Lenten Season

As we begin this Lenten season of walking toward the cross and the empty tomb to celebrate Christ’s resurrection, let’s ponder for a bit some life lessons Mrs. Throop, our beloved school counselor, has learned throughout her eye surgery recovery during which she must keep her face in a downward position. Here are the top ten lessons God has brought to light in her life recently:

10. My daughter is a natural nurse, anticipating my every need.
9. My son is a natural protector wanting to fight the bubble in my eye.
8. My husband’s love language is Acts of Service.
7. You find out who your Jonathans are.
6. You suddenly enjoy games on the floor again.
5. You appreciate your LOT in life so much.
4. The Bible verse, “I can do all things with Christ who strengthens me,” comes alive.
3. When God tells you to sit down or lie down, you really should listen.
2. Our awesome God has gifted some with the ability to cut in our eyes. Yeah for retina specialists.
1. The Body of Christ is alive and well, serving each other with food and prayer and flowers and love beyond.

Our children miss Mrs. Throop’s loving presence and cannot wait for her to return. We continue to lift her to our Heavenly Father in prayer. Her meditation makes me pause and think, what is God intentionally teaching us, you, me? I encourage you to follow Mrs. Throop’s lead. Carve out some quiet time to listen to God’s Top 10 in your life right now. Keep those lessons, whether they are big or small, close at hand as we together walk toward the cross and the promise of the empty tomb in the next days and weeks.

Little Pilgrim’s Progress: I’ve had several parents ask me for the name of the book we’ve been reading during read aloud after lunch. The book is called Little Pilgrim’s Progress by Helen Taylor. This story is a child’s version of the more popular Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. Both books offer the reader a metaphorical story of a christian’s walk of faith. The main character puts his trust in the good king, strays from the path and needs rescue from the prince. We often pause throughout our reading and link these lessons from the book to our lives. If you would like to read this book with your children at home, please know that I have taken some liberties with pieces and parts of the story that I feel are too much for our children’s age. It would be worth reading on your own to make such adjustments before reading this with your child.

Fun Night: Next Friday, March 14 will be the Fun Night extravaganza (a.k.a. mad house 🙂 Our first grade classes have be asked, if we are willing and able, to donate bags of individually wrapped candy pieces.

Jazzy Jars for Fun Night:  Do you see some small items around your house that you are eager to get rid of?  Maybe someone else would love them!  They might make a great jazzy jar for fun night!  You can fill any size jar with practically anything you can think of.  These always sell fast so we would love to have as many as possible. Please bring jars to the South Side or Pine Ridge office.  You can stop in there too, to see some jars and get inspired!  Thanks for your contributions!

Tulip Time: WHAAAT!?!?! The glorious sun shining may just be God’s way of promising that spring WILL come, eventually. Our first graders will walk in the parade this year. For that, your child will need a dutch costume. If you can beg, borrow or steal one from a friend (don’t tell them I recommended that latter method of acquisition) that would be wonderful. Otherwise, please note that on Tuesday, March 11 there will be a resale of costumes. This is a great opportunity to pick up a costume for a reasonable rate. The sale runs from 5:00-8:00 at the Holland Civic Center. Wear sensible shoes. The lines make Disney look like a walk in the park! I’ll probably see you there, because Brayden’s pants look like short shorts and there’s no more hem to let out! Boy these kids grow fast!

Book Orders: Scholastic book orders are due on March 21st. You can order at http://www.scholastic.com and enter class code: L7WQ4 or send the order form and money to school. Thank you!

Below are photos of the children partaking in our Neighborhood Blessing SPARK project. We put together little hot chocolate care packages along with our memory verse from February (It was a tall oder convincing this happy bunch to keep their coats on! They were loving the sunshine and puddles!) May you and yours have a blessed weekend together!

100+ Days!

It’s hard to believe that even with all of these snow days we’ve been in school for 100+ days. Last Monday (February 17th) we celebrated the 100th Day of School! It was a special day of celebrating the work that it has taken to get 100 days smarter! We read a poem with 100 words, read a story about the 100th day of school, each of us ate 100 pieces of our 100th day trail mix and then we spread 100 blessings throughout South Side.

Notes were written to past teachers, friends, siblings, staff and the list could continue. This tied in so nicely with Rachel’s Challenge of creating a “chain reaction of kindness”. I encouraged the kids to take the blessings outside of South SIde and find people in the community who can be blessed through a simple action of holding the door open or a delivery of a warm meal. We are doing this through our SPARK project this month as well. We will deliver a package of hot chocolate that includes our February memory verse to our South Side neighbors. Join us in prayer for the houses that will receive these packages. Pray that they will feel God’s love!

