General News

This week we introduced the new monthly theme: Intellectual Humility. This is the seventh and last of the virtues for intellectual character development that we will be spending time with. Next month, we will move on to the first cluster of the Fruit of the Spirit. “Those who are intellectually humble earnestly want to know the truth, so they consistently recognize that they, like all people, are sinful and capable of error. They are humble because they are aware that truth is not of their making but is God-breathed. They are also honest enough to admit the limitations of their own knowledge base and actually rejoice when they are proved wrong because it means they have grown in their understanding of God’s truth. However, intellectually humble people are also aware that all people are sinful and limited in knowledge; thus, they are not willing to passively accept the opinions of others. They remain courageous in their passionate pursuit of truth even as they admit their own limitations. Intellectual arrogance is the corresponding vice. (from Virtuous Minds, p. 152)

Greetings everyone as we bring to a close the first week of March which, this year, came in like the adage says, “in like a lion”, so does that mean “out like a lamb?” I am sure everyone enjoyed the mid-week snow day. May the Lord provide students, teachers, and parents with what they need as they go about their work and activities during this month of remembering the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, school work, and March Break.

With thanks to the Lord, we can share with the community that the board has hired Miss Janita Bouwman (currently in her third and final year at Covenant Canadian Reformed Teachers College), Miss Heather Homan (currently teaching Grades 3,4,5 at Eben-Ezer Christian School in Chatham), and Mr. Tim Breukelman (currently in the one-year program at Covenant Canadian Reformed Teachers College) to teach at John Calvin School for the 2016-2017 school year, D.V.

We congratulate Bart and Daniella DeVries with the birth of their sixth son, Iain, and another brother for Lillian. All is well with mom, baby, and the rest of the family 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 the Lord provide the parents with all they need as they raise Iain and the rest of their children in the fear of His Name.

May our gracious and merciful God continue to be near all those who are grieving or who need Him in a special way.

While the school was enjoying the snow day on Wednesday, the construction crew could carry on with their work on the addition.   Good progress was again made this week on the interior hallway walls as they come closer to completion.

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A few items for your attention:

• We congratulate Matthew Stel, the winner of the Grades 7&8 Great Canadian Geography Challenge last week Friday. He will be writing the qualifier test next week Monday to see if he will be able to move on to the provincial challenge.
• Thank you everyone for your participation in the “Toonies for Anchor” campaign. Originally, Mr. Witten and Grade 7A were going to deliver th envelopes to Anchor Home this week Wednesday but a snow day got in the way. Therefore, the envelopes will be passed on to the Anchor Association by some other means.
• Last week Friday evening, Benjamin Alkema and Rachel VanEgmond participated in the biennial Canadian Reformed Public Speaking and Poetry Recitation contest. Even though they did not receive a top two placing for the poem recitations or the speeches, both of them did good job in their respective presentations.
• Basketball practices continue next week Monday, March 7 (Mr. Joosse’s boys’ team and the girls’ team), Wednesday, March 9 at lunch time (Mr.Hofsink’s boys’ team) and Thursday, March 10 (both boys’ teams).

Reminders:

• Due to construction, please do not park in the parking lot by the kitchen during the day.   Thank you for your cooperation.
• Report cards go home next week Friday.
• March Break is from March 14 – March 25. First day back after the break is Monday, March 28, Easter Monday. You are invited to attend the Easter Assembly planned for that morning.
• Parent-Teacher conferences (by request) are scheduled for Wednesday, March 30.
• We were planning to change the date of the Ascension/Pentecost concert from Friday, May 13 to Thursday, May 12 because of the Women of Worth conference which is planned for the Friday and Saturday of the same week. However, this conflicted with other events happening on the Thursday. Since the original date published in the News and Views was Friday, May 13 and people had planned accordingly, we will be sticking with that date.

Have a good weekend and we’ll touch base again next week Friday, D.V.. May the Word of God strengthen you once again on Sunday.

