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General News

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Greetings everyone as we wrap-up the first week of learning and teaching in December.  We thank the Lord for his blessing and guidance during this past week and we pray that he will continue to provide for the needs of the students and teachers during the next couple of weeks before we break for the Christmas holidays.   

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with all who need the Lord in a special way, whether they are grieving the recent death of a loved one, coping with serious illness or are dealing with difficult or challenging family circumstances. In particular, we think of Mrs. Vanes, our Grade 1B teacher, whose grandfather, Mr. Meyering, passed away earlier this week. May our gracious God comfort her and the Meyering family.

We congratulate Dan and Jeannette Huizinga with the birth of their daughter, Lauren Alisha. She is a sister to Camryn (3A), Liam (2A), and Megan (KB). All is well with mom and daughter 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 Dan and Jeannette with all they need as they raise their children in the fear of His Name. 

We also congratulate Mrs. Elgersma (and Mr. too) with the birth of another grandchild, Timothy Henry Oosterhof; first-born son to Kara and Henry Oosterhof.

A few items for your attention:

*Winterfest:  Tomorrow is the last day for the Online Auction.  Check out the five pages of items at www.johncalvinfundraising.ca and then place your bid(s).  

*We have chosen not to go school skating this year because of all the COVID requirements from the arena, e.g. contact tracing, waiver forms, mask wearing, etc., expected from the arena for one hour of skating per grade.  Next year!

*The Ladies Auxiliary is planning a Pizza Lunch for Friday, December 11.  Yippee!  No lunches to make.  For those children with allergies, the Ladies Auxiliary will look after heating up/preparing the food that they bring for lunch that day.  Thank you very much Ladies Auxiliary!

*Hockey for JCS students:  Several coaches and parents have organized an opportunity for students in Grades 6-8 to play/practise hockey at the Smithville arena.  The school has booked three ice times for the month of December and a few more in January for that purpose.  The practices will be run by the parent coaches.  Have fun!  

*Lost and Found:  Our lost and found box is filling up.  If you are at the school at some point and time during the next three weeks, please check through the bin to see if any of you child(ren)’s missing paraphernalia is in it.  The box is located in the foyer for quick and easy access.  What is left in the box on December 18 will be taken to the GBF, Bibles for Mission, or Value Village.

*Update from the Ministry of Education Student Support and Field Services re: Operational Guidance- COVID 19 Management in Schools.  There are a few key changes that the ministry would like to bring to the attention of parents/schools:

• Screening prior to arrival at the school is necessary, and parents are encouraged to use the provincial screening tool. https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/

• Updated language to clarify that if a child develops symptoms and their self-screening indicates that they should stay home, but their siblings do not have symptoms, the siblings do not need to isolate until the child with symptoms tests positive for COVID-19.

• Revised language around testing stating that individuals should only consult a health care provider as needed.  Previous language indicated individuals should seek testing even if showing mild symptoms.

• Clarified that medical notes and proof of a negative test are not required for an individual to return to school.

Reminders:

*For the Dutch folk in our community—Happy Sinterklaas tomorrow.

*News and Views material is due on Monday, December 7.

*Friday, December 18 is a 2/3 day of school.  Students will be dismissed at 12:00 and the buses will be leaving at 12:10.  The Christmas break is scheduled for December 21 – January 1.  The first day back in the new year is Monday, January 4.

Enjoy your weekend and may the Lord grant you a restful Sunday.  We’ll touch base again in a week’s time, D.V.

G. Hofsink

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Classroom News

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Kindergarten

We have completed another month in Kindergarten!  The students are very excited to be in the month of December as we have been busy making the classroom look like a winter wonderland complete with snowflakes, snowmen and an advent calendar.  For the Bible stories this month, we are taking a break from learning about the Israelites in Egypt and are learning about the events that lead up to the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  In Math, we are continuing to learn our numbers up to 10 with a special focus on numbers 6 and 7. Please continue to practice these numbers at home with your child as well as the letters that we have learned so far.  The students especially loved celebrating both Miss Broersma and Miss Vanluik’s birthdays this week!  Thanks so much for spoiling both of us so much!  Have a great weekend.  JB/NV

Grade 1

Last week  we thought we had come to the end of our Bible unit, but OOPS! …. there were a few stories left to go.  In grade 1A we wrote half the test on Monday.  We should really be finished the unit about the Israelites time in the wilderness by the end of next week.  Look in the agendas for the test announcement.  Both classes have just about reached the end of unit 2 in their Phonics program (short vowel sounds). This is when many students make the exciting discovery that they can read.Look for a test announcement near the end of the week. Many of the students managed to find water during their recess breaks this week.  While it is mostly their snow pants that are wet, an extra pair of socks could make them a lot more comfortable in the afternoons.

Memory Work:  Psalm 12:4,  I Samuel 16:7b (Dec. 17)

Spelling words:  her, like, make, some, would

Sight words:  one, once, only, about, above

Grade 2

We can’t believe it is December already.  How time flies when you’re a busy member of Grade Two!  We’ve had a great week of learning so far.  In Bible, we’re continuing to learn about Jesus’ Ministry.  We will be wrapping this up on Monday at which point we will be starting our first unit on Church History. In Social Studies, we’re learning about Iqaluit, Nunavut.  Did you know that they eat raw seal meat during Toonik Tyme?!  What’s Toonik Tyme you ask?  We can tell you all about it.  It’s the celebration of the return of the sun in springtime.  Nunavut seems like a strange country far, far away; but it is one of our treasured Canadian capitals.  They call themselves “seriously northern” which is a very accurate name if you’re located on Baffin Island!  Brrrrr….. Please remember to encourage your child to read at home and don’t forget those math facts.  We will begin testing in a few short weeks.  LS/BV

