General News
“Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” Eph 6:11
This past week was anything but ordinary! We enjoyed a full week of school, but the rich, comforting aromas of soup greens were wafting through the school, adding a unique scent to the tail end of the week!
We also held a special Reformation Day assembly where Mr. Witten shared the history behind the Heidelberg Catechism by reading through a neat little book about the catechism’s writers. Looking ahead, you’ll see a definite sign that the colder months are here: skating is on the schedule! We want to extend our thanks to Fall Fest for raising the necessary dollars to help fund this exciting extra activity.
The upcoming week also brings several special days for our staff. On Monday, we celebrate Miss Oosterhoff’s birthday. Following that, on Thursday, it’s Mr. Joosse’s birthday, who already received an early present in the form of a buck! Finally, we’ll celebrate Mr. Reinink’s birthday on Friday.
Wishing you all a blessed week!
JVI
Calendar
Monday – Miss Oosterhoff’s birthday, Picture Retake Day, Tripleball practice
Tuesday – Early Years Morning
Wednesday – Skating gr 2@12:15, gr 3 @1:15
Thursday – Mr. Joosse’s birthday, Tripleball practice
Friday – Mr. Reinink’s birthday
Classroom News
Kindergarten
October flew by! We started learning about our letters this week. We spent time on letters “m” and “a”, the children did a good job printing their letters and learning the sound they make. On Wednesday, Miss Bee invited us to sing with Grade 3 in the afternoon. Everyone had fun singing some new songs. We wrapped up our Five Senses unit with a fun pumpkin exploration using all our senses! Our next unit will be about weather and the seasons. In Bible, we continue to learn about Jacob and God’s plan for him. As you may have seen on the November calendar, Kindergarten will be going skating on Nov. 12 from 12:15-1:15 at the Smithville arena. Let us know if you’d like to join us, we appreciate lots of help to tie laces. That’s it for now, we hope you have a wonderful weekend! MV/DV
Grade 1
It has been another wonderful week in Grade 1! We were excited to welcome Miss VanIperen, our student teacher, into the classrooms. She will be with Grade 1A on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and will spend Thursdays learning in Grade 1B for the next few weeks.
In Bible, we completed our stories about Joseph and could marvel together at God’s preserving care throughout his life. In Church History, we will begin a new unit about church life and what it means to be a member of the church. We’re looking forward to touring the Smithville church building next Friday, where Rev. denHollander will be our guide.
In Math, we have started working on addition and subtraction, and in language arts, the students are learning new reading words quickly! Please continue to send the word rings back and forth each day—your support at home makes such a big difference in your child’s progress.
In science, we’ve been learning about the physical characteristics of living things, and have taken time to stand in awe of how wonderfully God designed each part of His Creation to fit together.
Grade 2
This week in Grade 2 we continued with Bible stories about Jesus. The students enjoyed hearing about Jesus feeding the 5,000 and Jesus walking on water. In Math we have started a new unit on shapes and have learned some big math words: quadrilaterals and parallelograms! In Science we have been working at the new unit learning about simple machines and movement. With November starting we are looking forward to some fun book month activities coming up! And, as the skating schedule starts we look forward to SKATING ON WEDNESDAY . ~ Any help is appreciated! This is a great month to practice reading at home too. The weather has started to change as well, please remember to pack your child’s backpack accordingly. Have a great weekend and a blessed Sunday!
Grade 3
Grade 3B welcomed Miss Vanleeuwen into our classroom and we have been enjoying our time together so far! We get to enjoy her for another 2 weeks yet! It has been a great week, as we wrap up the month of October. November will bring its own excitement, as we look forward to many fun activities for Book Month. We also get the opportunity to go skating next week, Wednesday, November 5. We skate from 1:15 – 2:15. Students should bring skates and a helmet. We’d love to have some parents help us tie skates and join us on the ice!
Memory Work: Psalm 34: 3; Text: Genesis 15: 5, 6
See the agenda for 3A’s spelling words: no spelling this week for 3B.