Here are some pictures of our 100th day celebration.

Delivering our 100 blessings throughout South Side. How sweet!

Celebrating with 100th Day Crowns!

 
Enjoying our 100th Day trail mix!

Here are a few things to take note of for the upcoming weeks.

March is Reading Month:
1. SS Reading Carnival will be Wednesday April, 2. We are looking for about 15 parent volunteers to help from 8:15-10:30. Please let us know if you’re able and willing to help that day.
2. Reading in Tents: Our class will be reading in tents on Monday, March 3d to celebrate March is reading month. You can help out by having your child grab their favorite picture and/or chapter books. If your child would like to bring their favorite stuff animal to read with, they may do so as well. We will spend about 30 minutes on Monday morning curling up with some fun books! Thank you for your help with this.

Fun Night Candy: Family Fun NIght is coming up! Each grade level is being asked to bring the following items. If you wouldn’t mind grabbing a bag of candy and sending it our way, we’d greatly appreciate it!

3′s preschool:  smarties

4′s preschool:  bag of individually wrapped pieces of candy

Y5′s:  Dum Dum suckers

K & 1st grade:  bag of individually wrapped pieces of candy

Mrs. Hunderman:  starburst candy

Mrs. Ritsema:  tootsie rolls

Discovery Assessment: We will begin our Discovery assessments next week Thursday with reading and math will take place the following week. As a reminder, this is just a quick snapshot into who the learner is as a whole. You can support  your child by encouraging hard work and their best efforts! 🙂

Book Orders: Scholastic book orders went home in your child’s Friday Folder today. You may order online at scholastic.com and enter code L7WQ4 or you can send the order form along with a check back to school before March 21st.

Upcoming Dates:

March 14th- Field trip to VanRaalte Farm

March 24- We will head to Appldorn to bless the visually impaired with songs of praise.
March 21- Book orders due

Accepting Rachel’s Challenge

Thank you so much for the generous birthday gift last week Friday. I’m so often struck with how this little community of learners which God has assembled in room 15 becomes a family. Truly, I love these kids and how fun to see their faces light up with excitement while delivering their birthday surprise. Thank you for helping celebrate my birthday. I appreciate each of you for your support and for sharing your child with us every day.

Rachel’s Challenge: Your child may have come home this week talking about a special assembly he/she experienced with the big kids at Pine Ridge. Together, the children of our two schools were taught about life lessons through the eyes of another child named Rachel Scott. Rachel had learned at a young age that she could show love to others and that by passing along kindness to others, she would be able to begin a potentially giant chain of kindness within her community. Please talk with your child about the fact that our hands can be God’s tools to show kindness and share His love with His children. Our mouths can be God’s tool to speak kindness and compassionately into the hearts of others, just as Jesus did. We prayed over these tools, that we might be used by God to also begin a chain of kindness right where we are, just as Rachel was able to do.

Mrs. Throop: Our school counselor, Mrs. Throop, has again undergone surgery on her eye. In her absence, Mrs. Patti Mulder, from Christ Memorial, will be meeting with our children who typically meet with Mrs. Throop. Please feel free to contact me if you’d rather your child wait until Mrs. Throop returns rather than meet with Mrs. Mulder.

Skating Party: Our parent team is putting on a South Side/Pine Ridge skating party on Tuesday, February 25 from 6:00-8:00. Hope to see many of you there!

SPARK Project: This month, our class will be sharing a neighborhood blessing to the residence living close by. We will illustrate our memory work passage and deliver these along with a warm treat to the mailboxes of the neighbors close by South Side. We trust this will be a welcome day brightener during these cold wintery days.

School is IN Session: Please take note that, in order to capture some of our lost learning time due to the wintery crazies we’ve been living through, we will have a regular school day on Friday, March 7th. Thank you for being flexible.

Family Fun NIght: Our South Side/Pine Ridge Fun Night will occur on March 14th. The funds raised from this event are put toward our children’s field trips, special speakers and other enrichment events. If you are able and willing to volunteer for part of the evening, please email Mrs. Baker at dabaker@hollandchristian.org

Enjoy the rest of your snowy weekend!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

What an honor and blessing it is to LOVE your child each day! Thank you for sharing them with us! There has been so much LOVE and joy being spread this week at South Side. As we’ve talked about LOVE we’ve talked about God’s LOVE toward us and showing His LOVE toward others. There is great joy in this! What a privilege it is to teach the kids about God’s LOVE.

