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This Irish School Just Assigned ‘Kind Acts’ as Homework to Its Kids
Irish school asking students to do acts of kindness instead of Homework. Have a look at the new initiative by the school to embed kindness in children.
Can you imagine a no-homework month at schools? No, right? You will be surprised to know that an Irish school has made the month of December absolutely homework-free for its students. All they are supposed to do is focus on doing acts of kindness each day rather than solving their regular (boring) assignments.
For a month, the children of Gaelscoil Mhíchíl Uí Choileáin, Clonakilty, will be relieved of the burden of doing the same old monotonous homework and instead experience the joy of kindness and compassion. In the past, a good number of schools throughout the globe have experimented with a similar kind of curriculum by adding ‘acts of kindness’ as one of the main educational activities. The effects, undoubtedly, resulted in more vigorous development of the kids involved. Isn't this a beautiful example of Progressive Schooling?
In this Irish school, the students are assigned an act of kindness every day. This may include helping an elderly cross the road on Monday, assisting their family in regular household chores on Tuesday, feeding homeless people on Wednesday, petting a stray the next day, and so on.
Students are also asked to keep a track of their acts in a Kindness Diary while the school will maintain a Kindness Bucket where students will deposit a positive note, affirmation, and observations, which will be randomly be read out in the classroom on Fridays, to uplift the self-esteem of their comrades.
Apart from this, the students of each class are also supposed to collaborate for a Group Kindness Activity that will be based on the idea of collective-brainstorming. They're hoping that, with this idea, the conventional methods of teaching that emphasize only on rote learning and information-based exams can be slowly withdrawn as they create unhealthy competition among students. The desire to leave their classmates behind and stand as a topper in class hinders the positive emotional development among children as they also lose the sense of togetherness amongst them. With ideas like Act of Kindness, we can actually make a positive impact on their psychology.
Scroll down to read some benefits that can be obtained by implementing such healthy practices in schools:
1. Happiness
Students must be happy both inside and outside the classroom and some studies have proved that acts of kindness can provide it to both the giver and the receiver of kindness. The feeling of being kind also releases endorphins that stimulate the areas of the brain associated with trust and pleasure.
2. Compassion
Bullying in schools has sadly become a common phenomenon and with activities like acts of kindness, we can truly teach them about compassion, living in unity, and treating everyone with equality.
3. Better results
Kindness will ensure a peaceful mind which will, in turn, lead to a healthy life cycle. A healthy mind and body are essential to perform well in daily activities that include studying, as well. A mind that is full of envy and frustration won't be able to perform to its fullest.
4. Stress buster
It is evident that stress can target anyone without looking at the age. The stress children go through during their school time is very real and the appointment of psychologists in school settings can ratify this fact. Small acts of kindness that can make them happy will automatically decrease their stress and are also far better than depending upon counselling.
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