General News

“Jesus walked the earth to know what it’s like to be human.

He suffered the pain of death on a cross to set us free.

He rose from death to bring us everlasting life.

He gave us the Holy Spirit so we would never walk alone.”

This week we concluded our monthly theme: Intellectual Humility and thus we have reached the end of our theme on the Intellectual Virtues. “We are not given a choice about whether we will develop intellectual character. Every day we will make hundreds of choices that build momentum toward either good or bad intellectual character. In that sense, intellectual character is simply a given. It is something we all have, and something we are all in the process of developing. However, we do play an important role in determining what kind of character we will develop. It is Dow’s hope that his book will encourage in all of us an uncompromising pursuit of truth and a commitment to becoming people of virtuous intellectual character– people whose thinking is consistently characterized by honesty, carefulness, fair-mindedness, healthy curiousity, humility, tenacity, and courage.

The quest for intellectual character will not be quick and painless. Nothing worth its salt ever is. It will require the grueling task of replacing our many bad habits with healthy new ones. It will require the work of the Holy Spirit. And, it will require a lifetime’s worth of perseverance. But as we are slowly transformed into being people of virtuous intellectual character, the fruit of this internal revolution will naturally pour into every area of our lives.(from Virtuous Minds, p. 143) We know move on to the Fruit of the Spirit theme (Galatians 5:22,23) and during the month of April we will focus on the first cluster of fruit: love, joy, and peace         Hello again everyone as we bring to a close the first week of instruction and learning of the third term during which we also segued from March into April. It was good to get together with a number of parents this past Wednesday to discuss the progress of their son or daughter at the 2/3 point of the school year. It was good to talk about matters that may help teachers to teach the children more effectively and for the parents to continue with their support of the teachers and the teaching/learning process on the home front. May our Heavenly Father continue to bless this important communication between home and school as, together, we instruct His covenant children in the fear of His Name.           On Monday morning, in word and in song, we could reflect on the events of Good Friday and Easter at our Easter Assembly. Mrs. deVisser led the Assembly by emphasizing that it wasn’t just Good Friday it was the Best Friday because we were rescued from our sins through the death and subsequent resurrection of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. In her presentation, she shared with us several items from a suitcase that we take with us for our journey here on earth. Ask your son or daughter the meaning/importance of the following items- Bible, mirror, flashlight, soap, running shoes, Kleenex, an item of clothing. The assembly concluded with the singing of a beautiful hymn, Beautiful Saviour.

Currently, Miss Buist is experiencing some health issues (which caused her to miss a couple of days of school earlier this week) that will probably require surgery sometime in the near future. Earlier this week, Mr. Henry Medemblik was laid to rest. He was an uncle to Miss VanderZwaag and Mr. and Mrs. Bergsma. May our Heavenly Father continue to provide comfort. May He continue to be with all who need Him in a special way.

This week, the trusses were erected on the addition. It was quite a procedure to get the trusses with an 80 foot span on to the building. Also, the ground in both the addition and the storage room was prepared for the in-floor heating and for pouring the concrete floor. Once again, we are thankful for all the progress that has been made. .

A few items for your attention:

*School Evaluation: Please remember to complete the Parent Questionnaire using the Survey Monkey link that was emailed to you earlier this week. If you would prefer completing the questionnaire on paper, please give the school a call. Access to Survey Monkey will close on Monday, April 11.

*The school has decided to participate in a Spring Food Drive in support of West Lincoln Community Care. The drive began this week and will continue until Friday, April 15.

*Grade 1 had a very enjoyable visit to the Agape Sugar Bush this week. You can read more about the trip in the Grade 1 Classroom News.

*Today, the students in Grade 8 and four girls from Grade 7 are participating in the annual Guido de Bres invitational basketball tournament being held at the Dofasco Center in Stoney Creek and at Guido. We wish them a great day of fun, competition, and interaction with their peers from other schools. Next week we will share with you the results. With the completion of basketball, the students in Grades 7&8 will turn their attention to baseball in a couple of week’s time. Practices will take place every Monday and Thursday until the tournament which is scheduled for Saturday, May 28.

*ASC Spring Meeting: Assisting the Special Child would like to invite you to its spring meeting. This year, we will be continuing the conversation about anxiety and depression with a panel discussion on the topic. Dr. Gary Veenman, Rev. Jack Moesker, and Mrs. Lorraine Post will be the panellists. The meeting is scheduled to take place, D.V., on Thursday, April 28 at Covenant Canadian Reformed Church in Grassie beginning at 7:30 p.m. We hope to see many of you there. If you cannot make this presentation, the same presenation will be given at Cornerstone Christian School in Guelph on Thursday, April 14.

*The students and teachers continue to sing and recite in preparation for our Ascension/ Pentecost concert, Spreading the Good News, which we hope to perform on Friday evening, May 13 in the Smithville church building.

