General News

The monthly theme for the month of October is Intellectual Carefulness. William James (a 19th century American philosopher) said excessive intellectual carefulness “is like a general informing his soldiers that it is better to keep out of battle forever than to risk a single wound.” If fear of making a small error petrifies us and keeps us from seeking to know God and understand His world, carefulness has become a vice– not a virtue.

Hello again from the school as we bring an abbreviated week of instruction to an end at John Calvin. Even though it was short, there was lots of activity both inside and outside of the classroom; including plenty of Jays’ talk on Thursday morning☺. As you will read in the classroom news, the students and staff had a fun time with the activities of our Corn Farming theme week.

A few items for your attention:

• The due date for picture orders was today. Retakes are scheduled for Monday, November 2.
• Thanks you very much everyone for your participation in the Food Drive to help out those in need in the community of West Lincoln.
• Final reminder via the Chronicle: Most of the money from the chocolate bar fundraiser is in; however, there is still some that needs to be returned. Let’s get that in by the end of next week.
• Good effort cross country teams! Last week Friday, the boys’ team, consisting of 19 runners, finished a strong second behind the winning team from Cornerstone, Guelph. The girl’s team, consisting of 8 runners, finished in 6th place, just short of finishing in the top five.   Thank you again Mrs. Jenn Heemskerk for coaching the teams. Next on the tournament schedule for the senior students is volleyball with practices planned for after school next week Thursday, and then every Monday and Thursday thereafter until tournament date on Thursday, November 26.
• Poultry Farming Theme Week: We had an enjoyable week learning more about the different types of poultry, enjoying poultry food, and dressing up in poultry colours, poultry costumes, and as poultry farmers.   Since the gym was occupied for a wedding on Friday, the winners of the colouring contest and the rooster crowing contest will be announced/determined on Monday when we will get together in the gym to participate in the whole school Chicken Dance.
• Dental Screening: A Public Health registered dental hygienist is scheduled to visit John Calvin next week Tuesday, October 20 and Wednesday, October 21 to provide dental screening to students in Grades K, 2, 4, 6, and 8 and other children as required under the Health Protection and Promotion Act. During this time, the registered dental hygienist will perform a visual inspection of each child to determine his/her dental needs. Parents will be contacted if their child requires immediate dental care. Public Health dental programs may financially assist children who do not have access to required dental care. Please contact the Public Health dental program for any of the following: 1) If you do not wish to have your child participate in the dental screening; 2) If you child is not in one of the targeted grades and you would like him/her to participate. Call Dental Health Information at 905-688-8248 or 1-888-505-6074 ext. 7399 or email dental@niagararegion.ca
• With Remembrance Day not being too far off, the students will soon begin work on the Royal Canadian Legion Poster, Poem, and Essay contest.
• Social Media: Once again, I would like to remind those who use social media to be considerate about what they say or post on Facebook, Twitter, Snap Chat, etc. These are public forums so therefore we need to be mindful about what we say concerning the school and school-related matters. Please, also, be mindful of the school’s privacy policy. All families received a copy of this policy in June of last year. If you did not or have misplaced it, please give the school a call.

Reminders:

• Due date for the News and Views contributions is Tuesday, October 13.
• Tuesday, October 13 is a PD Day. Students may stay home and enjoy an extra day “off” while the staff will be busy working on Social Studies, History, Geography curriculum and interim report cards.
• Interim report cards will be going home on Friday, October 23 with Parent-Teacher conferences (by request, teacher or parent) to follow on Wednesday, October 28.
• You are invited to join us for the Reformation Day assembly planned for Wednesday morning, October 28 beginning at 8:20. Mr. Bergsma will be leading the assembly.
• The CRTA Teachers’ Convention is scheduled to take place in London on October 29 and 30. The students (and parents) may enjoy another extra long weekend.
• A heads-up to the students in Grades 7&8: The annual ANCHOR WORK DAY is coming up at the end of the month. The usual information about the event will be sent home next week. Perhaps the students and parents can begin to think about the odd jobs in which students can be involved.
• The Calvin Chronicle will not publish the week of October 26 because of the short week.
• Picture orders are due next week Friday.

