Word for Wednesday: Kindness

blog home

November 13th marks World Kindness Day, which was introduced by the World Kindness Movement in 1998. 

The World Kindness Movement is a ‘legally registered not-for-profit organization with no political, commercial or religious affiliations’. Members of the World Kindness Movement span 27 different countries and their mission is to ‘inspire individuals towards greater kindness by connecting nations to create a kinder world’. World Kindness Day aims to celebrate and promote kindness in the many different forms it comes in. Click here for ideas for how you can celebrate World Kindness Day in your communities. 

The Spellzone dictionary defines kindness as ‘the quality of being warm-hearted, considerate, humane, and sympathetic’. The word has been used in English since around 1300 to mean ‘courtesy’ or ‘noble deeds’. It comes from the Middle English ‘kinde’ which comes from the Old English ‘(ge)cunde’ meaning ‘with feeling of relatives for each other’. This in turn comes from the Proto-Germanic ‘kundi’ meaning ‘natural, native’ from ‘kunjam’ meaning 'family'. Kind is related to the words ‘child’ and ‘kin’. 

There’s something inspiring about kindness meaning treating someone like they are family. Here at Spellzone, we have subscribers from all over the world and we love the idea of using our channels as a way of bringing people together. Do let us know in the comments how you’re celebrating World Kindness Day - whether is complimenting someone or making a charitable donation, we'd love to hear. 


13 Nov 2019
blog home

"Thank goodness for Spellzone during this remote learning phase. The site is easy for students to navigate independently and they're really enjoying the activities and spelling games. You get an awful lot for your money with Spellzone. Really reassuring is the very prompt response with helpdesk queries. I've very rarely needed the helpdesk, but when I have, the issue has been addressed and sorted within a very short time."

Sarah Taggart, Oasis Academy Lord's Hill