Clever Currents

School Uniforms – a Good Thing?

In recent focus groups with girls ages 7-10, we were reviewing sketches for our upcoming magazine, The Meerkids Monthly. A comment that we did not expect related to the "girl" meerkats' clothing. The girls in the focus group noticed that each little girl meerkat was wearing a different style of outfit. They agreed that the girls should all be wearing the same style. That got us thinking about school uniforms, and whether kids have a strong opinion. There has been a long and heated debate among grown-ups, but we could not unearth anything definitive on kids' opinions. Which makes us think that, like so many questions about self-image, there are as many opinions as there are styles.


The Blue Lake take on it:
There is no perfect answer on this one – it makes sense to adapt to whatever situation your child is in and to have a discussion with your child about the pros and cons of wearing uniforms. The National Association of Elementary School Principals has a summary of both sides of the debate.

The Kid's Menu – enough with the Chicken Nuggets!

A funny column titled Don't Point That Menu at My Child, Please by David Kamp, a writer for Vanity Fair, GQ and The New York Times makes this point: "In short, I came to the realization that America is in the grips of a nefarious chicken-finger pandemic, in which a blandly tasty foodstuff has somehow become the de facto official nibble of our young." Kamp explores how this came to be (1983: McDonald's launches McNugget) and who is fighting back. Tony Miller at Latitude 41 (Columbus, OH) told Kamp: "Our kid's menu features zero fried foods. We do grilled organic chicken teriyaki, a seared fillet of whatever fish is in season, and a four-ounce fillet of natural beef with smashed potatoes. I have not received a single negative reaction from adults or kids. Not one. The kids say ‘Man, that's the best steak I've ever eaten!'."


The Blue Lake take on it:
We asked Duskie Estes and John Stewart (chef/owners of Zazu and Bovolo restaurants in Sonoma Valley's wine country) and parents of Brydie and MacKenzie (young subscribers to Tessy & Tab) what they think and what they offer. Their own daughters define the spectrum: one eats stinky cheeses, pig heart and olives, and the other eats only white rice, fruit and french fries. As chefs, they say that a basic kid's menu makes it easy for kids to get something and parents to enjoy a restaurant. If you don't see something you like on the kid's menu, ask for a kid's portion from the adult menu. Here are Seven Tips for Eating Out With Kids by the author of Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids.

S – P – E – L – L – I – N – G: It's a Sport!

ESPN – that's where I caught the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. I was reluctantly coaxed into watching the bee. I avoid television, and watching kids spell on stage sounded boring. I was wrong. I was riveted. We played along. We all know that good spelling is a key part of written communication skills, but practicing spelling is not usually seen as F-U-N. I witnessed kids and adults get excited about building spelling skills after watching the bee.


The Blue Lake take on it:
Don't wait. Watch a spelling bee movie with your kids this weekend. We highly recommend Spellbound, the Oscar-nominated documentary of the 1999 National Spelling Bee, and Akeelah and the Bee, a moving, fictional account of an 11 year-old girl's journey from a troubled home to Scripps. You will be hooked. Then, you will want to start with the most common 1,000 words, move on to spelling coach tips from a UK English teacher, and maybe even play the online spelling bee game at the site of Broadway Musical "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee."