General News
The purpose of John Calvin School is to assist and support parents in the education of their covenant children to the glory of God. In accomplishing this mission, the vision of John Calvin School is to provide excellent Christ-centered education in service to God and our neighbour.
Hello again school community on this wet and windy Friday, as we bring to a close another week and month (almost) of instruction at John Calvin School. I was reflecting earlier this week how amazing it is that we are just about done ¼ of the calendar year. Tempus fugit! May our Heavenly Father continue to provide the students and staff with all they need as they carry out their respective tasks to the honour and glory of his name. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
May the Lord continue to provide for those in our community who need Him in a special way; be it those who are sick, who are impacted by the virus (cases are still occurring in our community), who are dealing with difficult family situations, or those who are grieving the death of a loved one.
On Monday of next week, we hope to welcome Mrs. Corinne Jonker to the Learning Resource department of the JCS team. She has been hired as a part-time Educational Assistant for the remainder of the school year to work primarily with Grade 1 students alongside Miss Buist, Mrs. VanEs, and Mrs. Boersema. We wish Mrs. Jonker all the best and the Lord’s blessing for her task at John Calvin School.
A few matters for your attention:
*Student Teachers: Week #1 is done for the three student teachers. May the Lord continue to bless them in their practice teaching, and the associate teachers in their task of providing them with ideas, suggestions, and guidance in the craft of teaching covenant children.
*The Spring Food Drive in support of West Lincoln Community Care continues until Friday, April 9. Thanks to all who have contributed so far.
*The Toonies for Anchor fundraiser continues until Thursday, April 1st; no fooling.
*Thanks very much Ladies Auxiliary for the juice and cookies treat that we could enjoy yesterday. It was much appreciated by the students and staff. They also enjoyed the extended recess. 🙂
*An invitation from River’s Edge Haven of Hope: River’s Edge is hosting free family tours during the April break (April 12 – 16) to experience the farm/horses, etc.
*The School Spirit Team is planning a School Spirit Day for Friday, April 9. The theme is Time Warp- The 1980s. On that day, the students and staff get to dress up in the style of the 1980s: clothing, hair, accessories, etc. We will also reflect on special events during that decade, e.g. the 25th anniversary of the school, the retirement of the first principal, Mr. VanderVelde. If parents or grandparents can think of any other significant event that occurred during that decade, please let us know.
*Just in case you missed it last week, we have once again included the Protocol for Class Re-distribution. Class lists will be developed in June from the considerations, criteria, and procedures included in the document. Please add it as an appendix to your copy of the Parent Handbook. FYI, it remains unchanged from the one that was sent last year around this time. The protocol has been reviewed by the education committee and the board.
*Good Friday is on April 2 and Easter Monday is on April 5. We are planning an Easter “assembly” for Thursday morning during morning devotions. The plan is to carry out the assembly via intercom.
*If you are interested in purchasing the CARE (Curriculum Assistance for Reformed Education) resource, Searching for Truth in the Tree of Life which is a resource for high school Science students please click on the following link https://sites.google.com/lcrss.ca/tree-of-life/home
*Book Week is planned for April 19-23. The theme for the week is READ. For the school goal, we are planning to read across Canada (5514 kilometers, 1 book = 1 km). The reading challenge will take place over two weeks (April 19 – 30). Other activities include a book character day and DEAR (drop everything and read). Stay tuned for more information in the weeks leading up to the event.
Enjoy your weekend everyone and have a blessed Sunday. The Lord willing, we’ll touch base again in a week’s time.
G. Hofsink
Classroom News
Kindergarten
The warmer weather this week was enjoyed by the kindergarten students. They loved being able to run around outside without wearing a coat or having to put on snow gear! The students played with chalk outside. Some of the students made a hopscotch with 100 numbers while other students recreated a Magic Treehouse story. Their creativity is endless and such a joy to be able to witness daily! In math, the students were presented with a mission from a giant. The classroom was buzzing with excitement as each student measured his/her footprint and matched it to school items. The giant also left a footprint for the students and there were so many guesses as to who the mystery giant could be. Eventually Mr. Hofsink was discovered to be the giant. Thanks for playing along with us, Mr Hofsink! We will be continuing our measurement unit next week. Have a great weekend. JB/NV
Grade 1
What a treat to have a cookie and juice and an extended recess on Thursday! Thank-you to Ladies’ Auxiliary. We have welcomed Mr. VanGameren as a student teacher in Grade 1A. He will be with us until the end of April. We are continuing to study about the Kings of Israel and Judah in our Bible stories. We will also spend time learning about some of the prophets the LORD sent to speak to his people. We also hope to welcome an additional EA to the Grade 1 classrooms to help students and teachers work through the core subjects in Math and Language Arts.
