Irish School Replaces December Homework With Kindness

Imagine getting zero homework for an entire month and being asked to make someone smile instead. That's exactly what happens every December at Gaelscoil Mhíchíl Uí Choileáin in Clonakilty, Ireland.

The school started replacing homework with daily kindness assignments back in 2018, and the program keeps growing stronger each year. Students get a different kindness task for each weekday throughout December.

On Mondays, kids help out family members by taking over chores without being asked. Tuesdays are for helping the environment through small eco-friendly actions. Wednesdays mean reaching out to elderly neighbors and community members.

Thursdays focus on self-kindness, where students do something good for their own mental and emotional health. The school asks students to track everything in a Kindness Diary.

There's also a Kindness Bucket where students drop anonymous notes praising their classmates. Every Friday morning, teachers read random selections aloud so everyone can hear the positive observations.

Each class also works together on a bigger kindness project for the community. The students brainstorm ideas as a team and then make it happen.

Vice Principal Íde Ní Mhuirí explained the thinking behind it all. "We are encouraging our pupils to think of the real spirit of Christmas, the spirit of kindness and giving," she said. "The joy of kindness is that it costs nothing."

The Ripple Effect

The program's impact has spread far beyond the school walls. In 2024, the staff asked families to donate to UNICEF's Children of Gaza Appeal instead of buying teacher gifts. They raised €7,501 in donations.

Parents and teachers from around the world have praised the idea on social media. One person wrote that if this practice went worldwide, there would be "more tolerance and patience on this ball of gas."

The school notes that in a world consumed by social media pressure, there's no better way to show young people how to move forward than through practicing kindness. Helping others makes everyone feel good, and that feeling can't be measured in test scores.

The message is simple: every child can be the reason somebody smiles today.