General News

The monthly theme for January is Intellectual Curiosity. In Acts 17:11 we read, “Now these (Berean) Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” The Berean’s intellectual curiosity about Paul’s teaching and preaching caused them to open the Scriptures and search for truths to verify or disprove the message they heard. While intellectual curiosity may not be the most important of the intellectual character traits, it is the most foundational. Without the desire to know more, growth in every area of our lives is virtually impossible.

Hello again school community as we bring to a close another week of instruction at our school. We thank the Lord for once again providing for the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the staff and students alike 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 in all we do.

We congratulate Ed and Amanda Poort with the birth of daughter #4, Elise Michelle. All is well with mom and daughter, and with dad and the rest of the girls too. (“Our children all are gifts of God, our sons and daughters his reward – each one a blessing from the LORD, as heritage on us bestowed.” (Psalm 127:3, BoP). May our good and gracious God provide the parents with all they need as they raise their children in the fear of His Name.

This past Wednesday evening, Dr. Christine vanHalen-Faber spoke to us about school as community – learning for service in an era of educational narcissism(self-centeredness) at the annual PTA meeting. It was a very interesting and informative evening. In her presentation, Dr. vanHalen made several references to Article 12 of the Belgic Confession; in particular the last part of the first paragraph, “We believe that the Father through the Word, that is, through his Son, has created out of nothing heaven and earth and all creatures, when it seemed good to him, and that he has given to every creature its being, shape, and form, and to each its specific task and function to serve its Creator. We believe that he also continues to sustain and govern them according to his eternal providence and by his infinite power in order to serve man, to the end that man may serve his God.” This is why we are to do what we do in our homes, schools, and churches. After all, Christ came to serve (Matthew 20:26-28) and as Christ followers, so must we. In an age of narcissism, we are to put God first, our neighbour second, and ourselves last. We are to be a caring community which involves knowing (the head), being (the heart), and doing (the hands). Learning for service also incorporates the Fruit of the Spirit and Intellectual Character development, our school theme for this year. We are to apply what we have learned to serve both the school community and the broader community in which we live.

This week, forms were removed from the footings and the stone slinger was in to fill the trench with gravel (this was pretty cool to watch as the driver used a remote control device to sling the gravel, move the conveyor belt, move the truck bed up and down). Once the trench was filled the compactor came in to compact the gravel so that the brick layers could build their scaffolding in order to construct the fire walls for the addition. The brick layers arrived on Thursday and proceeded to set up the scaffolding so that they could begin their work in building the fire walls on Monday. Check out the pictures that have been sent your way.

A few items for your attention:

• The students in Grades 7 and 8 continue to prepare for the bi-annual Public Speaking and Poetry Recitation contest. Parent/Grandparent volunteers are needed to judge the classroom finals on Monday morning, February 1 and for the school final on Wednesday afternoon, February 3. Please contact Mr. Witten at ta_witten@hotmail.com if you would like to be involved in serving as a judge for either or both of these events.
• On Monday, January 25, at 8:30 a.m. Mr. R. VanAndel, the vice principal at Guido De Bres Christian high school, will be speaking to the grade eight students about Grade 9 course selection and life at Guido. The students will need to fill in a course selection sheet as part of their grade nine registration.
• On Monday, February 1, 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. They will be explaining what the school has to offer in terms of academic programs, student services, special needs support, enrichment, and student leadership development.
• Hockey practices continue as the team gets ready to participate in the tournament scheduled for Friday, February 5. They are planning to play an exhibition game against Covenant Christian School (Smithville) this afternoon at the Smithville arena from 4:00-5:00. This will be helpful as the team gets ready for the tournament.
• The coaches are planning to begin basketball practices the first week of February.
• The JCS Student Choir is planning to perform a mini-concert for the residents at Shalom Manor on Monday morning, February 8. The students and the director are looking forward to singing several selections for seniors from Shalom.

Reminders:

• Scholastic orders are due on or by January 22
• Grade 4 is planning to visit Beacon Home on Monday afternoon, January 25th.
• Since Guido de Bres high school has a P.A. day on February 1st, the p.m. routes for the buses will be reversed for the morning run. Please be aware that the pickup times may be different than usual.

