for washing (we lived in an apartment; no in-unit machines & laundry mat= pay per wash) and it also causes the uniforms to fade and wear out faster.

Plus, most school uniforms are just plain ugly (Elementary schools were dark green {some were navy blue} bottoms and white tops; middle schools white shirts w/ black bottoms) which can lead to lowering self-esteem (which is already an issue with most children these days).

Another thing to think about, it may make it even harder to pin-point neglect because one of the signs of child neglect is not only wearing dirty clothes but the same clothes multiple days in a row. How can a teacher tell if all uniforms look pretty much the same?



Interesting. As a child who grew up very poor and also neglected, I think uniforms would have made a huge positive change in my life, especially in junior high school. I agree that they should be easy to wear/find and not too expensive, such as khaki bottoms with a polo shirt with the school name on it. There are a few schools up here that require just a uniform top (polo shirt) which you can buy directly from the school for only $5 apiece.
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countrymom 07:05 AM 03-24-2014
our grade schools don't have them here, only the catholic high schools do (and no you don't have to pay to go to them)

I hate dress down days, that means my dd needs to find something to wear. So much easier to wear a uniform. Also, their school sells used uniforms which is great too or she finds them in the lost and found and brings them home. And in sept. my mdd will be going to highschool so she can wear the dress shirts that I bought and my dd never wore, I will have to buy a skirt and I can pick the pants up at costco for a fraction of the price (as long as they are the similiar grey) the shorts, well she'll have to wear a belt.

I really do think the pressure for dressing is taken off the kids when you all look the same. Like today 240 kids are going to see a movie at the theater and they all look the same, so it does look classy too.
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debbiedoeszip 08:16 AM 03-24-2014
My DS wore a uniform for high school. I loved it (he despised it LOL). Initially, the price is high, but I bought shirts large enough that they could be worn two years in a row, and pants long enough that when hemmed and then later rehemmed, were also worn for two years. After school, he'd change into a t-shirt and pj pants most of the time (he's a homebody).

We were required to buy the uniforms from a school uniform company and they were really high quality. Not sure about the uniforms sold at stores like Walmart and Target, though. Their material and stitching might not last for several years, especially if it's young, active kids (vs. teens) wearing them.
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Play Care 08:58 AM 03-24-2014
Originally Posted by countrymom:
our grade schools don't have them here, only the catholic high schools do (and no you don't have to pay to go to them)

I hate dress down days, that means my dd needs to find something to wear. So much easier to wear a uniform. Also, their school sells used uniforms which is great too or she finds them in the lost and found and brings them home. And in sept. my mdd will be going to highschool so she can wear the dress shirts that I bought and my dd never wore, I will have to buy a skirt and I can pick the pants up at costco for a fraction of the price (as long as they are the similiar grey) the shorts, well she'll have to wear a belt.

I really do think the pressure for dressing is taken off the kids when you all look the same. Like today 240 kids are going to see a movie at the theater and they all look the same, so it does look classy too.
We had TONS of dress down days in high school. Anytime they held a fundraiser that was the prize. And of course those with well off parents who bought out the fundraiser were always dressed down in designer clothing
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hwichlaz 09:19 PM 03-24-2014
No, only if you want 5 days of uniforms with every little extra possible. I always had school clothes and then had to change into play clothe when I got home as a kid anyway. My mom would have loved to buy my 2 or 3 uniforms instead of 7-10 school outfits.
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Rachel 05:10 AM 03-25-2014
Here it costs me a lot less. The kids have t-shirts that are uniform and skirts or pants that are regular. The t-shirts & sweat shirts aren't any more expensive than regular shirts. The quality is fine if not great, and people don't save them to give to their sister's kids (since it's a different school), so I have gotten lots of hand me downs. I bought uniform shirts the year my twins went to 1st grade (they are in 4th now), and I can count on one hand the amount of times I've had to buy shirts after that.
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