General News

Good Thursday morning everyone as we wrap up a shorter week of learning and teaching at John Calvin School because of tomorrow’s PD Day.  We thank the Lord for the many blessings He has graciously provided during the course of this week.  May He continue to provide students and teachers alike with what they need for their respective tasks.  According to the weather forecast, it looks like we will need to get out our snow shovels this weekend.  Have fun shovelling or playing in the snow.

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with those who need the Lord in a special way, whether they are grieving, dealing with serious illness, or coping with difficult family situations.  Mrs. deVisser continues to regain her strength and wait patiently to hear whether or not she will need further treatment.

We congratulate Andrew and Joelene Ravensbergen with the birth of their daughter, Charlotte Grace.  She is a sister to Ashleigh (Grade 1A).  All is well with mom and baby, and the rest of the family too.  We also congratulate Scott and Michelle Feenstra with the birth of their daughter, Karlee Michelle.  She is a sister to Austin (Grade 1A).  All is well with mom and 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, Book of Praise).  May our Heavenly Father provide the Ravensbergens and Feenstras with all they need to raise their children in the fear of His Name.

A few items for your attention:

*Bullying Awareness:  In our broken and fallen world, bullying continues to happen.  That’s why it is good to be reminded from time to time about how we are to treat one another as Christian brothers and sisters whether it’s on social media, on the bus, on the playground, or in the school.  We are all created in God’s image and we need to remember that when we interact with our neighbour, i.e. our classmates and schoolmates.

*Tomorrow, as you know, is a PD day.  The staff will be attending the CRTS (Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary) Conference:  Do Not Hinder Them— Children and the Church.  The students may enjoy the day at home.

*On Monday, January 21, Mr. R. VanAndel, a vice-principal at Guido De Bres Christian high school will be speaking to the grade eight students about grade nine course selection and life at Guido.  The students will need to fill in a course selection sheet as part of their grade nine registration.

*Next week Tuesday afternoon, the students in Grades 7&8 will be participating in the Great Canadian Geography Challenge.

*On Monday, January 28, 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.

*This year, once again, three of our students will be participating in the annual chess tournament hosted by Maranatha Christian School in Fergus on April 10.  The JCS in-school competition began this month to determine the John Calvin School team and involves students from Grades 7&8.

*Hockey practices/exhibition games continue for the John Calvin School hockey team as they get ready to participate in the NACE tournament, scheduled for Thursday, February 7 at Gateway Arena in Stoney Creek, and the Guido de Bres invitational tournament scheduled for Tuesday, February 12 at the Mohawk Quad Pad in Hamilton.  Today, after school, the team has a regular practice.  Next week Friday they hope to have an exhibition game against Covenant Christian School, Smithville.

Reminders:

*Please continue to collect tabs for cans for Jude VanVeen so he and his family can get a wheelchair for his sister Anna.

*January 28th and 29th are PD Days for the staff.  The students (and parents) may enjoy an extra long weekend.

*End of term report cards are scheduled to come home on Friday, February 1st with Parent-Teacher conferences for all parents to follow on Tuesday, February 5 and Thursday, February 7.

*The Ladies Auxiliary is planning a Soup Day for Friday, February 8.

Enjoy your weekend everyone, especially your day of rest.  Until next week Friday, D.V.                      G. Hofsink

Classroom News

Kindergarten

This week will be a fun filled one for kindergarten! As part of our social studies unit, on Monday and Tuesday we plan to have Teddy Bear day. This includes wearing pj’s to school and bringing your favourite teddy bear or stuffed animal. On Teddy Bear day, the students will be able to participate in many different activities that include their teddies. This week we will be focusing on wrapping up Chapter 5 in math class and starting Chapter 6 which focuses on Solids, Shapes, and Equal Parts. Please continue to review the numbers 1 to 10 at home as this will help reinforce their number recognition. During Bible class last week the students were very interested in learning about the 10 Plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea. This week we will begin looking at Israel’s journey through the wilderness. A friendly reminder to send a water bottle along to school with your child as the water fountain is still broken. We wish you a lovely week! NR & JB

Letter of the week: Oo

Words of the week: to, six, black, white

Memory work: Hymn 5: 1,4 & Genesis 9:16

Grade 1

Spelling Words: has, him, into, look, time for January 25

Memory work: Psalm 42:1(Jan. 25); Matthew 7:12 (February 1)

A short week is finished again in Grade 1. On Monday, we took a tour of the Smithville church. We are also learning about how Jesus is the Church’s one foundation. This coming week we will learn about the duties of the minister, elders, and deacons. In Phonics we are working on long vowels. We have started with the long vowel a. In Math, we are dealing with place value of ones and tens. Please keep reviewing the spelling and agenda words. Parents, please send mittens and hats with your child every day.  Have a great long weekend and a blessed Sunday.

