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General News

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Hello again school community as we bring to a close another week of instruction at John Calvin School. We thank God for once again providing for the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the staff and students as they went about their daily work in the school and at home. May our Heavenly Father continue to be gracious to us and bless us as we strive to serve Him all day, every day.

                Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with those who need the Lord in a special way, whether they are grieving, dealing with serious illness, or coping with difficult family situations.  In particular, we think of the extended family in this area of Mrs. Louise Strating who was laid to rest earlier this week.  We also think of the family of Darren Bartels who will be laid to rest today.  We pray that our Heavenly Father will surround the Bartels family with His love and grace both now and moving forward without their husband, father, son, and brother. This morning we received word that Mrs. Elly Schutten passed away, just a few weeks after her beloved husband, Jack.  May our God of all comfort be near to the Schutten family at this time.

                Monday, January 27th and Tuesday, January 28th are PD Days for the staff.  Monday is a report card writing and reading day.  Tuesday morning the staff will be volunteering at Niagara Christian Gleaners and working on Music curriculum in the afternoon.  The students (and their parents) may enjoy an extra long weekend.

A few items for your attention:

*Bullying Awareness: In our broken and sinful world, bullying continues to happen.  That’s why it is good to be reminded from time to time about how we are to treat one another as Christian brothers and sisters, whether it’s on social media, on the bus, on the playground, or in the school.  All of us are created in God’s image and we need to remember that when we interact with our neighbour, i.e. our classmates and our schoolmates.

*The students in Grades 7&8 continue to prepare for their bi-annual Public Speaking and Poetry Recitation contest.  Thank you very much to all who volunteered to serve as a judge for both the classroom finals on Thursday, February 6 and the school final on Tuesday, February 11. Your willingness to do so is very much appreciated.  John Calvin School is also hosting the Regional competition on Thursday afternoon, February 20.

*The Grade 8 students (and their parents) are reminded to return the Grade 9 course selection sheet to their teacher as soon as possible.

*On Monday, February 3, Guido De Bres Christian high school will be hosting a parent information evening for parents with children in Grades 6-8.  This meeting is especially helpful for parents whose oldest child will be entering Grade 9.

*On Monday, February 10 the Grade 8 students are planning to travel to Guido De Bres Christian high school to participate in the annual Grade 8 Day.  The students will make their way through a very brief version of the courses they will be taking in September.  This is something that the grade eight students always look forward to.

*The coaches are planning to begin preparations for the basketball tournament with try-outs during the week of February 10.

*Hockey practices/exhibition games continue for the JCS hockey team as they get ready to participate in two tournaments in February (the Cairn Christian Schools tournament and the Guido De Bres Invitational).  The team has an exhibition game against Beacon Christian School this afternoon from 3:00-4:00 at the Smithville arena.

Reminders:

*End of term report cards are scheduled to come home on Friday, January 31st with Parent-Teacher conferences for all parents to follow on Tuesday, February 4 and Thursday, February 6. 

*The Ladies Auxiliary is planning a Soup Day for Friday, February 7.  We are looking forward to a hot bowl of soup on a cold, winter day.  Students are reminded to bring a bowl/mug and spoon that day.  Drinks will not be provided.  Thank you very much Ladies Auxiliary for this treat at this time of year.

*Heritage/Flag Day is on Thursday, February 13.  An afternoon assembly is planned where we hope to commemorate this special day in our country.  We also plan to kick-off Book Week at the assembly.

*For extra-long weekend planning:  the annual February CARE Day, to be held at ACRES, is scheduled for Friday, February 14 (this is a day off for the students), and Monday, February 17 is Family Day.

*Book Week is planned for the week of February 17-21.  The theme for the special week is Read Canadian.  Stay tuned for more details about the event in next week’s Chronicle.

Have a good weekend everyone and God bless.  We’ll communicate again via the Chronicle in a week’s time, D.V.

