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General News

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Greetings everyone as we bring to a close another week and month of learning and teaching at John Calvin School.  May the Lord continue to bless the work of the parents and teachers as, together, they instruct His covenant children in the fear of His Name.  “Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.”  Job 28:28

May our Heavenly Father continue to provide for those in our school community who need Him in a special way.  We pray for Mrs. deVisser who continues with her chemotherapy treatments.  She received treatment #2 last week Friday.  Our thoughts and prayers are also with the Schutten family with the recent passing away of br. Gerhard Schutten.  He was an uncle to two of our staff members and a great-grandfather to six of our students. 

A few items for your attention:

*The Spring Food Drive in support of West Lincoln Community Care continues until next week Friday, April 5.  Thanks to all who have contributed so far. 

*Today, we say farewell to the two remaining student teachers, Mrs. Alanna Folkerts and Miss Michaela Vis.  Their five-week practice teaching session has come to an end.  We hope and pray that their practicum at John Calvin School was a good and helpful experience as they prepare to take up their respective teaching positions in September.  Mrs. Folkerts will be teaching Grade 6B at John Calvin School and Miss Vis will be teaching Grade 3 at Bellstone Christian School.  We wish both ladies all the best and the Lord’s blessing as they head back to the Teachers College for their last couple of months of instruction and exams.   

*The boys’ and girls’ teams showed excellent effort and great teamwork in their basketball games at last week’s tournament.  Both teams made it to the semi-finals where they lost to the eventual champions and finished with a two wins and two losses record.  Well done!  We thank Mr. Witten, Mr. Joosse, and Mr. Hofsink for their expertise and time coaching the teams.  It’s now on to baseball with practices beginning in a couple of weeks.

*The JCS Ladies’ Auxiliary is planning a pancake lunch on Friday, April 5.  Hurray!  No lunches to make.  Thank you very much for this upcoming treat Ladies’ Auxiliary.

*Just in case you missed it last week, we have once again included the Protocol for Class Re-distribution.  Class lists will be developed in June from the considerations, criteria, and procedures included in the document.  Please add it as an appendix to your copy of the Parent Handbook. The protocol has been reviewed and approved by the education committee and the board.

Reminders:

*Please continue to collect tabs for cans for Jude VanVeen so he and his family can get a wheelchair for his sister Anna.  

*From the Library:  Please check your shelves or your children’s bedrooms for copies of the Book of Knowledge Encyclopedia (the volumes in the set have a light blue cover; see the picture on the JCS Instragram account).  We are missing quite a number of books from the set.  Thank you for your cooperation in this request.

*News and Views materials are due on Monday, April 8.

*Assembly to kick-off fundraising for the Hike of Hospice on Tuesday afternoon, April 9

*Good Friday is on April 19 and Easter Monday is on April 22.

*The Open House for parents and grandparents/seniors is scheduled to take place on Friday morning, May 3 from 8:00-12:00.  Lunch for the grandparents/seniors will be provided for and served by the Ladies’ Auxiliary. The same afternoon, the school is planning to participate in the community fundraiser walk (Hike for Hospice) in support of McNally House.

*Please note the following changes to the school calendar:  The Spring Membership meeting originally scheduled for May 22 has been re-scheduled for Wednesday, April 24.

*The ASC committee is organizing its annual spring meeting for Monday, May 6th at Covenant Canadian Reformed Church in Grassie beginning at 7:30 p.m..  The topic for the evening is a continuation of the theme, Belongingness, and the speaker once again will be Mrs. Sara Pot. 

                Enjoy your weekend everyone and have a blessed Sunday.  The Lord willing, we’ll touch base again in a week’s time.                                                G. Hofsink

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Classroom News

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Kindergarten

Although we only had a four day week, kindergarten managed to get a lot done. On Monday and Tuesday we had orange day! Thank you to our volunteers for bringing in a delicious orange snack. On Wednesday and Thursday we had the opportunity to make our own pizzas as a part of our social studies unit. In Bible class we enjoyed listening to the story of David and how God protected him. In language class we learned the letter Y and had fun making yaks! Our math unit has been focusing on counting by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. Next week looks like a “normal” week so far, meaning that there are not lots of extra activities happening. We did not have school on Friday because Jessica and I attended a conference in Hamilton. NR&JB

Letter of the week: Xx

Word of the week: you, brown

Practice: Numbers 10-20

Memory work: O Church Arise

Grade 1

Another full week in grade 1 is complete. This week we finished our unit in social studies on Famous Canadians. The tests have been completed and sent home. Today we wrote a test in math and this will be going home shortly. Our new unit is on fractions, looks to be fun. Today we started to work with our Grade 8 partners who traced our bodies and interviewed us about ourselves. We look forward to completing this project in the new future. In Bible we continue to see how God cares for his people by providing a king after His own heart. Thank you to all who have brought in items for the food drive. Donations for plastic bags in the classroom are always welcome. Have a great weekend.