With that…the kids have something to say to you:

Now down to business. Please take note the of the following items:

Rachel’s Challenge: During chapel on Wednesday, the kids learned about a special young women named Rachel, who worked to make her community  a better place. The focus of the chapel was on using our hands to bless others around us and standing up to those who may be bullying while being intentional to help people who are left out. We’ve taken her message back into the classroom as we discuss what does it mean to give respect and show kindness to others around us. Students will head to Pine Ridge on Thursday, February 20th to continue learning about this challenge.

Rachel’s Legacy: A Follow Up Event on February 20, 7PM: Parents, HCMS and HCHS students (appropriate for 6th-12th only, please), relatives, friends, and community members are all invited to a special evening program following up on the Rachel’s Challenge Programs coming to all Holland Christian students K-12 on February 19 and 20. Rachel’s Legacy builds on Rachel’s Challenge by exploring the legacy that Rachel left in the lives of people around her. Through a series of stories told from the perspective of those who Rachel touched, Rachel’s Legacy encourages participants to take specific steps toward making their positive legacy a reality. All who attend will realize that they are not defined by the labels that they or others have placed upon them, by their current circumstances, nor things that happened to them in the past. Listeners grant forgiveness to themselves and others so that they are free to start their legacy anew. Participants learn that by applying the five challenges that will be shared that they can begin their own positive legacy today. You will not want to miss this very special follow up to Rachel’s Challenge for our Holland Christian community.

Monday, February 17th- Just a reminder that school will be in session on Monday, February 17th to make up for  snow days.

Come Meet the Meester Family: Our Holland Christian community is excited to welcome Mr. Dan Meester, our next superintendent, and his family to Holland, Michigan for a visit this weekend. To help introduce him, his wife Betsy and their two children, Juliana (8) and Thijs (4), we would like to invite all early elementary families to a family-fun sledding event. If you are willing and able and you have an early elementary child at Holland Christian, you are invited to the VanRaalte sledding hill on Saturday, February 15 from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. Come when you can, stay as long as you are able. The more the merrier to welcome Mr. Meester and his family to our Holland Christian community. Please talk to Mrs. Rynsburger with questions.

Happy Valentine’s Day! May you experience the LOVE of Christ today and everyday!!

Blessings!

Thank you, Mrs. Klingenberg for coming in to read us a story and making an awesome craft with us! We LOVE you!

  

Winter Wonderland

We finally completed five full days of learning in our classroom! What a joy to have our children routinely engaged and building new knowledge and experiences together. On days that it has been warm enough to venture outside, it’s so good to see our bundled-up children enjoying their play in the ever-growing piles of snow on the playground.  It’s not uncommon to see just a couple of boots sticking out of a hole as the owner is far below digging out a new igloo. At recess time, Amanda and I can literally break a sweat trying to quickly get together all the zippers, tuck the mittens into the sleeves so we don’t get cold wrists and make sure that boots are on the right feet. Suddenly the frenzy is over and the empty hallway is quiet. It’s fun to watch them play for a few minutes while cooling off at the door 🙂

All of this beautiful, white snow is God’s poignant reminder of his pure love for us. What was once covered in sin is now as white as freshly fallen snow. It makes me happy to see our children diving head first into this fluffy, new-fallen love from above.

Hearing and Vision Testing: On Monday, our children’s hearing and vision will be tested at school. No news is good news. If there are any concerns, you’ll be contacted Monday afternoon.

Rachel’s Challenge:  Rachel Scott was the first victim in the Columbine school tragedyin 1999 and now her tragic story is positively motivating millions of people around the world. The dream of this 17-year-old girl to start a chain-reaction of kindness is now coming to Holland! Rachel’s Challenge will be making AGE APPROPRIATE presentations to students and staff at the High School (10AM) and for the Middle School (noon) on February 19, and to Rose Park (K-6) and South Side/Pine Ridge (K-6) on February 20 at 8:30 and 12:45 respectively.

Rachel’s Legacy: A Follow Up Event on February 20, 7PM: Parents, HCMS and HCHS students (appropriate for 6th-12th only, please), relatives, friends, and community members are all invited to a special evening program following up on the Rachel’s Challenge Programs coming to all Holland Christian students K-12 on February 19 and 20. Rachel’s Legacy builds on Rachel’s Challenge by exploring the legacy that Rachel left in the lives of people around her. Through a series of stories told from the perspective of those who Rachel touched, Rachel’s Legacy encourages participants to take specific steps toward making their positive legacy a reality. All who attend will realize that they are not defined by the labels that they or others have placed upon them, by their current circumstances, nor things that happened to them in the past. Listeners grant forgiveness to themselves and others so that they are free to start their legacy anew. Participants learn that by applying the five challenges that will be shared that they can begin their own positive legacy today. You will not want to miss this very special follow up to Rachel’s Challenge for our Holland Christian community.

Please take note that, due to the number of snow days we have experienced this year, school will be IN SESSION on Monday, February 17. Thank you!

Mrs. Becksvoort was our story reader today. Thank you for sharing your love of stories and reading with us Mrs. Becksvoort!

Here we are sharing our stories with our partners.

And a whole lotta wacky up in here!

Snow, snow and more snow.

We survived the longest snow day “vacation” of a lifetime! You earn a prize. Now that brains are back to work, TV’s and iPads are turned off, the shovels and plows have retired, it’s time for the weekend (and 10 more inches of snow). Yes, you read that correctly, 10 more inches of snow on Saturday.

In attempt to find humor in all of this crazy weather, here is my best attempt at some stand up comedy.

The Baptist’s must really know how pray…I think God heard and provided!

No for real…whoever is praying for snow, please stop!

Not me! 🙂

Clearly God’s love to deeper than the snow that First Reformed of Portage was facing. But as we look outside and marvel at the depths of the snow, may it be a reminder that God’s love runs deeper than the 20 foot snow mound in the Target parking lot. May this snow be a reminder of His Beauty.

With a short week, we have a short list of “reminders”. There are just a few things to take note of:

Car Pool Lane: Our plow drivers have been working diligently to clear South Side’s parking lots and driveways. If you park in front of school for your child’s drop off or pick up, please help us be considerate neighbors by leaving the sidewalk free of cars the best you can. Thank you for allowing our winter-walking neighbors their necessary walkway.

Bag Books: With weather that is keeping us indoors, a great way to spend some of that “down time” is reading a  book! Thank you for being diligent with keeping up with our Bag Book program. We encourage each student to read at least one book per week. If it’s been awhile since you’ve sent the bag book back to school please send it my way and we will make sure a new book is sent home!

Spelling Words: Finally! A new list of spelling words! Lesson 11’s test will be given on Friday, February 7th. The new list of words went home in today’s Friday Folder.

Valentine’s Day: To celebrate Valentine’s Day, student are welcome to bring their favorite Valentine’s card on Friday, February 14th. You may sit down with your child and address the cards to their classmates (a list of names will be sent home closer to the date). It will be a special day of celebrating the love that Christ gives us!

Wacky Wednesday:  Our last Wacky Wednesday is upon us. Next week will be Crazy Hair Day!

Safe warm and safe this weekend. And we’ll see you ready for a 5 day week next week!

Frozen

Have you heard? Frozen 2 has come out…and we’re all the leading characters (OK…I’ll keep my day job). It certainly has been chilly. I hope you have been able to stay warm throughout this icy blast. The Holland Rescue Mission reports hosting more folks in need of warm beds and blankets than they’ve experienced in quite a long while. While it may seem trivial, offering children some store-purchased Valentine Cards to pass out to classmates is a tangible way to offer a ray of happiness in the midst of a trying time. Thank you to those who have been able to bring in a box or two of cards. If you’re out and about, please keep these children in mind and perhaps toss a $2 box in the basket. Thank you. We will continue to talk with the children about how their offering will reach other children who God loves dearly, and He has asked us to help as they are in a time of need.

We Have Our Josh!-Josh was able to join our class and meet his new friends on Tuesday. He’s a wonderfully kind, respectful, fun-loving boy who is already forming friendships and establishing his school-home at South Side. Thank you to those who were able to (and healthy enough…sorry to our friends who have been sick 😦 meet with Josh, his sister Hannah and his mom Alicia at VanRaalte Hill. I’m very happy to report that a good time was had by all and we didn’t even have to call 9-1-1! *Phew*

Wacky Wednesday-WOW! I think I felt a little dizzy by the end of the day on Wednesday with all of the mismatchedness in our class 🙂 Next Wednesday is pajama day. Your child may bring along a cuddly little toy if he/she would like.

Report Cards-Today is the Day!!! I’m copying an instructional message from Dan Vos here:

Report Cards Available Today Online!

We are excited to inform you that your child’s report card is now available for your viewing! You may access your child’s electronic report card at http://ps.hollandchristian.org.  A video tutorial offering specific instructions can be found at http://bit.ly/19TqvjU.