*Please Note: As of today our email address, johncalvin@bellnet.ca, will no longer be available. It will be permanently be replaced by office@johncalvinschool.com which many of you are using already.

Reminders:

*Due to construction, please do not park in the parking lot by the kitchen during the day.   Thank you for your cooperation.

*News and Views materials are due on Monday, April 11.

*A kick-off assembly for the McNally House fundraiser walk is planned for Wednesday afternoon, April 20. Pledge forms will be given out to the students at that time.

*The Open House for parents and grandparents/seniors is scheduled to take place on Friday morning, May 6 from 8:15-11:45. There will be a lunch for the grandparents/seniors served by the Ladies Auxiliary. The same afternoon the school will be participating in the community fundraiser walk for McNally House.

Have a good weekend everyone and we hope to touch base again next week, D.V.                    G. Hofsink

Classroom News

Kindergarten

This week we will be finishing up the Easter stories with Jesus’ resurrection and then we will go back to studying the Old Testament. To wrap up the March health & nutrition theme, we plan to visit the Real Canadian Superstore in Grimsby for a grocery tour on Thursday (KA) & Friday (KB), from 9-10 am. The students will be bringing a shopping list to purchase healthy food for our pizza lunch. Volunteer drivers are needed as well as volunteers to help the students prepare the pizza lunch. Please contact your teacher if you can drive and/or help with the pizza lunch. Details will be emailed to all kindergarten parents. Please continue to practice the songs we have sent home for the concert. There is a lot for them to learn so the more they hear it the better. Have a safe and blessed weekend. SL and MD

Letter: Ww     Word of the Week: like

Grade 1

It was good to see everyone back at school this week. We have had a good and busy week in Grade One. Our Bible unit will be completed on Thursday, with a test to follow on Friday. Check your child’s bag for the notes. Some students have some very overdue library books. Please take the time to check your shelves and send them back asap. Thanks! We had a great trip to the Agape Valley Sugar Bush this week. Even though the sap was no longer running, we learned a lot and the pancakes were delicious! Thanks to the class moms who volunteered their time to come along with us. Thanks also to our bus driver, Mrs. W. Vis, for driving us there. Much appreciated! We are working hard to memorize all of our songs for the upcoming program. Keep up the good work of practising the Spelling and agenda words at home. Til next week. JvB/HB

Memory Work for Friday, April 8: Hymn 24:3; Psalm 111:10

Grade 2

We’ve had a great start to getting back to routines after the March Break. The students had many stories to share and it was a delight to hear of time spent with family and friends. We have finished learning about Martin Luther’s work as a translator and will write a short quiz on Monday. We will also prepare for this in class prior to the quiz. In writing class, we have been exploring different types of poetry. The students are really enjoying this creative outlet. Have a lovely weekend. RG/HV

Memory work: Psalm 139: 1; John 6:35

Words: gym, it’s, junk, little, only

Grade 3

We are back with some news for you! We all had a wonderful March Break. What a blessing to have time with family and friends to celebrate our LORD and Saviour, risen from the dead! We enjoyed the Easter assembly presented by Mrs. DeVisser on Monday morning. Thank you for sharing your love for the Lord and encouraging us in our walk of faith. Ask your child what was in the suitcase. We thank the Lord that He was with Josiah Knegt who suffered an appendicitis attack during the holidays. Doctors saw that it had started to heal and so treated it with antibiotics instead of surgery. We pray for healing and strength. For our novel study, SNOW TREASURE, we are busy working on a play. Thank you to the building committee members and volunteers for the shiny new sinks in the bathrooms. Wow! Much appreciated! And… in our physical education classes we are skipping! Try it at home too! Lots of fun and great exercise! Thank you to Mrs. McKinnell for coming to us on Thursday and giving us a lively and informative presentation on urban and rural communities. Ask us all about it! Finally, stay tuned for our next class trip! 🙂 That’s it for now. J.B./M.P.

Hymn 37:1,2, Text: Isaiah 49:6 (two weeks)

Words: BIG REVIEW

another, confusion, I’m, its, it’s, question, that’s, threw, through, vacation, we’re, where, wear, with

Grade 4A

The students seem to be eager to get back to work after our much appreciated two week break. In Bible class we will be ready to write another test next week Wednesday. This will test our knowledge of the last six kings of Israel that we have learned about. In Science we are busy discovering the miracle of “Light”. If you would like to encourage your son or daughter, just ask them questions like: why did you work with a mirror? A piece of wax paper? A straw in a glass of water? They will tell you about our experiments. Math is all about 3D geometric shapes; you may have discovered the package the students are working on. It is so much fun to see how the students suddenly discover many different shapes and patterns in their own environment. We are starting our next novel study ‘From Anna’. The students have begun to brainstorm and are eager to start working on their ‘Book Buffet’. I’ve sent home a paper so you can help them come up with a ‘food’. They will need to have made a concrete decision next week. Have a great weekend together.

