Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Unschool uniforms


Hobo Mama wants you to know she's a professional blogger! Look at how professional she's being!

This is appropriate field-trip attire
for an unschooler.
Take notes.

While I was at the playground on a warm summer's day, I was amusing myself trying to pick out the homeschooled kids.

It all started because Alrik, in his sparkliest My Little Pony shirt, was trying to play with a group of boys who were not at all interested in playing with him. I sized up their appropriate-length hair and matching gender-specific clothing and concluded that they probably all went to school together and weren't open to a newcomer. (Fair enough.)

After that, I glanced around to try to locate some easier targets for his overtures. Where my weirdo unschool kids at?

I saw one boy with longish hair in long sleeves and unmatched shorts. Possible.

I saw one girl in head-to-toe but unmatching pink leopard print. Maybe.

I saw one boy in patterned leggings. Probable.

Then a kid arrived in Christmas jammies and rainboots. Definitely.


Among some unschooler friends of mine, talk turned to school uniforms on little kids, and we decided to make out a list of appropriate school attire for unschoolers. Shannon compiled the following list, and I will add to it:

  • You should wear at least three colors and two prints at all times.

  • Or a cape and firehat.

  • Or a full-on costume.



  • Seasonally appropriate attire is strongly discouraged.

  • Shoes in particular should not correspond to the weather. Treat your footwear as a place for great personal expression.

  • Clothes without stains or other signs of hard wear are frowned upon.

  • Hair should at least brush the collar (boys) or be in a purple pixie cut (girls). Or whatever, really.

  • There is no such thing as boy clothes and girl clothes. Truth.


  • Backpacks should hold plushies, Transformers, and feathers you pick up along your way.

  • Clothes don't need to fit.

  • Face paint is optional but encouraged.

  • Body art should be exuberantly applied.




  • Accessorize!


  • Clothes can never be considered upside-down or backwards. Tags and seams and convention are just suggestions.

  • Pants are always optional. If you must wear pants, pajama pants are recommended.



I know some homeschool families abide by unofficial dress codes or wear full-on uniforms. It seems odd to me, but different strokes. We all homeschool for different reasons, and our family is obviously not in the crowd that thinks conventional schools aren't strict enough. I think school uniforms are actually super cute, but I'll stick with our unschooler dress code for now.

Until the day my kids want to wear school uniforms with pajama pants and rainboots underneath. I'd be down with that.

Thanks to my fellow unschoolers for the inspiration: Shannon, Jennifer, Mandy, and Jorje.




What do your kids wear to school or homeschool?

 

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