Grade 2

This week the students enjoyed reading about whales in their Guided Reading lessons.  Ask your child what spyhopping, breaching, lobtailing, and spouting are! They also listened to sound clips of whales communicating though each other.  In math,  we have begun learning about telling time. We are also continuing with our math fact testing.  It’s always so fun to see the look of delight when they realize that they’ve earned their certificate! Next week we will complete our unit on Nunavut and our Bible unit on Jesus’ Ministry. We’r wil wrap both units up with tests on the noted dates. Have a wonderful snowy weekend! BV/RG

Memory work: Psalm 62:1; Text: Luke 1: 68, 69

Spelling: there,  their,  they’re,  didn’t

Wednesday: Nunavut test

Thursday: Bible test

Grade 3

Bonjour and greetings from grade three and their teachers. We continue to hear how the LORD uses Joseph to do His Will. Ask us to tell you about his dreams and their meanings. Mr. Popper’s Penguins continue to keep us in suspense! We finished our multiplication unit and we started a new unit on division.  Continue to practise multiplication facts at home too! Enjoy the extra long weekend! J.B./M.P.

Words:  knew, new, know, no, myself, really

Psalm 64:1; Text:  Psalm 23:1-3

Gym clothes on Monday and Thursday

Library books on Tuesday

Mission $$$ on Friday

Grade 4

Next week we have several quizzes, so please take the time to study. Remember that the multiplication memorization is ongoing in both classes, so students should be taking the time to practice and review at home.

John Hus Test — Grade 4A Friday, Grade 4B Tuesday

Quiz Map the Provinces and Territories of Canada — 4A Thursday, 4B Wednesday

Spelling Words (due Friday, January 25) — heard, beautiful, until, climbing, laughed, finally, again, stopped, watched, squirrel, holiday, coming (4B only — obvious, panic, ache, mischief)

Memory Work — January 25 — Psalm 3:2 and Isaiah 40:30, 31, February 1 — Psalm 132: 1, 10

Grade 5

We have wrapped up our Cell Booklets this week and discussed how traits are passed along, bringing an end to our unit about cells. Next week, we will be starting our unit on Ancient Egypt. On Thursday, Jan. 24, we will be having a Unit 3 Bible test. Duotangs will be coming home on Tuesday and Wednesday for studying. After that, we will be moving on to Unit 4, Jesus’ Ministry – Part 3. Have a wonderful long weekend and a blessed Sunday! RK/KV

Memory Work: Ps. 113:1; Text (for February 1): Acts 2:36-39

Devotions: 5A – M. Hannah, Tu. Micah, W. Jude, Th. Jacob, F. Leanne

5B – M. Trinity, Tu. Parker, W. Amanda, Th. Declan, F. Kaden

Grade 6

The students are enjoying the variety of exercises for their geometry unit on triangles, polygons, and quadrilaterals. Do you know what a 9 sided figure is called? With the forecast of snow on the weekend, remember to bring snow pants, extra gloves, and socks. In art we will plan out a bedroom using 1 point perspective. Have a blessed weekend. SO/CVA

Grade 7A

We’ve learned what energy is and isn’t in Science; next we’ll build a better energy barrier as we attempt to contain energy. Ask your child for more details. In Church History we’ve learned what humanism is and why it is so dangerous and how Erasmus influenced Zwingli. In the next lessons we’ll learn about Zwingli’s work in Zurich. During Math next week we’ll remain positive as we get a bit negative in our next Math unit dealing with integers. We’ll all compete in the Geography Challenge and add the finishing touches to our annotated bibliography in Independent Study. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

We have come to the end of our Bible History Unit on the Kingdom of David and we will be moving on to our next Church History unit on Ulrich Zwingli and the Swiss Reformation. In Math, we have also come to the end of our unit on equations and expressions and have started our next unit on integers. In Language Arts, we are currently writing a story on going back to the past or going ahead to the future, focusing on describing the setting and using good adjectives to describe our surroundings. Devotions – Mya W. Have a great long weekend!

Grade 8A

Another busy week has come and gone in 8A. While teachers prepare for mark’s and report cards, students have finished several assignments. Next Tuesday we also hope to have a history quiz on the structure of our government. Tomorrow, teachers will be attending the CRTC conference in Burlington. Have a blessed weekend! Cheers, Mr. J.

Grade 8B

We continue to look at the ways in which the Lord Jesus reveals aspects of the Kingdom of Heaven in his ministry and himself as its King.  We have come to the mid-point of our Math unit and students have handed in a mid-unit review for evaluation.  This is a unit that calls on students to apply many of the skills that they have learned previously and some of them find that quite a challenge.  We continue to work through many samples together.  However, some students continue to be challenged to remember previously learned material and will probably benefit from extra tutoring.  I will make that available to students on Wednesdays and Fridays when I have a free lunch period for the next number of weeks.  History quizzes were written on Thursday, so look for them to be returned either this week or next.

Memory work:  Psalm 32:5  (I Corinthians 13:8-end for Feb.1)