M&Th: PhysEd. W: library; bible test. F: mission money; spelling dictation; memory work Hymn 35:4, Daniel 2:20-22

Devotions: T:Selena F:Ava

Grade 4B

Happy April Fool’s Day! I am sure that by the time you’re reading this all the yearly antics have been accomplished. While the 2 week break was wonderful, it was absolutely lovely to be back at school and the students happily dove into their school work. In Math we are learning all about prisms, pyramids, faces, bases, vertices and the like. The students are doing fabulously in this unit. Look for a test on this in the near future. In Bible we are learning how God continues to guide and care for His people, even when they are straying from Him and His ways. Science sees us investigating how Light works and how we work with light. There are many “light demonstrations” being done that are the highlights of the class. We are taking a break from our normal Memory Work and are now learning songs for the Ascension/Pentecost Concert. Have a wonderful weekend. SO

Memory Work: Psalm 87

Devotions: M. Nevaeh, Tu. Susanna, W. Elijah, Th. Karlee, Fr. Victoria

Grade 5

It was good to celebrate Easter together on Monday after returning from the March break. We did get right back to work. During this past week and next week, we hope to wrap up the Bible stories about Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension. After that we will move onto the Church History portion of the curriculum. Next week, we also hope to begin a new unit in French called, “Un Jour Bizarre!” Bible and Social Studies tests were returned to students this week. Please make sure that you ask to see the results. We hope also to wrap up our Math chapter this week and have a test on Thursday. We have already begun the new Social Studies Unit about Government. The first parts of it are about what government is and the structure of Canadian government. Sorry that I missed the opportunity to meet with some of you on Wednesday evening. I will try to make some phone calls this week.   The grade 5 star gazing evening/ presentation will be at 7:00 on Wednesday April 6th. I’m sure that Mrs. Blokker will have provided the students with more details.

Memory Work: Psalm 67:1, 2, 3 (Program song)

Spelling Words: vacation, months, drivers’, hunters’, stock, rides, cattle’s, building, fence, ranches’, lightning, yelling, children’s, through, goes, strong

Math Test – Thursday

Grade 6A

We have made a good start after a nice long break. In our study of Numbers we have looked at the organization of 2,500,000 people. This included their positions around the tabernacle as well as how they would move through the wilderness and when. We also discussed the Nazirites and their vows and also the various stages of Levite priests. Many songs in different languages are being practised for the program. Thanks to Miss B. and gr.3 for helping us. In Science we have discussed the meanings of matter, atoms, molecules, elements, and properties. We also watched a demonstration explaining the conservation of matter. Have a blessed weekend. CV

Devotions: T-Elora   W-Liam Th-Simon F-Malachi

Hy.48:1-Apr.8   Deut.30:11-14-Apr.7

Vocab Test-Apr.7   Bible Quiz-Apr.7

Grade 6B

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful and relaxing March break! Monday morning we started the last term of the school year with an assembly celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour. In 6B we are already back into the swing of things and have delved into our work. Today we finished our unit on Exodus and on Monday we will begin looking at the book of Numbers. In Literature we have begun looking at stories about the Middle Ages, starting with the legendary King Arthur pulling the sword out of the stone, making him the high king of England! In Science we have begun discussing what matter is. In Art we looked at some examples of one-point perspective and soon the students will be busy making their own one-point perspective drawing. Have a lovely weekend! MDB

Memory Work Song: Psalm 87: 1,2 (April 8)

Memory Work Text: Deut. 30:11-4 (April 8)

Devotions: M. Sylvanna, T. Shaelan, W. Cameron, T. Evan, F. Caleb

Grade 7A

This week we read James 2:14-17 as we organized our school’s Spring Food Drive for West Lincoln Community Care. We also read from II Samuel where the LORD grants David rest and peace, foreshadowing the King of Peace. We will move from climate to vegetation in Physical Geography and examine the connection between the two, while in Science we will work further with mixtures and solutions. We’ve seen how particular and detailed the rules and flow of the game of basketball are as we played scrimmage games. We’ll carry on with the sport next week. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 8

We had a good start to our third term this week. In history we discussed the CPR and the scandalous politics behind it. In Bible we started our study of the Scottish Reformation and the work of men like Patrick Hamilton and George Wishart. Today we travel to Hamilton to participate in the annual Basketball Tournament. Here are some things for next week: Thurs: Geo Quiz & Spelling Quiz; Friday: Vocab Quiz. MW: Ps. 91: 1,4 ; Phil. 4:4-7; Devo: JB. Cheers, Mr. J