General News

Celebrate1517: Solus Christus

During the months of November and December, we will focus our attention on the second pillar of the Reformation: In Christ Alone.

“Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” (Luke 24:44)

From the Reformers’ commitment to Sola Scriptura flowed another core teaching: Solus Christus. In an age when the church hindered the people in the pews from reading and understanding the clear teaching of Scripture, Martin Luther wrote that, “Jesus is the center and the circumference of the Bible.” Today many of our children announce this truth before they can even read, when they sing songs such as, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” What does the Bible tell us about Christ alone? What we find in this teaching are four key ideas:

1) We need a Saviour.

2) Jesus was perfectly obedient and sinless.

3) He made a sacrifice to pay for our sin and rebellion against God.

4) Only through Jesus can we be made right with God.

It’s not just Luke 24:44 that points to Christ alone. From start to finish (Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21), all of Scripture points to Jesus Christ. He is the main message of God’s Word.

Hello again everyone as we bring to an end the first week of learning and teaching at John Calvin School for the month of November. Our Heavenly Father has richly blessed us in that we could, once again, educate His covenant children in freedom in our Reformed, Christian school to learn more about Him, His Word, and His world; freedom that we are so thankful for and can reflect upon at this time of year.

We had a really good convention at our school last week. Rev. W. DenHollander gave us an interesting and informative keynote address about The Great Reformation and Education, and Mr. Mark Wanders encouraged the teachers with his devotional on Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him.” There were a lot of workshops that teachers could participate in as well. The JCS Catering Committee provided delicious food on both days. We have left up the artwork and Celebrate1517 “stuff” so when you have a moment come by the school and check it out.

Progress reports will be going home with the students next week Friday, November 10. Parent-Teacher conferences will follow on Tuesday, November 14 and Thursday, November 16. We look forward to getting together to discuss the progress of your child/children to this point in the school year.

Earlier this week, we could welcome back Mrs. Elgersma. She and her husband had a good trip to Bermuda visiting their grand-daughter, son and daughter-in-law. Once again, we thank Mrs. Jane Oosterhoff for taking over the secretary duties during Mrs. Elgersma’s absence.

On Tuesday of this week we could celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation with an assembly. We could do so in song, in word and in action. The students and staff could enjoy a role play from Mr. Jason Heemskerk who transformed himself into Johannes Tetzel and told the story of indulgences and the onset of the Reformation from Tetzel’s perspective. It was very interesting and enjoyable. Thank you again Mr. Heemskerk. Celebrate1517 continues with students participating in three different activities (poetry writing; story writing and story-telling; and visual arts) organized by the Faithful to His Word: Celebrate 1517 in 2017 committee.

Yesterday, the Guido Band and Choir gave a wonderful performance for the staff and students. It was great to see former students in both the choir and the band. Thank you Mr. Kingma and students.

We congratulate Dave and Maria DeBoer (our Grade 6B teacher), with the birth of their first child, a son, Dexter Mark. The Lord has made everything well and for that we are grateful. Perhaps we will see Mrs. DeBoer and Dexter in the school before too long. We also congratulate Harold and Janice Jonker with the birth of the their 10th son, Keaton Joel. That now makes a “baker’s dozen” for the Jonker family. Everything is well with mother and son. Thirdly, we congratulate Travis and Crystal VanMiddelkoop with the birth of their son, Samuel George (I like the name). All is well in the VanMiddelkoop family. (“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 Heavenly Father provide all three families with what they need to raise their children in the fear of His Name.

We express our condolences to the family of Mr. Fred Pilon, the father of Mrs. Rebecca Bosscher who teaches piano lessons in our school. He was also a relative to Mrs. Visser, one of our Special Needs teachers, as well as others in our supporting church community. May our Heavenly Father continue to surround the family with His comfort and care.

Mr. Hofsink will be absent from school next week Wednesday and Thursday as he will be on the team that is carrying out a school evaluation at one of the LCRSS (League of Canadian Reformed Schools) schools. Mrs. Elgersma and Miss Buist will continue to take care of administrative matters.

Parents, grandparents, and other supporters of our school community are invited to join students (K-8) and staff for the Remembrance Day assembly planned for Friday, November 10 beginning at 10:45 a.m. in the school gym. Miss Breukelman and Mrs. Poort will be leading the assembly. Since Remembrance Day is on a Saturday, Grades 5-8 will not be going to the cenotaph. However, we are planning to send two Grade 8 students to the ceremony at the Smithville cenotaph so that they can lay a wreath in behalf of John Calvin School.