Classroom News

Kindergarten

This is the last week of school before a two-week March break. We can hardly believe how quickly the time flies by! In preparation for Easter, we have jumped forward to the New Testament, learning about Jesus’ life. Have a blessed and restful weekend. S.L and M.DBS

Memory Work Due Thurs/Fri – Hymn 80:3

Letter of the week: Jj

Grade 1

We all enjoyed our snow day on Wednesday. The students had lots of stories to tell about how they spent their day. Because of the day off, we will have our Bible test on Monday. Notes will be in your child’s bag today. Our new Bible unit will be about David, a king after God’s own heart. We are almost finished our ‘Famous Canadians ‘ unit in Social Studies, and will follow up with a test early in the coming week. We are working hard on our French vocabulary and gestures. Nice work, Grade One! Thanks to all the parents who have supplied us with plastic bags. Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday. Til next week. JvB/HB

Memory Work for Friday, March 11 – Psalm 100:4; Psalm 119:105

Grade 2

Another week has passed in our Grade 2 classrooms. It was very exciting for all the children that Merrit and his family were blessed with a leap year baby. Congratulations, Merrit and the DeVries family! In Church History we finished learning about John Chrysostom and we have turned our attention to the stories about Polycarp. We will finish with a short quiz on Friday. We are looking forward to the last week before the March Break. Have a wonderful weekend! RG/HV

Memory Work: Psalm 24:5; Matt 5: 14-16

Words: brothers, sale, here, wanted, went

Grade 3

Bonjour and how are you? Grade three is well, thank you very much! In our Bible classes, we are hearing the stories of the ten plagues. God showed His power and mercy. Urban and rural communities are what we are talking about in our next Social Studies unit. If you have any information on this topic, please bring it in. Stay tuned for the next class trip! Grade three has worked hard on fairy tales with lots of repetition, royalty, poverty, magic, dialogue, and voice. We can’t wait to see the finished booklets. In our math classes, we are exploring geometry. What is visual texture? Ask us how we made it! That’s it for now. J.B./M.P.

Hymn 81: all the stanzas; Psalm 47:2

Text: Joshua 24:15 (two weeks)

Words: question, that’s, threw, through, vacation

Grade 4A

After a shortened week due to an appreciated snow-day, we continue with our work. In Music we are singing in Zulu and in Dutch, preparing for the Pentecost program. We use these opportunities to talk about how the Gospel is preached all over the world and how people have other names for God, a special one in Zulu we thought sounded impressive: Unkulukulu. Hearing about that was a reason for amazement, how we all try to praise the Lord in so many ways, all over the world. We are starting our new unit about Light and are impressed with the miracle of eye vision. We are half way through the list of the kings of Israel, and have written our test today. We will continue through the list over the next few weeks. Our noses keep ‘running’, yet we are out of Kleenex. Please send along a box or two for us. Have a wonderful weekend and blessed Sunday.

M&T: PE clothes     W: library     Devotions T:Abigail, F:Jazmin

Friday: Mission money; Spelling Dictation;

Memory Work; Matt6:19-21, Psalm 6:1

Grade 4B

Wow! It’s almost unbelievable but, its true; it is March already. Miss Bouwman has settled in very well to our class. We have thoroughly enjoyed having her and we hope she enjoys her last week with us. In Bible we have been hearing about many of the kings of Israel and how their lives were in shambles because they turned away from serving the Lord. Today we have written the Canada test and we will now be switching over to Science and we shall be investigating Light and Sound. We have begun our new Novel Study, From Anna, and we have been introduced to the “Buffet Book Report” that will be the project for this unit. Ask your child what this is all about. They are very excited about this project. Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday. SO

Memory Work: Psalm 6:1; Text: Psalm 121:5-8

Devotions: M. Justin, Tu. Leah, W. Julia, Th. Avery, Fr. Levi.

