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>Hi, Laura! > >Laerskool is which age range? >I like the encouragement! I assume in a society where >many children go barefoot it's not as common for >anyone to be shy or embarrassed about showing their >feet? > >My children are now all in secondary school, there >they distinguish between outdoor and indoor shoes. In >the building only indoor shoes are allowed to be worn >but in practice this can mean anything: bare feet, >socks, flipflops, slippers, sandals, gym sneakers ... >Shoes worn outside aren't allowed inside. > >What does this mean for street feet? Well my children >take care to wipe their feet on the mat at the >entrance and don't come with muddy feet, the color of >their soles is a different story (but the same goes >for some of the sockfooters there ...) > >In summer up to half the class go barefoot but outside >the house barefooters are still in the minority and >when it cools down my children can count on being the >only ones. >Ideally you should come home from school having >learned something new and knowing more than when you >arrived in the morning. That's what school is good >for, after all ... so it would be nice if they >addressed some common misconceptions ("you get flat >feet from walking barefoot on asphalt", "you catch a >cold when walking barefoot in the cold", "your feet >catch/spread fungus" and so on) and presented the >actual scientific facts, the advantages of walking >barefoot but also the risks and what to look out for. >If I ask my children they say they love the feeling of >walking barefoot, it's cool and shoes are just a >bother anyway. I think that's an important point, >getting used to the feeling and enjoying it. They >definitely don't need encouragement, rather they try >to encourage their friends, at least when it's warm >and pleasant. > >Some years ago all three of my children wore shoes >outside in the winter months (inside they've always >been barefoot). When I packed away their winter shoes >on the first mild day of spring and told them they can >go barefoot from now on they were so happy! And now >they definitely go for the limits and every day of new >snow in winter means a set of barefoot tracks outside >the house.

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