Tuesday – Math test

Spelling words – found, stop, after, some, they

Memory Work- Deuteronomy 6:4,5 and Hymn 51:1

Grade 3

Both rain and snow gave the children fun during indoor and outdoor recesses this past week. It might be a good idea to let your child bring extra mittens and socks along so that he/she doesn’t go outside with wet things the second recess. We have finished our Church History unit on Church Life with a test, as well as making a card for a member in our own congregation. How beautiful to show love and care for others in this way. The Bible stories about Isaac and Jacob will keep us busy the next couple of weeks. We are nearing the end of our novel study “Stone Fox”. The kids are thoroughly enjoying this story. In Art, we worked on complementary colours. Ask us all about it. We are finishing up our Math unit on subtraction and hope to turn to multiplication next. Congratulations to Camryn and her family with the birth of Lauren Alisha. What a great blessing from the Lord. Next week Friday, we hope to enjoy a pizza lunch from the Ladies Auxiliary. Thank you so much for this delicious treat, ladies; we are looking forward to it. Have a lovely weekend and blessed Sunday.

Memory work: Hy. 20: 1, 4; Text: Ps. 23:1-3

Spelling words: everybody, everything, hidden, are, our

Library books in a plastic bag on Thursday, Mission $ on Friday

Grade 4

We are in the last stretch before Christmas. Count on some tests and quizzes in the next two weeks to finish up units. Please continue to encourage your children to study the map of Canada and familiarize themselves with the capital cities of each province or territory. Students should be practicing their math drill work daily and reading a minimum of 20 minutes as well. 

Spelling Unit 14 Words: chased, moving, scored, laughing, dressed, taking, laughed, coming, used, racing, missed, making, pushed, until

Friday: Geometry Test 4A/B, Spelling Unit 14

Memory work: Psalm 54:1 and John 1: 1-4, next week is Ps. 52:1

Grade 5

Grade 5 has begun the exciting new math topic of division and the students are doing well!  We are wrapping up our gymnastics routines and will be presenting them to the class.  They have shown enthusiasm and creativity and we look forward to seeing their final results.  Devotions for the coming week are as follows: Grade 5A M – Victoria, Tu – MacKenna, W – Kayden, Th – Jackson, F – Katie.  Grade 5B M – Ella, Tu – Chelsea, W – Connor, Th – Mikenna, F – Kingston.  Have a great weekend! RK/KVL

Grade 6

Hello once again from Grade 6.  And Welcome to December.  These past few months have just flown by and Grade 6 has been very busy throughout. We continue to enjoy our novel study on Number the Stars. It is such a beautiful novel and such a wonderful way to make sure that this generation does not forget about what happened during WWII. We do talk about the importance of studying our history so that we can learn from it and so strive to not make or allow the same mistakes/atrocities to happen again.  We see this in our studies in Bible as well.   Noah, the Ark, the Tower of Babel, Abram’s sojourns are all history stories that God tells us for a reason.  The discussions we have in class are beautiful to participate in. Math has us looking at geometric shapes and angles. A nice break from all the multiplication we have been working so hard at. Parents, with the onset of the more winterlike weather, the students often find themselves with wet feet after recess. Might we suggest that your child has a spare pair of socks( and maybe even gloves/mittens) in their backpacks so that they do not have to spend the majority of the day with wet feet inside their indoor shoes? Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday. SO/CV

Grade 7A

With thankfulness we acknowledge our Father’s loving care towards us. Three months ago, we began not knowing how long we would be able to work at JCS or what circumstances would be involved with our daily routine, but yet here we are in the month of November with Gr. 7 life for the most part, “normal”. Next week in Church History we’ll learn about the peasants of the Holy Roman Empire using the Reformation for social and economic reform, and the resulting revolts. In Math we move on from equations and expressions to integers. The Seven Years War has ended and Britain now controls all of North America. Trouble is brewing, the Thirteen colonies are upset with the Ohio River Valley going back to the French and with taxation without representation. Our “Structural Strength and Stability” project will conclude next week with our bridges being tested; of course, we’ll need to report on that testing. The next Unit in Science will be, “Thermal Energy and Heat Technology”. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

In Church History, we looked at the reaction to Martin Luther’s 95 Theses and how the LORD protected Luther from those who wanted to harm him. Next week we will see how Martin Luther breaks from Rome and how he becomes the leader of the Protestant Reformation, as well as how Satan attacks the Reformation using external events and views inside the Reformation itself. In LA, we have ended our short story unit and will now move into public speaking. In History, we have moved through the Seven Years’ War and now will see how Britain deals with their new colony. In Independent Study, students have selected their documentary and will be watching them over the next couple classes. Memory Work: Ps 2:4 and Ps 23:1-4. Have a good weekend!

Grade 8

There is something special about the first real snow fall of the season! Unfortunately, we also live in southern Ontario so, ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ could also be the motto of our winters. Nevertheless it felt like a great way to usher in the last month of 2020 and both students and teachers alike begin to look eagerly ahead to the Christmas Break. In the meantime much work lies ahead of us. In Math, students have now dug into our 4th unit of the year and are busy studying Rational Numbers. In Church History we continue to look into the Reformation in England and how God used all kinds of people, according to his good pleasure, for the furtherance of his kingdom. In History we began to listen to the student’s presentations on their colony of study while in Art students took some time to work with clay. Have a blessed weekend. Cheers, Mr. J & Ms. P.