We have worked with schools across the United States, and believe us, you are not the only person asking this question! The answers that we have heard from our customers are as varied as our customers are. The debate over school uniforms is complicated, so we've included highlights from both sides for you to consider:

Professional:
Some say that a child in a school uniform is more likely to take school seriously. Putting on the school uniform signals he or she is going to school just like dad dresses up to go to work. Schools report that when students dress in "work clothes" rather than "play clothes" they take a more serious approach to their studies.

Promotes Good Discipline:
Many think that school uniforms help maintain school discipline, decreasing the amount of discipline problems. The argument is that children today are lacking in self-discipline because parents refuse to discipline them. This makes it more difficult on the teacher who has to deal with classes of 25-30 students at a time.

Reduces Fighting and Violence:
Schools report that school uniforms decrease fighting and violence that arrise out of arguments over fashionable clothes. Children invariably tease those who do not have trendy clothes. Those who can't afford name brand clothes are often sensitive about their clothing. Schools struggling with gang problems report that school uniforms help ease tensions.

Distractions:

Many parents believe that students wearing school uniforms look nicer and that a school uniform policy ensures that children will come to school in appropriate clothing, avoiding distractions such as fads considered to be outlandish or overly revealing. Some students have turned school into an unending fashion show. This disctracts from learning, as some kids spend more time focused on thier clothes than on homework.

Values:
School uniforms stress that individuality and self-expression are not determined by designer clothing or the latest fashion fad.

Low Cost:
School uniforms are a bargain. They are becoming far less expensive than many other clothes. Schools argue that school uniforms are economical, especially compared to designer clothing, and parents agree given school uniform durability. They say school uniforms last longer because they are made for repeated wash and wear. Many schools capitalize on this by starting used school uniform stores or swap meets. Parents can get used school uniforms at discount prices, or just use them as hand-me-downs between siblings.

School Spirit:
Some feel wearing a school uniform helps build school spirit. It instills a feeling of belonging. As the Beach Boys said, "Be true to your school." Schools report an increase in school pride.

Individuality:

Supressing individuality is the most commonly cited objection to school uniforms. Educators argue that an academic program encouraging students to pursue individual thought is much more important than what they wear. They inhibit creativity and self-expression, forcing students to conform.

Causes Discipline Problems:
Some students reject any rules. Forcing them to wear school uniforms only aggravates their rebelious spirit. They alter their school uniform by tightening, widening, shortening, or lengthening them, and teachers are given the impossible task of policing the students on a daily basis.

Little or No Relationship to Academics:
Opponents insist that their is no credible evidence that school uniforms improve school discipline or promote higher academic acheivement. The principal argument is that some great students are terrible dressers. Dress does not necessarily improve learning.

Everyone at some point has experienced an impasse in communication; those frustrating occasions when it all breaks down and people want to get up and walk out. Just look at a sample of recent headlines: “Peace Talks Breakdown” or “Labor Negotiations at a Stalemate” or “Negotiations Fail to Result in an Accord”. When the stakes are high and people are afraid they have something to loose communication becomes strained and people stop listening to one another. Usually this is while claiming that the people on the other side of the table are actually the ones who are not doing the listening. We get so concerned and fearful about getting other people to hear what we have to say, we become unwilling to hear what they have to say.

LearningTRACS is one of the few "cloud-based" online teaching aids that present text and images as an educational or therapeutic aid. Since it is a "cloud-based" program it can be accessed with any computer or other device with Internet capabilities. Children or adults in the following areas will find online teaching aids such as learningTRACS to be helpful:
• Developmental Disorders
• Autistic Spectrum Disorders
• Learning Disabilities
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Rehabilitation of Traumatic Brain Injury
• Memory Loss in Adults
• Social Emotional Disorders

LearningTracs was created to help anyone with developmental challenges in a learning or rehabilitative setting to have access to an online tool that displays text and images in a systematic way. Developers of learningTracs have years of experience in helping autistic children with learning and in helping adults with their memories and education. learningTRACS addressed the obvious lack of software in visual training and set to developing the software to aid learning disabled children and adults.

LearningTracs is a teaching tool with the following features:
• Text and image frames are edited and displayed for each individual.
• An instructor can use built-in templates or build his/her on template from scratch.
• LearningTRACS creates folders that can be personalized with each user's individual planned program for learning.
• A personal library of images can be added to myImages to make learningTracs even more personalized. Users or instructors can add images that are favorites of the user such as dinosaurs, trains, or super heroes. This helps children retain information because they can identify with their favorite characters.
• TRACS can be exchanged or shared with other members through a LearningTRAC online board.

The LearningTRACS program was influenced by the recent shift to "cloud-based" and online teaching aids. LearningTRACS teaching aids are based on the repetitive visual learning method.
Repetition is a basic human learning strategy. Small children use repetition to learn how to talk. Athletes use repetition to perfect their skills. Repetition can seem boring to children and adults with normal learning abilities. However, for people with learning challenges repetition is one of the best ways to learn.

Learning by repetition takes an great amount of time. When children and adults have difficulty with visual recall they must use massive amounts of repetition to master learning. The learningTRACS online teaching aids can be accessed from an iphone, kindle, or other portable device with Internet. The user can use the repetitive features of the online teaching aids while waiting in lines, traveling as a passenger, or anytime without having to be in front of a computer screen.

Green Student Activity Book (Learning Language Arts Through Literature)
Student Activity Books are the perfect companions for the LLATL! Everything in one book: student instruction, a place for writing, and a tool for easy record keeping. Allows for more independent work, a BONUS for teachers. Each SAB provides Enrichment Activities such as word puzzles, analogies, logic/reasoning activities and more found ONLY in the SAB. (Answers are found in the Teacher Book.)

Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine (Oxford Handbooks Series)
As ubiquitous in hospitals as stethoscopes, the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine is a guiding star for all medical students, junior doctors, and residents. The culmination of more than 20 years of clinical experience, and containing the knowledge and insight gained by more than 15 authors, the new eighth edition continues to be the definitive pocket-sized guide to today's clinical medicine.

Packed with clear, clinical management advice which is practical to implement at the bed-side, the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine is written in a clear and didactic style. With witty, esoteric asides liking medicine to everything from the classics to popular culture, all the material is presented in a way that is instantly memorable and even easier to put into practice.