This School Replaced Homework with Acts of Kindness

Homework isn’t just about math and reading. At one school in Ireland the students are assigned acts of kindness instead of homework.

Students at Clonakilty’s Gaelscoil Mhichíl Uí Choileáin will spend the holiday season learning about the importance of kindness instead of practicing multiplication and spelling words. This is the third year that the school has replaced homework with something a little more unique for the month of December.

Last year the students focused on gratitude and were assigned to keep a gratitude journal for the month. This year they will record their kind acts in a kindness diary. In addition to performing kind acts for family, friends and neighbors, each class is working on a collaborative project to help the community. The school has also set up a spot where students can leave notes of kindness for each other. The notes are shared with the school at an assembly each week.

“We are encouraging our pupils to think of the real spirit of Christmas, the spirit of kindness and giving,” the school stated in a Facebook post. “Unfortunately not everyone is in a position to be able to enjoy Christmas, some are lonely, some are sad, some might yearn for what they do not have and some might simply not enjoy the festivities. But there is nobody in this world who wouldn’t benefit from an act of kindness, and the joy of kindness is that it costs nothing.”

—Shahrzad Warkentin

Featured photo: Sandrachile via Unsplash

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