General News
Greetings from the school everyone as we bring to a close Term One, and wrap-up a short week of instruction at John Calvin School. We thank God for the many gifts and blessing He has provided during the course of the first term. We pray that He will continue to provide for the needs of the staff, students, and parents during the second term. May the Lord continue to bless the work of parents and teachers as together they instruct His covenant children about His Word and His world.
Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with those who need the Lord in a special way, whether they are grieving (Strating, Bartels, Schutten), dealing with serious illness, or coping with difficult family situations. In particular, we think of the Breukelman family with the passing away last weekend of Mrs. S. Breukelman (aka Moekie). Her funeral was held this past Wednesday. She was the grandmother of Mr. Tim Breukelman, our Grade 7B teacher, and great-grandmother to Jasmine Breukelman (KA), Mason VanPykeren (KB), Phoebe Post (2A) and Paige Post (3A). She was also the aunt to Miss Jolanda Breukelman, our Grade 3A teacher.
The staff had a couple of productive days earlier this week. Monday was a solid report card writing day with many report cards being written (teachers) and read (principal). On Tuesday, the staff had a great morning volunteering at Niagara Christian Gleaners. What a great experience we had helping out in providing food to address worldwide hunger, whether in Haiti, eSwatini (Swaziland), or a whole host of other countries. On the afternoon of that day the staff had a productive staff meeting reviewing Language Arts curriculum implementation (Library and Media Literacy), determining curriculum direction for the Music program to be implemented in 2020-2021, and planning for Book Week. The staff is very thankful for both days.
Term one report cards have gone home today with your child(ren). The report consists of three pages; two pages with grades and teacher’s comments, and one page for parent and student comments. We would like the students and parents to complete the third page and return the entire page to school on Monday or Tuesday of next week so that the comments can be used as discussion points at the Parent –Teacher conferences. Thank you in advance for your participation in this aspect of reporting and communication between school and home.
The interview schedule for the Parent-Teacher conferences will be emailed to you directly. Please check your day and time and we hope to see you next week Tuesday or Thursday so that we can discuss with you the progress of your child(ren) academically and/or behaviourally to the end of the first term. Special Education interviews will take place in Miss VanderZwaag’s classroom on the afternoons of Tuesday, February 4 and Thursday, February 6 from 1:00-4:00 p.m.
A few items for your attention:
*The students in Grades 7&8 continue to prepare for their bi-annual Public Speaking and Poetry Recitation contest. Thank you very much to all who volunteered to serve as a judge for both the classroom finals on Thursday morning, February 6 and the school final on Tuesday, February 11. It is very much appreciated. John Calvin School is also hosting the Regional competition on Thursday afternoon, February 20.
*The Grade 8 students (and their parents) are reminded to return the Grade 9 course selection sheet to their teacher as soon as possible. They are due next week Friday at the latest.
*Next week Monday, February 3, 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.
*On Monday, February 10 the Grade 8 students are planning to travel to Guido De Bres Christian high school to participate in the annual Grade 8 Day. The students will make their way through a very brief version of the courses they will be taking in September. This is something that the grade eight students always look forward to.
*The coaches are making preparations for the annual basketball tournament with try-outs scheduled for the week of February 10.
*Hockey practices/exhibition games continue for the JCS hockey team as they get ready to participate in two tournaments in February (the Niagara District Christian Schools tournament and the Guido De Bres Invitational). The team has an exhibition game against Heritage Christian School this afternoon from 3:00-4:00 at the Smithville arena. The schedule for the NDCS tournament on Thursday, February 6 is as follows:
8:50-9:30John Calvin vs Beacon Christian School, St. Catharines
10:30-11:10 – John Calvin vs Heritage Christian School, Jordan
11:20-12:00 – John Calvin vs Cairn Christian School, Smithville
If the team makes it to the play-off round, the semi-finals are from 1:20-2:00 and the final is from 2:20-3:00. We wish the players and their coaches a good day of fun, sportsmanship, and competition at the tournament.
Reminders:
*The Ladies Auxiliary is planning a Soup Day for Friday, February 7. We are looking forward to a hot bowl of soup on a cold, winter day. Students are reminded to bring a bowl/mug and spoon that day. Drinks will not be provided. Thank you very much Ladies Auxiliary for this treat at this time of year.
*News and View materials are due on Monday, February 10 and the magazine is scheduled for distribution on Sunday, February 16.