A few items for your attention:

*The annual ANCHOR WORK DAY is an event of the past. Thank you to all the student in Grades 7&8 who participated in this act of service. The students are encouraged to bring in the money as soon as possible if they haven’t already done so. Thanks for your cooperation in this matter.

*Earlier this week, we could welcome three student teachers from the Covenant Canadian Reformed Teachers College. Miss Samantha Oosterhof is teaching with Miss VanderZwaag in the Special Education department, Miss Victoria VanRaalte is teaching with Miss Breukelman in Grade 3A, and Miss Naomi Tigchelaar is teaching with Mrs. Lemstra in Grade 4A. We hope they had a good first week and wish them all the best and the Lord’s blessing for the duration of their practicum at John Calvin School.

*Volleyball practices continue after school every Monday and Thursday for the next four weeks leading up to the tournament which is hosted by Guido De Bres Christian high school on Thursday, November 30.

*This week Grade 2A could visit the residents of Beacon Home, Grade 8B could spend time with the residents of Shalom Manor, and Grade 4B could interact with the residents of Anchor Home. It is good for the children to be able to participate in these acts of service for the seniors and the handicapped people in our community.

*For a small donation to the Royal Canadian Legion poppy fund, students will be able to receive a poppy next week Friday to help in remembering why we pay attention to this important event.

Reminders:

*Time changes this weekend. Enjoy the extra hour of sleep.

*Picture retakes are scheduled for Wednesday, November 8.

*Winterfest is on Saturday, November 18. We are looking forward to a fun and festive day. We thank the organizing committee and the large contingent of volunteers for the enormous amount of work that they have put into making this event happen.

*The Fall Membership meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 22.

*The first skating session at the Smithville arena is scheduled for Wednesday, November 15. Grade 4 will skate from 12:15-1:15, and Grades KB and 1A will skate from 1:15-2:15. In the interest of safety and concussion prevention, students in Grades K-3 must wear helmets when on the ice. They can be either hockey helmets or bicycle helmets. Students in Grades 4-8 are encouraged to wear them. Those playing hockey must wear them.

Enjoy your weekend and have a blessed Lord’s Day. We hope to touch base again next week Friday.   G. Hofsink

Classroom News

Kindergarten

In our Bible stories next week, Jacob will bring his family back to the Promised Land, and then we will move our focus to Joseph.  In Language, our new sight word will be “see”, our colour word is “green”, and our letter of the week is Ee. Ask us how to spell “the”, and hopefully we can sing a little song for you which we learned last week! In Math, we continue to work with counting and matching.  Please practise counting things with the students (0-10) as some students still struggle to give each item one number as they count aloud. We also learned the words “more” and “less” than. In Social Studies, we move on to our Safety theme. Our memory work due next week is Psalm 87:1, and we will continue practising our text from Genesis 8:22. We also have a large, empty basket in the back of our classroom. This was given to us by the WinterFest committee so that we can fill it with plenty of craft-making items. Or students may give a $2 donation into the special box provided. A reminder that Wednesday will again be a KB DAY! (see the schedule in the front of the agendas, as well as the November Calendar). On Friday will be our Remembrance Day assembly at 10:45.  Again, KA students and parents are also welcome to join us, if desired. Have a blessed weekend! NR & FVI

Grade 1

Your child should have taken home a completed Math test this past week. It was a difficult unit for some of the children because it required them to recognize and read the numbers from one to one hundred. Not all of the students have a solid working knowledge of this yet. (Something to practise at home?) However, most of the students did quite well on the test. By the time you are reading this, we will have begun reading about Goldilocks in our Pets and Puppets reader. Please remember to practise the sight words in the agenda at home. We have been learning about our senses in the Science classes and even doing a few games to guess what we hear or touch in secret boxes. If anyone has a Mr. Potato head toy that is no longer being used by their children, we would love a donation of Mr. (and Mrs.) Potato head and their face parts to be put in our ‘Senses’ learning box. Let’s keep collecting money and/or donations for the ‘boy’ basket for Winterfest.