Grade 5

Because we are in a time of report writing, it may take a little longer for the Bible tests to be returned. The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe lap books will be returned after the March break. Work will continue as usual next week and we hope to have a Social Studies test on Tuesday. Students will need to study the material that is in their notebook, as well as the material in their Egypt ‘pockets’. Often students will tell me as they are going home the night before a test that they are missing notes, etc. because they missed a day of school (a week or more) previous. This is too late for me to help them. Students have been reminded on many occasions that they are responsible for catching up when they miss a day due to sickness or other reasons. Can you please help your child to remember to catch up after an absence? We always leave handouts on desks for absent students.

Memory Work: Psalm 144:1; Matthew 28: 18-20

Spelling Words: believed, excited, having, without, stepped, pieces, except, coming, flower, guard, remembered, eighteen, forty, unidentified, receive, scene

Devotions: Tristan, Weston, Dylan, Natasha, Ava

Spelling Quiz – Thursday

Social Studies test – Wednesday

Grade 6A

The students used their challenge spelling words to design an ad for bubblegum. The state project will be put together next week and handed in on Thursday. We read a version of the Pilgrim’s Progress and looked at how it was an allegory. In Bible we compared the various items of the Passover to Christ. During Phys Ed, we are dribbling and passing basketballs. Next week we look forward to the gr.4-6 Geography Challenge. Have a blessed weekend.CV

Ps.44:3-March 11; Deut.6:4-9-March 10

Vocab Quiz-March 10   Bible Quiz-March 11

Devotions: T-Jayden, W-Kendra, Th-Caleb, F-Austin

Grade 6B

In Bible we are finishing our unit on Exodus and will soon be starting our unit on Numbers. In Literature we have come to the end our unit on journeys. There will be a quiz on our last story and a unit test next week and then we will start our next unit looking at stories about the Middle Ages! In Social Studies we have been busy looking at the geography and wildlife of Japan as well as their history and Canada’s relationship with them. Students are busy typing up their paragraphs for their research projects. These projects are due next week Friday! Students are allowed to do research, print pictures, and put together their books at home, but all typing must be done at school. Most of the bean bags for Art have been finished and when we return from the March break we will be looking at point perspective. Please remember to sign your children’s agendas and remind them to wear clothing appropriate for the weather! Have a lovely weekend! MDB

Literature Quiz: Wednesday March 9

Literature Unit Test: Friday March 11

State Project: Friday March 11

Memory Work Text: Deut. 6:4-9 (March 10)

Memory Work Song: Hymn 59:1 (March 11)

Devotions: M. Emmalyne, T. Gabriel, W. Norah, T. Marissa, F. David

Grade 7A

In Physical Geography we will move from our study of global climate factors to a look at regional climate factors, including altitude, mountains, and bodies of water. This is part of our study on climate and vegetation. In History we will continue to learn how the colony of Upper Canada developed into the great province it is today. We’ll examine poems by Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, and Robert Louis Stevenson as we learn about imagery and form in language Arts. Business will be the focus in Math as we work with ratio, proportion and percentage. After the death of Saul we’ll see how Abner will align himself with David and the curse placed on Joab. The transition of the kingship from the line of Saul to David will be shown to be legitimate, setting the stage for the Prince of Peace. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

We have just completed our Church History unit on Ulrich Zwingli. We now move back into Bible History where we are studying the reign of King Solomon. In Language Arts students had the opportunity to write their own ballad as we near the end of our poetry unit. Here is what we have to look forward to next week, KB

Devotions – Ashley

Wednesday – Vocabulary quiz

Friday – MW – Hymn 64:1 & Matthew 10:32-39

Grade 8

It was another busy week in Gr. 8. As we continued our study of passion week in Bible, we also worked on the finer details of essay writing in History. In Science we studied the fascinating engineering of hydraulics. Next week we will wrap up our studies in several subjects as we prepare for the March break. So keep in mind that there will be a few quizzes on Tuesday and Wednesday. Also be sure to ramp up our bottle drive fundraising efforts so that we can put the finishing touches on our Ottawa trip monies. Every little bit helps! For next week: Devotions: AD; MW: Hymn 71: 4 ; Eph. 2: 6-10. Cheers, Mr. J.