Have a great weekend and a blessed Sunday everyone. We hope to touch base again one week from today.

G. Hofsink

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Classroom News

Kindergarten

Memory Work – Psalm 93:1; Text: Psalm 136:1

We continue to learn about Moses and the Israelite nation in the desert. The children are really enjoying the lessons, and are getting better at printing the Bible journal sentences. Some of the Bible journals are full and may be coming home as we begin on Bible Journal #2. Some of our agenda bags are becoming pretty full. Please take out items aside from the agenda and memory/letter books. We ask that you continue to send warm clothing and extra clothing for after recess times. Many of the children come in wet and soggy and need a change, especially after lunch recess. Have a lovely weekend, SL/MD

Thurs/Friday is Black and White day

Special snack Tamsen Donker-KA, and Kristin Kingma-KB

Grade 1

Memory Work for Friday, Jan. 29 – Hymn 11 : 1; Matt. 7:12

Congratulations to Olivia Werkman (Ed and Mandy) with the birth of another sister, Elise Michelle. The Grade Eight/One projects have been completed and should be on display in the coming week. Nice work, Grade Eight! The Grade One students (as well as their teachers) have really enjoyed working with you. We could welcome Rev. P Holtvluwer into our classroom today to speak to us about the duties of a minister. The students have been looking forward to your visit (especially Angie). Thank you for taking the time to visit and interact with us. We are coming to the end of our Math unit dealing with time and money and will be writing a test in the coming week. We are enjoying our Transportation unit and have seen some really cool video clips of submarines and ship launches. Thanks for the time spent reviewing agenda and spelling words with your child. Til next week. jvb/hb

Grade 2

Memory Work: Psalm 62:1; Luke 1:68, 69

In grade 2 this week, we completed two tests. The students wrote a test about living in the cold community of Nunavut. They are excited to now learn about the warm community of Zimbabwe. We also completed our Church History unit on the worship service. We have once again turned our attention to the ministry of Jesus. Both tests were quite well written. It is always a blessing to see that the students are eager to share what they have been learning. HV/RG

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

Grade 3

Memory Work – Psalm 64:1; Text: Exodus 20:7-11 (two weeks)

How can you bend water using a comb? How can you charge a balloon so that it sticks to a wall? Why would you feed a cow a magnet? Can magnetism pass through water? Grade three is very curious! Keep asking questions and making those predictions! In our Math classes we are working with measurement! Ask us to measure things around the house or garage. We are having a lot of fun doing gymnastics! Thanks to Abigale Schulenberg for showing us some elegant gymnastic moves. Wow! And… ask us to do some jumping JILLs! Don’t forget to do those multiplication drills, grade three. Have a blessed weekend. J.B./M.P.

Words: by, buy, didn’t, doesn’t, general

Grade 4A

Memory Work: Psalm3:2, Isaiah 40:28&29

In Bible we continue to learn about the kings of Israel. The students did a great job on their Bible tests this week. Have a look. We had a Math test on Thursday and it is showing how important the knowledge of the time tables and the basic operations is. We continue to recite the times tables until they do not have to think anymore about the answers! In social studies we hope to work further on the scrapbooks about the provinces and territories by adding a page to every province with the specifics of it. It is so interesting to the students to study and get to know more about our country. Did you know that the motto of Newfoundland and Labrador is “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God” and that Yukon territory’s language is French? We hope to finalize this unit on Thursday February 11 with a fill in the blanks test.