Enjoy the long weekend everyone and have a blessed Sunday and Thanksgiving. We’ll be in touch again next week, D.V.   G. Hofsink

Classroom News

Kindergarten

We are so excited to go to the Pumpkin Patch this Tues the 20th. KA please remember that there will be NO school for KA on Monday as BOTH KA, and KB will be going to Bry-Anne farms on Tuesday together. Please send the children with warm jackets and also proper footwear. It tends to be a bit mucky in the corn maze so rubber boots are usually a good idea. We are continuing to learn Genesis 1:1, and will begin to learn Psalm 81:1.

Have a great weekend. S.L, M.D.

Grade 1

Memory Work Psalm 81:2 Friday Oct. 23; Psalm 24:1 Friday Nov. 6. Sons of Jacob Nov. 6.

It has been a short but very busy week. We have spent a lot of time learning about poultry- we have eaten poultry products, coloured poultry pictures and crowed like roosters. We can hardly wait for the crowing contest on Monday. We had a very enjoyable trip to the Safety Village in Welland. We learned how to crawl under the “smoke” to get out of a bedroom and we learned how to follow the rules of the road. The teachers are very happy that we are not allowed to drive real cars yet- many of us jumped the curb, ran a red light and even ran into other cars. We have almost completed our Bible unit and plan to have a test on Wednesday. Books will go home on Tuesday so that you can review the stories with your children. Next week LIBRARY will be on TUESDAY since our librarians will be gone to League Day on Wednesday. A friendly request- please get your children to bed on time on Sunday- we tend to have very tired children at school on Monday. Have a blessed and restful Sunday.   HB & JvB

Grade 2

Memory Work: Hy 41:1; Is 9:2

Words: whom, what, our, line, whom, really

Poultry week was a highly enjoyed by teachers and students alike. It was neat to see the many different poultry foods on Thursday and the creative ideas in dress on Friday. The rooster crowing contest has been held over until Monday, keep practicing! We have finished our first Science unit on Bones and Muscles. There will be a review on Monday and a test on Tuesday. The students will also write a Bible test on Wednesday. Due our shortened week, we have not assigned new spelling words but will continue learning the same five words. RG/HV

Grade 3

Spelling words: laughed, pretty, prettier, prettiest, schools

Memory work: Ps 8:4,5 Text: Gen 3:15

Tue: October 27 Pioneer Dress up day!

Welcome back to grade 3. We hope you enjoyed your extra long weekend! We have 3 winners who answered the trivia question correctly. Methuselah was the oldest person in the Bible, age 969. Congratulations Jay Tenhage, Jacqueline Groen and Grace VanderVelde. Enjoy your little prize! Next week will be a regular week, followed by a short but busy one. On Tuesday, Oct. 27 we will have our Pioneer dress up day (exciting!), we will be gone the whole day. Please make sure not to send microwave lunches along! On Wednesday, Oct 28, Grade 3B hopes to visit their brothers and sisters at Anchor Home. We hope your children enjoyed the “poultry” week, filled with lots of activities, chicken dance and other fun! Thank you, organizers! Just a friendly reminder, we are a NUT free school, so no Honey Nut Cheerios and Nutella. Thank you for your ongoing support and prayers as we continue to teach the children in a God-fearing manner. Blessings, JB/MP

Grade 4A

We had a short, but interesting week filled with fun activities. We spent time this week learning about all different types of poultry. We learned about an egg’s colour,(and what colour Mrs Blokker’s hens are) and different things about a chicken or duck’s habitat. We had fun competing with our colouring, and with each other doing rooster crows. Ask for a demonstration! We did some seat work too, of course. Please remember to check and sign your son or daughter’s agenda prior to the day. That way you know what is expected of them the following day. (often checking in the morning is too late). In Church History we have been learning about our church federation, and how it can be compared to a family. The first chapter in math is nearly completed, but remember to practise math facts at home too. The children will be asked to open with the Lord’s Prayer for lunch devotions soon. (alphabetically) Please practice with your child if necessary. Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday. MB/IdV

Memory work: Hymn 76:3; Text: Ps 100:1 – 3(2 weeks)