*Heritage/Flag Day is on Thursday, February 13. An afternoon assembly is planned where we hope to commemorate this special day in our country. We also plan to kick-off Book Week at the assembly.
*For extra-long weekend planning: the annual February CARE Day, to be held at ACRES, is scheduled for Friday, February 14 (this is a day off for the students), and Monday, February 17 is Family Day.
*Book Week is planned for the week of February 17-21. The theme for the special week is Read Canadian. Some of the activities planned for the week include: a book reading contest (a two week event beginning on Monday, February 10, celebrating the first ever National I Read Canadian Day on the Wednesday, Red and White Day- Part 2, a display table of Canadian authors, Book Trivia Contest, D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read), buddy reading, Guess the Book or Author contest, and parents or grandparents reading to the class. Request: Parents, if you have books by Canadian authors on your shelf could we please borrow them for the week to add to our display, and use them to read to our classes. That would be much appreciated. Thanks for your consideration.
*The “Toonies for Anchor” campaign to raise awareness for the needs of the Anchor Association and to learn more about our Anchor Homes, is scheduled for the weeks of February 24-28 and March 2-6. Please note that the campaign is being held over a two-week period this year.
Have an enjoyable weekend and a blessed Sunday. We hope to touch base again next week Friday. G. Hofsink
Classroom News
Kindergarten
A short but great week in Kindergarten! The Bible stories that we learned about this week sparked much conversation with the students. We learned that we are like the Israelites in so many ways. We continually sin against God but because our God loves us so much He forgives us of our sins through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. In math the students continued to learn how to write and identify numbers 10-19. The students are demonstrating strong mathematical skills. Keep up the great work, kindergarten. A reminder that the reading program books went home this week. Please take time to read this book every single day with your child. Try to have your child identify the letters that they know on each page as well as words that they may know. Many of the students are ready to start blending letters into words. Please return the reading program books on Monday or Tuesday! Have a great week!
Grade 1
We are already nearing the halfway point of the school year; how time flies. The students will be bringing home their report cards today. Attached is a sheet for you to fill in with your child and return to school on Tuesday. We have finished our Bible unit and will do a review and test on Monday. We have also finished our Math and wrote a test on Thursday. These should be taken home today as well. Our new unit in Math is working with numbers up to 100. We have begun our new unit in Science dealing with living and non-living things. We have not tested Spelling words this week because of the short week. We will keep them for another week and test on Friday, February 7. We look forward to seeing you at interviews on Tuesday and Thursday night. Hope you can all come out. Have a great weekend!
Spelling Words: big, boy, could, no, way
Memory Work for Friday, Feb. 7: Psalm 142:1; 1Sam.16:7b
Grade 2
This week was a very short one, but Grade 2 packed it full of learning and other fun activities. In Bible class, we began a new unit on Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension. We will have a quiz on Friday. In Social Studies, we learned about the mighty baobab tree in Africa. Ask your child about its many uses! We also learned about some of the wildlife on the savannah. The children always love this lesson! This week also marked my (RG) last day with Grade 2A. We had a fun afternoon together and I will miss my students immensely! Thank you so much for all your love and support! We wish Mrs.Schulenberg God’s blessings as she takes up her new task in the classroom. Have a blessed weekend! BV/RG
Memory work: Hymn 85:1; Text: Isaiah 53:5
Spelling words: can’t, eating, kicked, laugh, could
Bible test: Friday
Grade 3
Your child’s report card was given out today. The Lord willing, we look forward to meeting you next week regarding the report cards. May the Lord bless our efforts of teaching His covenant children to His glory. In our Church History lessons we heard about a man named Thomas Cranmer. Ask your child how the Lord used him to gather His church in England. We wrote another chapter to Mr. Popper’s Penguins. We’re also working on fairy tales. Lots of good authors and illustrators in grade three! We are nearing the end of our Science unit on forces and electricity. Check your child’s agenda for the next test. Our condolences to the Breukelman families as the Lord took to himself a dear wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin, and friend. “But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the LORD God my refuge, Psalm 73:28A
Words: really, probably, then, usually, what
Hymn 11:2, 3; Text: Psalm 23:1-3
Gym clothes on Tuesday and Friday.
Library books on Thursday; Mission $ on Friday.
Grade 4
We have a busy week ahead of us with parent teacher meetings and regular class. We look forward to speaking with parents about student progress. We are beginning a Province/Territory project and will be working on it over the next few weeks. Next week’s spelling list is from Unit 18 Review (heard, laughed, watched, beautiful, finally, squirrel, until, again, holiday, climbing, stopped, coming).
