kids apron question

"robb" wrote in news:oq6dnb-yZq8IzCXVnZ2dnUVZ_q snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com:

ah. Montessori.

painting isn't part of practical life ;) but it does need an apron with sleeve coverage, more so than the practical life jobs.

is your Montessori school requesting different aprons for different works? it seems strange that they aren't using one vinyl coated cotton apron style for any/all of practical life. usually you'd want something the children can put on & remove by themselves, so nothing that needs tying. pullover pinafores with velcro tabs at the sides work well for practical life. my son's school used backwards long sleeve shirts for arts & crafts work. the younger preschoolers can be messy with paints & some of the things they use *don't* just wash out.

the kids like bright colors. some like solids & some like prints (but avoid anything gender specific or related to anything comercial, like Disney or cartoons). pullover styles with ribbing necks are nice. remember little kids have bigger heads than you'd think, & make the head openings fairly large for the height (my son's head was 20". one of his friends had an almost 22" head). my son is in 3rd year of lower elementary in Montessori. he likes it a lot. lee

Thanks for the reply and help, and yes, good call

aha, another good call and correct again , you must be well versed in the Montessori way.

you might be surprised to know that i have have come across a significant number of people who have their children enrolled in such a program that have not troubled themselves to know or understand much about the method or the philosophy ? They usually express lots of frustration when they find there are no reports (or willingness to report) on how their child ranks in the class ;)

The teacher likes to make simple changes to the class room from year to year and invent work for parent involvement. The current aprons were made by a variety of past parents with all different styles, sizes and all a bit worn. The teacher would like to use all similar styles and does not seem to be satisfied with any of the styles used. One of the complaints about some of the aprons was difficulty putting on or removing. so that is an issue to address.

yes, we have a rule such as that, no fantasy figures etc.

I think the teacher likes having interesting colors and patterns on those things that can have them. Since i am volunteering to do work on the project i am trying to address aesthetics and practical matters such as fit/function and so on. Some of the current aprons do not address practical issues like the dish washing apron seemed to be made from lawn or voile ... it was pretty but not practically suited for the activity and so flimsy it was somewhat difficult to put on as well.

we are 3rd year primary and ours is *almost* always eager to get to class.

Thanks for the ideas and help.

robb

Robb, for fabrics that are neither gender specific nor plastered in cartoon characters, are waterproof, and can be made into lots of styles, look at table coverings! Stuff like this makes great aprons:

but expensive) of fun things...Or try this stuff:

"robb" wrote in news:9uOdnYrFGOhB5CTVnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com:

no, i wouldn't. we've just moved Boo to a different Montessori school, as the one he had been attending (since he was 3) was being overrun by the type of parents you mention. no only were they asking for testing/class ranking, but they were demanding homework especially of the rote worksheet variety. hello? child-led education? Montessori philosophy? this new school very closely follows the philosophy, & it's so much more serene.

yup, there were numerous tie aprons in Boo's preschool. they rarely were used because it was too much trouble for the teachers to interrupt lessons to tie or untie them. here's a link to the aprons at Montessori Services:

're a pretty basic pinafore style. i think they'd look nicer in a bright print (i was thinking Merimekko oilcloth, but that's expensive!)lee

plastered in

of styles,

Thanks Kate, for the ideas, info and links ... wow ! lots of fun patterns there.

robb

You're welcome. I know the stuff isn't cheap, but it lasts for years, and it's a lot of fun. Use a Jeans needle, or a leather needle if you have trouble, and a walking foot.

I used some Toile de Jouey style stuff for mats for some of my baby changing bags!

Well, i am hoping we never deal with such troubles or such an uprising. Considering the current trend though, we probably will.

That is a nice basic design similar to what i had in my head after i found images of cobbler style aprons online.

One curious thing to me is the shoulders are not sloped. While i was using several different styles of youth/5T t-shirts in an attempt to fashion a traced/pattern ... all the shirts had varying degrees of slopes on the shoulders. So, my attempt at a cobbler apron pattern has a slope on the shoulders and my neck opening is rounded not squared.

Do you have an opinion on a sloped shouldered apron being more comfortable ? or noticeable ? with a cobbler apron design.

i suppose the squared shoulder strap is just faster /cheaper/quicker to fabricate as there is two less seams to worry with.

Thanks lee, for the reply and help,

robb

"robb" wrote in news:OPWdnUwj1sTSzF7VnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com:

i personally would think the sloped shoulder might be more comfortable, but i doubt it's noticable. also, there can be a rather amazing difference in size between a barely 3 year old & an almost 7 year old, which is the age range you're making the aprons for. a slope that fits one end of the range probably won't be comfortable at the other end. so straight shoulders are a good compromise if you don't want to mess with sizing (and i don't think you really do unless you make the different sizes different colors/prints)

yup. lee