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I don’t know about you, but I love wearing my flip-flops during the summer. When I was younger I’d go barefoot more than I’d wear shoes! Let’s just say I stopped doing that as soon as I moved to Arizona at age 19. I went from my door to the mailbox at the end of the driveway and thought I had 3rd-degree burns on the bottom of my feet for 3 days! Have you ever seen the videos of people frying an egg on the sidewalk in Phoenix? If you ever wondered if that is true – it is!!
Since it’s still so hot when school starts here in this beautiful city, August 6th for students, many parents don’t think twice about sending their child to school in flip-flops or sandals. It only makes sense to keep our feet cooler in open-toed shoes, right? I know that I want to wear my comfy sandals for most of the year here, and admittedly, I do wear them at my own risk. The problem, as many teachers know, is that it is just not safe for kids to wear them to school. We see smashed toes, broken toes, bloody toenails, cuts or bruises from tiny rocks and sometimes even burnt feet when the shoe flies off during P.E. or recess while playing. In preschool, we have tricycles, wagons, heavy doors and even the hot sand that creates an unsafe situation for sandals.
So, how do I let parents know of a certain dress code or shoe attire when school starts?
This year I will be putting this Cute Note to Parent in with our welcome packet and sending home in backpacks. It gently lets parents know that tennis shoes are the best for our preschoolers to stay safe at school. A little humor is nice, and it is a school policy in most schools anyway. I’ve found that parents don’t always think preschool is “school” and may not take a formal school policy handbook too seriously. I get the best results by simply letting parents know in person, through a reminder note or adding this cute poster to the welcome packet for meet the teacher night.
Our adorable little girls love wearing heels or boots too. Not rain/snow boots, but dressy boots. Yes, parents love dressing their girls up and letting them wear heels. Not to leave out the boys, since we frequently have boys come in smooth-soled (slippery) dress shoes, especially the first week or so of school, too. I get it, I love it when my kids look nice too, don’t you? I know it’s going to happen no matter how prepared we are in letting parents know about safety issues. I don’t stress over it, instead we fawn over them and make sure we acknowledge how great they look, and then gently let the parents know that dress shoes might not be the safest thing to wear to school. I try to put it in a positive light, “Jane/Joe looks amazing today, but was unable to do some outside activities because their shoes were slippery/wouldn’t stay on/exposed their toes. They love being able to run, climb, and ride the tricycles so we recommend tennis shoes for school.” Hopefully, I don’t have to report any injuries the first week of school as I’m reminding them.
Let me know if you have any cute ideas for dress code or shoe policies. I love doing new things!