Tues: 4B Math Quiz Multiplication/Division Arrays
Thurs: 4A & 4B Canada Test
Fri: Spelling Unit 18 Test
Memory work: Ps.107:1/next week Psalm 67:1, Isaiah 40: 28, 29
Grade 5
Hopefully you enjoyed the first two days of this week with no school! The short week flew by here! We will be having our first quest for our Social Studies unit on Ancient Egypt on Friday. It will cover everything we’ve talked about from the first four lessons listed on the title page. In Bible, we are studying the last little bit of Jesus’ ministry before His death. Although we still have a full unit to go before His death, we are in the last week of His earthly life. We hope to see you all at the interviews next week. Have a good weekend and a blessed Sunday. RK/KV
Memory Work: Ps. 84:3,6; Text: Matthew 5:7-12
Devotions: 5A – M. Olivia, Tu. Angelina, W. Silas, Th. Logan, F. Brooke
5B – M. Ryeanne, Tu. Daeton, W. Ella, Th. Torey, F. Alyvia
Grade 6
The students learned about various diseases that are not contagious. We discussed ways to prevent these diseases. Next week they will start to research a disease during computer time. Take the time to set some goals with your child for the upcoming term. We hope to discuss their progress next week with you. Next week the 6B class will start collecting the recycling. They will be trained by 6A students. Have a blessed weekend. AF/CV
Grade 7A
The big event next week will be the in class competition for the Public Speaking and Poetry Declamation Contest. Of course you’re invited to join us. The date is Thurs. Feb. 6 at 8:30 in the 7A classroom. The order will not follow the class list but will be mainly speeches with a sprinkling of poetry throughout. The top two poems and speeches will go on to the school final to be held Tues. Feb. 11 at 1:00 in the gym. We’ve learned the difference between Wikipedia and Google Scholar and how to use the latter. Next week students will find a journal article relating to their topic. Thomas Talbot and his settlement along the shores of Lake Erie will have our attention in History, and in Math we’ll stay positive and avoid feeling negative about integers. Please take the time to review your child’s report card; I look forward to meeting with parents next week. Enjoy your weekend.
Grade 7B
After a short week, we look forward to a busy week with parent-teacher conferences and the In-class Public Speaking competition. In Bible History, we are coming to the end of our David unit, and we should be having a test toward the end of the week. In Phys. Ed, the students are taking turns leading the class through some low order cooperative games. In History, we are looking at the development of Upper Canada, looking at John Graves Simcoe and Thomas Talbot. Have a great weekend.
Morning Devotions – Monday – Davis T., Tuesday – Erin T., Wednesday – Natasha VA., Thursday – Kendra VI., Friday – Derek VW.
Memory Work – Ps 149:1 and Ps 130:5-8.
Grade 8A
This week, students are going home with Term 1 reports. We look forward to discussing progress and next steps with parents next week Tuesday and Friday. As far as the day to day operations go, there are many different activities on the go, (Public Speaking, PBL, Art Projects, different tests, etc.), and for some this has become a source of stress and anxiety. As teachers we are keeping student busyness in mind, and are sympathetic to their workload. However, it should also be noted that many of these activities have been discussed and assigned a long time ago, and in some cases procrastinating is the source of stress. Let’s use this as a teachable moment and something that will help us better prepare for high-school. Speaking of which, February 3rd is the upcoming parent information evening at Guido and on the 10th we look forward to taking the students to Guido for its annual ‘Gr. 8 day’. Have a blessed weekend!
Cheers, Mr. J.
MW: Ps. 89: 1; 1 Cor. 13: 1-7
Devotions: Kyara
Grade 8B
History tests were returned this week. The results were a little disappointing. There is an opportunity to do a make up assignment in students’ own time. Please have a look at their tests, and discuss with your child where he/she can make improvements. Please sign and return the tests. There will be another test in History, this time on Chapter 6 near the end of the week (possibly Thursday). In Art we hope to have someone come in to demonstrate some techniques in watercolour. The exact date is yet to be determined, so stay tuned! Students will soon be embarking on a ‘W-book’ as a end of chapter Geography assessment. PBL assignments will need some time and attention at home as well. Students will have access to a google classroom (cu776ky) to access handouts, etc.
Memory Work: Psalm 89:1 (ICorintihians 13:1-7 for February 14)
© 2015 Canadian Reformed School Society of Smithville and Surrounding District