Monday & Thursday: PE clothes, Wednesday: library,

Friday: Mission Money, Spelling,

Devotions: Tuesday-Anjelica Friday-Melissa

Grade 4B

Memory Work: Psalm 3:1, Text: Psalm 121:1-4

For the first time this school year the sick bug seems to have hit our class, albeit on a small scale. Thanks to the moms who regularly remember to supply us with Kleenex. In Bible we continue to examine the life of David and how he rules God’s chosen nation. We will be having a test next week. Watch your child’s agenda for more details. We have spent a bunch of time in French making cheat sheets on questions and phrases we can use in class. Please speak to and encourage your child to speak in French. In Math we are unpacking how to solve a word problem by deciding what information is important and what information is un-necessary. Have a wonderful and blessed weekend. SO

Grade 5

Memory Work: Psalm 113:1, John 15:5-8

Thank you for the donations of tissue boxes. We are still in the season of runny noses, especially after a cold recess break, so they come in very handy. Students are continuing to enjoy our Lion, Witch and Wardrobe novel study. We are in the process of creating a lap-book with some of the follow-up work. With it, students demonstrate reading comprehension, but also their ability to plan, organize and follow directions. In Social Studies we looked at trade and daily life in Ancient Egypt and we will consider some of their history and government in the week ahead. It is interesting to see how our study of this ancient culture connects to the Bible stories about the time God’s people spent as slaves in Egypt.

Spelling Words: known, furniture, picture, addresses, matches, objects, knives, mountain, science, special, treasures, beginning, dangerous, geography, possible, million

Spelling Quiz – Thursday

Bible Quiz – Thursday

Grade 6A

Memory Work: Hy.46:1-Jan,28-play on recorder, Jan.29-sing; Text:Ps.47:5-9-Jan.28

We have spent several lessons this week learning the teachings of Islam. Next week we will look at the spread of Islam and the split of the eastern and western churches. We will start our second unit on Canada and it’s trading partners with a look at our main partner, the United States. Our novel study is enjoyed by all and we are eager to find out what will happen to the escaped slaves. Have a blessed weekend. CV

Devotions: T-Lydia, W-Amy, Th-Quinton, F-Abby

Vocab Quiz-Jan.28   Church History Quiz-Jan. 28

Grade 6B

Memory Work Text: Psalm 47: 5-9 (Jan. 28)

Memory Work Song: Psalm 50: 5,6 (Jan. 28)

Students have finished their science projects on a disease and presented them to the class. Soon their posters will be hanging up in the halls. This week we will be finishing up our Science unit, and working on a review sheet to prepare for the test on Thursday. In Church History we spent the week looking at the life of Mohammad, the birth of Islam, how it spread throughout the east and how God continues to care for and protect His church through this time in history. In Literature we continue with Julily and Liza as they travel on the Underground Railway as “dry goods” to reach freedom in Canada. Students are busy working on their bean bags in Art, we hope to begin sewing next week! In two weeks they will need to bring in a type of stuffing for their bean bag, either rice or pillow stuffing. Please remember to look in your children’s agenda and sign them along with tests! Have a lovely weekend! MDB

Science Unit Test: Thursday Jan. 28

Devotions: M. Nathaniel, T. Tara, W. Ryan, T. Sylvanna, F. Shaelan

Grade 7A

In keeping with the recent weather, our next focus in Science will be thermal energy in cold climate. In History we’ll learn how the American Revolution forces people to choose what side they are on, Patriot or Loyalist. We’ll see where those who remain loyal to King George will end up. We’ll wrap up our look at integers in Math and move on to equations and inequalities. The work of the LORD in the Swiss Confederation through the Reformation is our focus in Church History. Be sure to ask your child how their speech or poem is coming along; even ask them to perform it! Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

Memory Work: Ps. 94:1 / Isaiah 53:1-4

Another busy week has come to an end. Much of the focus this week has been on preparing for the public speaking competition scheduled for February 1 & 3. By the way if you have not yet signed up as a judge, we would love to hear from you. We are nearing the end of units in a few subject areas as you will see from the list of tests and quizzes found below. Have an enjoyable weekend, and a blessed Lord’s day. KB

Devotions week of January 25 – Shelby

Devotions week of February 1 – Emma

Tuesday – Math test

Tuesday – History test

Wednesday – Bible History test

Grade 8

Memory Work: Ps. 32:5; 1 Cor. 13: 8-13

Another busy week has come and gone. In Bible we began our discussion about Christ as LORD over all dimensions in creation. In History the gold rush has ended and resulted in two new provinces for the young dominion of Canada. Next week we will have one more science lab investigating density. Devo: RH; Cheers, Mr. J.