Memory Work: Hymn 57: 1;  Isaiah 53:6  for April 5

Spelling words: fun, new, off, old, here

Grade 2

This week we completed our studies of Martin Luther in his work as a translator.  We will have a quiz on Tuesday. The students are really enjoying our novel study on The Drinking Gourd. The ideas of slavery, the underground railroad, and the African-American culture are totally new to the students and sometimes beyond belief. We will continue with this next week. Have a wonderful weekend! BV/RG

Psalm 147:5

Spelling: green, float, joke, hurt, clock

Grade 3

We had another busy week. The children were busy reading stories, learning about the different communities, jumping and skipping in PE, and working on visual texture in art. We are learning about God’s majesty as He displayed this in the signs and wonders performed in Egypt, and how God separated His chosen people from Egypt. The children are also learning to become more independent in their work, as well as showing responsibility in their homework and practising spelling words and math facts. Thank you for your ongoing support in this. Remember to bring food for the food drive; together we can show the love of Christ by sharing in the blessings we receive each day. Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday. JB/MP

Memory work: Ps. 124:1     Text: Ex. 20 :7-11 (two weeks)

Spelling words: wear, we’re, where, with

PE on Monday and Thursday, Library on Tuesday

Mission $ on Friday

Grade 4

Grade 4B will be presenting their Canada Province or Territory this week, starting on Tuesday. Students need to have their posters and PowerPoint completed. They have had plenty of school work time. Please check in with your child about their project. Students should know the 6 times tables (and 4B is working on the 7 times tables now) and memory work. Spelling Unit 26 — ready, build, weather, wouldn’t, dead, built, full, they’re, early, heaven, we’ll, warm, war, course, should (4B extra words — affluent, hermit, dapper, abscond)

Memory work — Hymn 22:1

Next week Memory work — Hymn 6:2, Bible Memory — Philippians 2:8b – 11

Grade 5

In our Bible unit this week we will be learning about the events surrounding the death of our Savior.  We will also continue studying about Ancient Egypt and their customs.  Memory work for the week is Hymn 18:1 and 1 Peter 2: 9-10.  Devotions for Grade 5A: M. Madison, Tu. RaeAnna, W. Landon, Th. Teagen, F. Merrit.  5B: M. Reuben, Tu. Trinity, W. Parker, Th. Amanda, F. Declan.  Enjoy your weekend! RK/KVL                 

Grade 6

The students are working towards completing the typing of the state project information. A second request for stuffing for the beanbag project, please bring some to school. Many details were given about the periodic table this week. Ask your child what they learned about it. We continue to work through the book of Exodus paying special attention to adding to the basic information that the students would have learned in Grade 3. Please remember to help out our community by bringing in nonperishable items. Have a blessed weekend. SO/CV

Grade 7A

Basketball is going well in Grade 7A, although mastering the layup did take some time. We plan to scrimmage next week. Although he was very wise and his kingdom experienced peace, Solomon is not the King of Peace, but only a dim foreshadow. After our “Solomon” unit wraps up in the next week, we’ll move on to John Calvin. We’ve come to the end of ratios, proportions and percents in Math. Our next unit will focus on personal finance using the Dave Ramsey curriculum entitled, “Foundations in Personal Finances”. Students have proposed who they will  interview to learn more about their topic. This will require parental involvement especially with arranging time for and transportation to the future interview; thank you in advance for your participation. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

We are coming to the close of our Bible History unit on Solomon, where we see the demise of Solomon’s kingdom because of sin. In Math, we are excited to start a new unit, “Foundations in Personal Finance” where we will be looking at budgeting, credit cards, banks, etc. In Language Arts, we have also started a new unit on our Digital Citizenship and how to use technology safely and to the glory of God’s name. Our History project on the War of 1812 carries on, and we are moving closer to the construction phase. Independent Study moves forward with our Interview requests, so please be prepared for a email/telephone request to be signed next week. Devotions – Elijah J. Have a good weekend!

Grade 8A

As we wrap up the final week of March, we bid farewell Mrs. Folkerts. It was a pleasure having her in our classroom these past weeks! We wish her the Lords blessings as she completes her schooling at the college. This past week we had several tests with some very good results. Keep up the great work 8A! Next week we settle back into some sense of normalcy, if that’s possible with the beautiful spring sunshine we have been blessed with. Have a restful weekend! Cheers, Mr. J

Grade 8B

We are working our way through the stories about Mary Queen of Scots and her impact on the Reformation in Scotland. We had hoped to have a Math test this week, but we need just a little more time to practise and complete the reviews. The Math test will be on Tuesday. In Science we’ve been discussing the wonders of unicellular and multicellular organisms. History tests were returned and they were very well done. Students seem to really have enjoyed the artists that they studied, as well. I am in the process of uploading more of the grade 8B writing on our blog. We continue to work at learning the songs and hymns that are part of the Ascension/Pentecost program. Our class will be taking responsibility for the Good/Friday Easter Assembly, so we are learning some songs for that as well. As always, lots to do in grade 8.