G. Hofsink

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Classroom News

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Kindergarten

Another week completed in kindergarten. The students absolutely loved PJ Day and Teddy Bear Day this week! We went on a bear hunt, read many books about bears and snuggled our bears throughout the day! Thanks so much to all of the parent volunteers who came in to help out with assessments.  Many of the students are struggling with consistently recognizing the letter sounds. It would be beneficial for the students to practice the letters sounds every day at home and at school. Next week Monday and Tuesday we plan to start the reading program once again. Hopefully it works better the 2nd time around. We are also looking to have 2 parent/grandparent volunteers every day in the classroom from 10:30 until 12:00 to assist with learning centers. If this is something that you can help with every week, please let me know. Have a great weekend.  JB and NV

Grade 1

This week we have had a lot of absent students and a teacher in Grade One. The flu seems to be hitting us hard.  If your child has a persistent cough and fever, please don’t hesitate to keep him/her home.  Thanks to Mrs. Oosterhoff and Mrs. Buikema for coming in to teach for Mrs. VanEs on Wednesday and Thursday.  We are thankful Mrs. VanEs is back with her class today. The students have really been missing going to the library, picking books and listening to Mrs. J. Lof read us a story.  Mrs. Lof also missed us so she decided to come in and read a story to each of the Grade One classes. Thank you, Mrs. Lof, we loved it!  We have wrapped up our mapping unit with a test and you should see the test results in the near future. The students really enjoyed this unit, learned a lot, and had a lot of fun making maps of their own. We continue with the long vowels in phonics and our reading is coming along nicely. Please continue to review the sight words and Spelling words in the agenda on a daily basis.  Have a blessed Sunday.

Memory Work for Jan. 31 – Hymn 56: 2,3;  1 Sam. 16:7b

Spelling Words:  big, boy, could, no, way

Grade 2

In our Social Studies this week, the students and teachers had a lot of fun exploring places on Google Earth. In particular, we compared the locations of Smithville, Iqaluit, and Zimbabwe.  We enjoyed looking up some of our own addresses too! We also learned about the climate and flag of Zimbabwe.  Next week, we look forward to talking about the land, plants, and animals that live there.  In Bible classes, we have heard several parables that impress upon us our need to be ready for the Saviour’s return! Come Lord Jesus, Maranatha! We hope that the students will all enjoy their two days off next week! Have a great weekend! BV/RG

Memory work: Psalm.101:1,2

Spelling: can’t, could, kicked, eating, laugh

Grade 3

Our Bible unit has finished, so we move on to a new unit in Church History. We hope to pay attention to a reformer named Thomas Cranmer. In Language Arts we focus on the use of capitals, periods and other conventions as well as learning about nouns. Movement keeps us busy in P.E.; just a reminder to let your child wear gym clothes on Tuesday and Friday. We have painted our textured monsters…in due time they will hang in our hallway. The children did an amazing job. We wish you a wonderful weekend.

Memory work: Ps. 95:1   Text: Ps 23:1-3

Spelling words: really, probably, then, usually, what

PE on Tuesday and Friday, Library on Thursday, Mission $ on Friday

Grade 4

Grade 4 has continued their hard work on many different units during the past week. In Church History, we have seen how the Lord used the life of John Hus to preach his word before men at the Council of Constance. This unit will be wrapping up soon, and the students can expect to have a test on this in the near future. In Social Studies, we continue to learn about Canada. We learned about the many different landforms and river systems in Canada, and we stand amazed at the wonderful creation that the Lord has made. The upcoming week is a short one for the students, but there are still a few things to keep in mind:

Wednesday:  4B Canada Map Test #3

Thursday:4BJohn Hus Test

Friday: 4A Social Studies practice quiz (map of Canada and capital cities)

Friday: Spelling Test: calf, pups, squirrel, dinosaur, colt, beaver, shark, visit, chipmunk, trout, quick, chicken, sheep, mare (4B extra words — perplexed, unruly)