Grade 4
After a couple short weeks it has been good to be back in the class. Here is an update on some of the things we are learning about: We have begun a Social Studies unit study about Canada. Students will be expected to learn the provinces/territories and the capitals. In French we have reviewed numbers, dates, and weather patterns. We are currently focusing on Ma Famille. In Math, we are learning strategies of how to subtract. We have been reminded of carrying and borrowing. In Phys. Ed. we have enjoyed some soccer activities but will be switching gears to throwing and catching techniques with a lead up to volleyball. In Bible we are learning about King David and the struggles he has had with his family after his sin with Bathsheba. On Friday, November 7, Mr. Reinink celebrates his birthday. Those in Grade 4B can look forward to birthday celebrations Friday afternoon. Next week marks the beginning of ‘Reading Month’. This should be a lot of fun. It would be great to see the students participate in this fun school wide event. We have library each week and students are welcome to take out three books if they return the books they took out the week before. Students efforts of returning these books have been lack luster at best. Please remind your child to return their books. Thank you!
Grade 5
Both classes have been working hard on our social studies projects this week! We are almost done, and we are getting ready to present them to our classes early next week. After that, we will move to science, where we will learn about properties of and changes in matter. 5A will be having a French quiz on Tuesday. 5B will be having a mid-unit 2 test for Bible on Friday. Study hard so we can continue doing everything to the best of our ability and to the glory of God! Please remember to continue practicing the spelling words so that we can spell them accurately. We look forward to the beginning of Reading Month and all that it will bring with it next week!
Devotions for next week are as follows: 5A – Avery (M), Lily (Tu), Leah (W), Megan (Th), Jasper (F); and for 5B – Sawyer (M), Shawn (Tu), Shepherd (W), Taryn (Th), Elias (F).
Have a wonderful weekend! CDV/KV
Grade 6
With our first full week in what feels like forever, we could finally get back to a more regular routine in Grade 6. In Language Arts, we started the novel Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. This historical fiction novel is set in WWII, which will allow the students to gain knowledge about that time period, as well as learn about what life was like as a child their age during that time. We have also begun new units in Bible History, studying Creation, and in Social Studies, studying Canada and its trading partners – a hot button item in current events. This week, students began the annual grade 6 bird project. They have chosen the bird they would like to study and have begun research. This is a project that we aim to complete only during school time, and we will use our keyboarding time to research and complete the work. Have a blessed weekend and enjoy the remainder of Reformation Day! CVA MJ BK
6A Devotion Schedule: Trenton, Ezra, Oliver, Taurie
6B Devotion Schedule: Eli, Adele, Oliver, Emmaline
Grade 7A
Some highlights of the past week were the hike at Short Hills Provincial Park in connection with our geography study of topographic maps and landforms, as well as our tour of Turkstra Lumber relating to our science study of structural strength and stability. In physical education we are going to begin practicing our volleyball skills; bump, set, return! Our unit ending project has begun in science as groups will design, construct and test stir stick bridges using the terms and skills learned during our, “Structural Strength and Stability” unit. Enjoy your weekend.
Grade 7B
We are grateful for the opportunity we had this past week to go for a walk at Short Hills Provincial Park! The weather could not have been more perfect. Thanks to those who came with us as chaperones. We also visited Turkstra Lumber to see the construction of roof trusses and floor joists in connection to the Science unit. We hope to switch from Bible stories to Church History lessons, beginning with God’s work of Reformation through Martin Luther. In the coming week we plan to learn more about numerical expressions and equations. We will begin another French vocab list and learn to conjugate ER verbs. Have an enjoyable weekend! RK
Grade 8
As we come to the end of another week, we can finish the week with the wonderful comfort of Reformation Day. Thank you to Mr. Witten for leading the assembly where we could be educated on the purpose and wonderful comfort of the Heidelberg Catechism. Our student teachers have spent their first week observing and teaching classes and we look forward to more teaching from them in the coming weeks. A big thank you to all those who helped with our Soup Veggie Fundraiser. It went very efficiently. We do have extra veggie packs for sale, so if you know anyone who is in need of more packages, please let us know! As far as next week goes, it looks to be regular scheduled programming, which will be nice after a busy week of extra curricular activities. Have a great weekend and go Jays go! TB/RT/CL/MVI