Memory Work: Hymn 24:3 Text: Psalm 119:105
Spelling Words: zero, one, two, three, four, five
Sight words: Mrs. usually, our, hour, over
Grade 2
What a beautiful week full of glorious sunshine! The students, (and teachers), enjoyed being outside at recess times to soak up some rays. In our Church History classes, we learned about Augustine as he defended God’s word against the lies of Pelagius. We will complete our unit next week by learning about John Calvin’s work as a reformer in Geneva. The students have enjoyed learning about these people in history and have done quite well on the quizzes. In Language Arts, we have been busy with Media Literacy studies. The students learned about safe and unsafe uses of the internet. We also discussed advertisements and their purpose in selling products. We hope to wrap up our Science unit on Solids, Liquids, and Gases with a test on Wednesday. In learning about how some liquids don’t mix with other liquids, we made a lava lamp using coloured water and oil. We added pieces of alka-seltzer tablets to make the liquids move around like a lava lamp. What fun! That’s all for this week! Have a wonderful weekend! BV/RG
Memory work: Psalm 139:1; Text: John 6:35
Spelling: green, float, joke, hurt, clock
Science Quiz -Wednesday
Church History Quiz – Thursday
Grade 3
It’s been a good week in grade three! On Thursday, we were treated to juice and cookies! What a tasty treat! Thanks to the Ladies Auxiliary for this special treat! We are so spoiled here at JCS! In our Bible study, we have completed the unit with a test. Please check your child’s agenda for the results. Math is all about geometry! Ask us about lines, line segments, parallel and intersecting lines, angles…and much more to come! We want to remind you to do your drill for homework and bring it back the next day. This demonstrates responsibility and in this we give glory to God too. Thanks for the Food Drive donations! The bin is getting fuller and fuller! And…thank you for the toonies for Anchor. Grade 3B and Mrs. Poort could welcome Miss T. Tenhage. May God bless your work as you teach His covenant children. J.B./M.P.
WORDS: almost, also, always, impossible
Memory Work: Hymn 33:1,4; Text: Exodus 20: 7-11
Thursday: Library Books in a LIBRARY BAG…please
Friday: Mission $ …thank you for faithfully giving to this important cause.
Grade 4
We are already at the close of March now. Thankfully there have been very few interruptions to learning and we have been forging ahead in fractions. This may be a great time to ask your grade 4 child to help out with baking or cooking in the kitchen so they get some real life experience with fractions. Grade 4A will be completing their powerpoint presentations on their animals and prepping to present them to the class the week before our April break.
Spelling List 27: lesson, presents, blossom, sign, secret, it’s, person, science, biggest, sudden, present, bottom, picnic, that’s, favourite
Tuesday: 4A/4B French Quiz Les Garnitures (#31-44 on the orange sheet) and ER verbs
Friday: Spelling Test Unit 27, Memory work: Hymn 35: 4
Next memory work: Students can start on Matthew 6: 19-21, Hymn 22: 1
Grade 5
We certainly enjoyed the beautiful start to spring this week! Grade 5B is really enjoying having Miss Jongbloed in the classroom. In Bible class next week, we hope to finish off the stories from Unit 5, and there will be a test on that in the following week. We will also be wrapping up our unit on Ancient Egypt in Social Studies. We hope to be able to “mummify” a doll next week Wednesday! We wrote our Chapter 8 Math test today, and next week we will be starting Chapter 9, which is about adding and subtracting fractions. Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday. RK/KV
Devotions: 5A – M. Charlotte, Tu. Tyson, W. Taylor, Th. Chloe
5B – M. Gavin, Tu. Lucas, W. Jenna, Th. McKenna
Grade 6
We were blessed to enjoy a ton of beautiful sunshine this past week, resulting in some outdoor music classes in grade 6B! The students are starting to get the hang of Am, C, and F chord on the ukulele. Once we get those transitions down, we will be able to start playing some songs that we can sing along with. We also finished our brain and neuron models which are now being displayed in the hall. Good work 6B! Grade 6A is improving greatly in French, and showed these improvements on the test they wrote this past week. Nice work 6A! Special thanks goes out to the ladies auxiliary for the delicious treats they provided us with on Thursday! Have a wonderful weekend! CV/AF
Grade 7A
Our Bible History took a different approach this past week as students spent several classes researching the construction of Solomon’s palace and the temple; it was interesting to note that his palace took longer to build than the temple. In Math we’ve learned to get smart with money, create a money plan and understand credit and debt. On Monday two Deacons from our supporting congregations will join us to discuss the work the Lord entrusts to them and how that work involves personal finance. We’ve learned what professionals and experts are in our Independent Study unit. We’ll need to find pros and experts as we will need to interview someone about our topic. With Smaug now dead the way seems wide and clear for the dwarves to claim their treasure and kingdom, seems nothing can stop them now….except themselves. Enjoy your weekend.
Grade 7B
In Bible History, we continue working through our unit on Solomon and his Kingdom of Peace. We have seen the building and dedication of the temple, and we will see next week how sin impacts this kingdom. In Math, we have begun our Financial Literacy unit, using the curriculum from Ramsey Solutions, “Foundations in Personal Finance”. Next week we look forward to speaking to a couple deacons from our local congregations about their office in the Church. In LA, we are into the final stages of “The Hobbit”. In History, we have completed constructing our interactive battle maps and look forward to presentations next week! Have a great weekend!
Grade 8
It was a beautiful and productive week in Gr. 8. The weather was warm and sunny and we could feel our energy increasing and our moods brightening! This week, we also were spoiled by the Ladies Auxiliary with some juice, cookies, and an extended recess on Thursday. On Friday, we wrote two unit tests (Geography and Church History) while in Language Arts we continued to work on our persuasive writing projects. Of special mention this week is that we got to host Mr. Jason Bouwman as he lead Gr. 8 through a canvas painting workshop on the Group of Seven! That project will continue in the coming weeks and we can’t wait to share the results! Cheers, Mr. J & Miss. P
Devotions next week:
8A: KH, JJ, ES, ET
8B: VB KVI JK JL WD
© 2015 Canadian Reformed School Society of Smithville and Surrounding District