Memory work: Psalm 93:1 (Friday) Ruth 1: 16, 17a (November 17)

Spelling Words: at, from, be, have, this

Grade 2

Grade 2 has settled in after enjoying an extra long weekend. We loved hearing the stories of the exciting things they were able to do over that time. We began a new Science unit on health and safety. Ask your child what fuel makes their body go. We will continue learning about the different food groups next week. Congratulations to Reuben in Grade 2A whose family received a baby boy, Samuel George! Next week, we will test math facts again before adding new ones. Please remember to practice with your child! Have a great weekend! RG/JA

Spelling: of, crashes, played, when, has Mem. Work: Psalm 92:1

Grade 3

Congratulations go to Silas Jonker and his family with the birth of a baby boy; a great blessing from the Lord. Silas was pretty proud to tell about Keaton. Welcome to Miss VanRaalte; she will be in Grade 3A visiting and teaching. We wish you the Lord’s blessings as you learn alongside the children and Miss B. Mr. Heemskerk (aka Johann Tetzel) told the story behind the scheme of selling indulgences. Ask your child about it. Thank you for the great story, Mr. Heemskerk. We are nearing the end of our Church History unit on Thomas Cranmer with a quiz to follow next week Tuesday. If all has gone according to plan, Mr. Lenting (Mattheus’ opa) came to school today to share some of his knowledge about pioneers. Thank you so much for coming(from afar) and showing us such interesting objects, Mr. Lenting! What an exciting way to finish our pioneer unit. Next week we hope to investigate the circulatory and respiratory systems in Science. The Guido band and choir entertained us with amazing music. The children were totally enthralled. Parents, please check your child’s halloween candy…some of it might contain peanuts (our school is peanut free). We wish you a wonderful and blessed weekend. MP/JB

Memory work: Ps 23:1 Text: Prov. 3:9, 10 (two weeks)

Spelling words: city, community, countries, exciting, getting, pretty, prettier, prettiest, laughed, schools, to, too, two, was

Grade 4

Bible: Grade 4B (Mrs. Lemstra) has a Bible test on Tuesday. 1 Samuel 16-31. Science we continue with our study of the human body. Math we are learning about subtraction. In French, the students are doing an excellent job speaking only French in the classroom.

Memory work: Psalm 21:1,2   (Nov. 10) Psalm 56:1 (Nov. 17) Psalm 100:4-5 (Nov. 10)

Spelling Lesson 9: art, master, smart, sisters, bar, finger, bark, paper, part, barrel, sand, says, matter, because

Grade 5

Though it was nice to have an extra long weekend, it is wonderful, also, to have a regular, normal school weekl. Much time, effort and excitement is going into the creating of our Roman soldiers’ armour. On Friday and next Monday we will or did present our “soldier” to the rest of the class. It is our hope that we will be able to hang our armour up for all to check out. We are about 1/2 through our Bible unit and so we hope to write our mid-unit test on Friday. We have finished our unit on Mozart and so our focus is now turning to learning how to read notes and basic sheet music. We will be also be starting our recorder playing. All students MUST have their recorders in school by Monday. We have also noticed that there are a number of students who are constantly “forgetting” their glasses at home. This makes school work exceeding difficult for these students. Mom and Dad, please ensure that your child comes to school, each day, properly prepared for school (for a number of students this also means having their Phys. Ed. clothes with them on for both Phys. Ed. and intramurals. Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday. SO KV

Memory Work: Psalm 48:1; Text: John 3:14-16

Friday: Mid Unit Bible Test

Devotions: 5A – M. Derek, Tu. Owen, W. Thomas, Th. Violet, Fr. Madelyn

5B. – M. Lukas, Tu. Jordan, W. Noah, Th. Beth, Fr. Wesley

Grade 6

We had a very enjoyable week with a variety of events. Our focus was on remembering the Reformation which took place 500 years. With this Mr. Heemskerk presented an interesting role play. The students put together a booklet of the 5 solas with texts. The Guido band and choir entertained us with their talents. We continue to encourage each other to know the multiplication facts quickly. Ask the students what they learned about the Sumerians this week. Have a blessed weekend.

Grade 7A

In Church History we’ll learn about Luther’s breakthrough and his eventual break with Rome. It’s a difficult study in many ways due to new characters, places and concepts. Math has us working with fractions and decimals; we’ll see how they’re related. We’ll start to put our study of structural strength and stability into practice as we build bridges. Be sure to ask your child about their Independent Study documentary; useful? what did they learn? Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

Another week has come and gone in Grade 7B! I hope that everybody had a good long weekend and it is nice to be back to business at school! We have started our Church History unit on Martin Luther, and we will be looking at God’s providence allowed the Reformation to take place. In History, we will be looking at the government of New France as well as the first Intendent, Bishop, and Governor and their roles. Our public speaking unit continues to roll along as well. Devotions – Elyse L. Have a great weekend!

Grade 8

This week was a long week in comparison to the weeks previous. Grade 8 has been busy working on History and Science Projects. Next week Tuesday the free verse poem on two different kinds of people is due. On Thursday we have a Science Test and the Science Review is due. The History Project is due sometime next week as well. I hope that you have a good weekend. KG