Monday & Thursday: PhysEd

Wednesday: Library

Friday: Memory work, Mission Money

Grade 4B

Wow, what a week we’ve had. Poultry Week was wonderful and we had lots of fun learning about the habitat of hen and creating eggimals. In the midst of all of this we have done some school work as well. We have begun our unit on the Family of Churches and the students are being introduced to what makes us a federation, what a synod is, and what a classis is. Next week will see us learning about the Theological College and the Teachers’ College and the roles these play in our churches. In Science we are nearing the end of our studies on Living things and their habitats. We will be looking to have a test sometimes in the week after this. Math has us working with the challenging concept of 2 digit multiplication and the 4,5,6 times tables. Please make sure your child is studying the appropriate times tables at home as well. Starting next week your children will be taking turns saying our closing lunch prayer. The Bible passage is still chosen for them but a short thanksgiving prayer is something they need to make up, with your assistance. A sheet will go home on the Friday for all who have devotions for the next week. Your help is much appreciated. Have great weekend and a blessed Sunday. SO

Devotions: M. Stephen, Tu. Eli, Wed. Alayna, Th. Reuben, Fr. Nevaeh

Memory Work: Hymn 76:3

Text: (two weeks) Psalm 100:1-3

Grade 5

Memory Work: Ps. 40:1

Spelling Words: apart, against, larger, certain, perhaps, eastern, dirt, circle, surface, search, earliest, remarkable, earth, desert, surprise, often

Math Test – Thursday

Spelling quiz – Thursday

Most of the Punic Wars Booklets were handed in on Thursday. It was good to see that so many students took the deadline seriously. The weekly Spelling lessons do need to have a little more diligent attention from quite a number of the students. Many of them are not paying attention to all of the directions and are scoring quite poorly on their weekly assignments. It was fun to do the various activities during the poultry week.

Grade 6A

The students enjoyed the various activities for poultry week. We look forward to the debate and voting on Monday. In our discussion of Genesis 1 we noticed how God revealed Himself as the Creator who has brought forth everything with wisdom, order, and purpose. We also read about the new creation in Revelation where there will be no need for light from the sun, moon, and stars. As we started our novel study we discussed what it was like to live in a country during German occupation in 1943. Have a blessed weekend. CV

Devotions: T-Matthew W-Reuben Th-Leanne F-Jenna

Ps.14:1- Oct.23 Bible Quiz-Gen.1-3-Oct.21 Map quiz-Oct.22

Grade 6B

After an extra long weekend we were able to enjoy a short school week. It has been a fun and productive week. We have finished our Church History unit and on Monday will begin looking at Genesis. We have started our first novel study of the year, “Number the Stars”, already students are enjoying it! We have had a few interesting discussions about World War II, and what it would be like to like in Denmark during the war. This week we were also able to do many activities relating to poultry for our theme week! For Art this week students worked on the colour contest and we have done some activity pages. We also had an in-class roaster crowing contest and look forward to the school wide contest on Monday! Intermin report cards will be going home next week Friday. Please take the time to look them over with your children. Have a lovely weekend! MDB

Memory Work Song: Psalm 14:1 (October 23)

Memory Work Text: Genesis 9:12-16 (October 28)

Devotions: M. Norah, T. Marissa, W. David, T. Jordan, F. Emily

Grade 7A

Our next geographic theme of inquiry in Physical Geography will be movement. We’ll learn about plate tectonics, push/pull factors and transportation movements. Our Science unit on Structural Strength and Stability will come to an end soon as we finish up with the principles of stability. We’ll look at setting and theme as we continue with short stories in Language Arts. Be sure to ask your child how things are going in Grade Seven this year and be sure to have a look at the evaluated/graded work coming home. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

In this short week we have begun our Church History unit, examining why we study Church History in the first place. We have had a brief introduction to Martin Luther, and hope to spend time on his role in the great Reformation. In Math we are working with greatest common factors and lowest common multiples. Students should anticipate a test by the end of next week. KB

Devotions week of October 19 – Noah DeVries

Devotions week of October 26 – Dylan Jonker

Friday – MW – Hymn 28:7 & Romans 3:22b-25

Grade 8

A short week has blown right by us with the leaves of Fall. It was a busy week nonetheless discussing the properties of integers; comparing the songs of Mary and Hannah; and analyzing what an election debate looks like. Election day is Monday both for Canada and for Gr. 8! Stay tuned for results next week. MW: Ps. 33:1; Joel 2: 28-32; Devo: MS; Cheers, Mr. J