Friday: Memory Work: Psalm 132: 1, 10/John 3:16-18

Upcoming Memory Work: Psalm 107:1/Isaiah 40: 28-29

Grade 5

We have started a new unit in math in which we will learn to multiply and divide decimals!  Our science class cell projects are complete and we have now started to learn all about Ancient Egypt.  This is a very fascinating unit that will be keeping us busy for quite some time. Students are still enjoying reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in Language Arts and hate when it’s time to stop and put the book away! Have an enjoyable long weekend! RK/KV

Devotions for next week are as follows:  Grade 5A W. Sierra, Th. Linden, F. Laura.  and for Grade 5B: W. Taylor, Th.Abigayle F. Reuben.                 

Grade 6

The students are gaining insight into the lives of the slaves through the novel study. They are writing journal entries as if they are Julily. Some songs that the slaves sang were also discussed and enjoyed with Miss Buist. We had a closer look at some diseases from the past and that still occur today in some parts of the world. Have an enjoyable long weekend. AF/CV

Grade 7A

The LORD has kept His promise to David by restoring him to his throne after the rebellion of Absalom. We’ll learn the details of his last days while we also learn about would usurpers. In Math we’ll bring expressions and equations to a close as we work with functions; next up will be integers. Next week in P.E. students will have the opportunity to teach the class a low order cooperative game they’ve learned. In Independent Study, each student will find an academic paper about their topic using Google Scholar. Speeches and poems are coming along nicely; ask your child how their progress is going. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

As students look forward to an extra-long weekend, we continue on with our work in Grade 7B. In Math, we have come to the end of our expressions and equations unit and will be moving on to integers. In Bible History, we are looking at how David’s sin with Bathsheba has led to much trouble in his life, but also how the LORD’s mercy continues to shine through to allow our Saviour to come from his line. In History, we will be looking at the 2 men who helped develop Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe and Thomas Talbot. In Language Arts, we are 2 weeks away from the Public Speaking and Poetry Declamation Contest. Please ask your student to recite their speech or poem to you and give them feedback on how they can improve. We will continue doing the same in the classroom. Students are also “looking forward” to receiving their Term 1 report cards on Friday.

Morning Devotions – Wednesday – Josiah K., Thursday – Damon R., Friday – Noah T. Memory Work – Ps. 137:1. Enjoy your long weekend!

Grade 8A

This week in 8A students worked on coordinate grids with Pythagorean Theorem, distance formula and midpoint formula, at one point even using the tiles of the hallway floor to practically explore these concepts. Next, we dig further into geometry and we will investigate circles, cylinders and other geometric concepts. In History, we discussed the gold rush of 1858 which lead to the birth of British Columbia. In Geography, we studied climate and how as Christians we are indeed responsible for climate change…namely the fall into sin! Next week we continue practicing our speeches and poems in anticipation of the big in-class competition on Feb. 6th. Have a blessed weekend! Cheers, Mr. J

MW: Ps. 85:4; Rom. 3: 37-39. Devotions: Eli

Grade 8B

A lot of work is happening in Grade 8 with respect to speech writing, PBL projects and just trying to keep up with our regular work.  I am looking forward to going over the speeches the students have written on Wednesday.  In the next week, they will be practising, practising, practising, so they are able to be comfortable enough to give, rather than to read their speech.  Students will not be allowed to take the text of their speech with them when they deliver their speech.  We have been talking about how to create ‘cue cards’ that contain enough information to help them remember what they wanted to talk about.  In order to be adequately prepared to give their speech, students will have to practise a lot.  Please encourage them to do this at home.  Give them feedback if possible.  We have come to the end of our Science unit.  Students can expect a test on Friday or early in the following week.  The next stage of the PBL project will involve learning how to conduct an interview and then approaching an expert in order to interview them about their skill. 

Memory work:  Psalm 85:4, Romans 8:37-39