The purpose of the report card is to communicate and celebrate your child’s academic, social and spiritual growth to both you the parents and your child.

Report card standards are marked on a scale of Beginning, Progressing, Proficient.  In K-2 it will be marked visually with a dot, and in 3-5th it will be marked with a number.  Teacher comments are placed under each subject heading. Please keep in mind the skills listed are what your child is expected to accomplish by the end of this academic year.  Therefore, in many areas at this point in the school year, you can expect to see that your child is assessed as Progressing in growth. If your child has mastered the concepts and skills expected, please be assured that we will work diligently to take them to the next level of learning, establishing deeper understanding.

Reminder of  “Connection Nights.” If you are experiencing trouble viewing your child’s report card or logging into PowerSchool, we would be happy to assist you. Please bring in your personal device and we will help you get connected to your child’s electronic report card. We will be at South Side on January 27 from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. in the staff lounge and at Rose Park on January 30 from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. in the library.  Drop in where and when it is convenient.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact Dan Vos (dvos@hollandchristian.org) or your building principal.  Thanks for your continued support.

South Side Playscape-Take heart. Spring will eventually make a showing! When it does, we are excited to add a natural playscape on our South Side playground. In order to make this dream a reality, we need a strong parent work team. If you are strong and willing to work, please stop by South Side on Monday, January 27 at 6:30 to sign up for a work team. Thank you to our many parents and families who support us in so many ways. Your help, prayers and support make South Side a top-notch school for children to learn and grow!

We had a wonderful turn out of interested parents in our South Side Discovery Night. Thank you for talking, praying and sharing stories if you’ve had the opportunity. South Side is a wonderfully warm, enriching place for children to learn, grow and love. It’s good to see these newest tiny tots of our family exploring Holland Christian. Please continue to pray as these families are making a big decision in searching for a just-right fit school to partner with in their child’s education. May I also say, even though we, as parents, are already years into the decision, thank YOU for choosing Holland Christian. To partner with you in loving, teaching and growing you child toward God and His marvelous world is a true honor. We pray each day for your precious children.

Winter Wonderland

Don’t you kind of feel like you’re living in a snow globe? I know I do. Although winter  isn’t my favorite of seasons, I have found myself thankful for this season knowing the hope and promise of spring that lies ahead. No matter how long winter seems to drag on, I always know that spring is bound to come. That’s true in life, isn’t it? Whenever we are going through a season of trial, we cling to the hope and promise of God’s Word, knowing that there is a season of hope soon to come. It may not be in our timing, but God is faithful and His promises hold true through each and every season of life.

While the snowflakes fall, we continue to work hard here in the piggy room. Grab a cup of coffee, a pencil and a piece of paper. Here are some important things to take note of for the upcoming week. Thank you for taking the time to stay “on top” of everything!

Quarter 2 Report Cards- The new electronic report card is coming January 24 after 3:00 p.m. and can be accessed at http://ps.hollandchristian.org. To ensure you are able to access your child’s report card, please create an account at the aforementioned address, if you haven’t already done so, and link that account to your child. A video has been created that explains the process of logging in http://youtu.be/WvSkX5O5OHY.

If you prefer a face-to-face tutorial to learn how to connect, we will be offering “Connection Nights” – January 27 from 7:00-8:00 p.m. at South Side and January 30 from 7:00-8:00 p.m. at Rose Park. Bring your personal device to learn how to get connected and view your child’s report card.

If you have any questions or suggestions about the report card, please contact Dan Vos (dvos@hollandchristian.org) or your building principal. Thank you for your continued support.

Each One Reach One-Last week we sent home a Each One Reach One postcard. Last year when we started this initiative we saw a wonderful boost in enrollment, well beyond our projected numbers. By one family telling their story to another family, we can spread the word of all the academic, social, and best of all, spiritual growth that happens at Holland Christian. If you know a family who is debating where to send their child for preschool, kindergarten or is considering Holland Christian, please reach out to them with this postcard. You never know what God can do with a little seed planted by one conversation.

Playscape Update: We are excited to offer our South Side children a new play option on our playground this spring! We will be installing a natural playscape for our children to create, imagine, play and recreate during recess times. Mrs. Rynsburger will be offering more details at a parent information night on Monday, January 27 at 6:30. Please come to the media center and you may sign up to join the 1-day construction day team. You may also access southsideplayscape.wordpress.com for more details.

Sledding Party-  We’ve heard many rumblings this week about the sledding party this Saturday (Jan. 18)! Our goal is to help welcome our new student, Josh, to South Side through snow boots, sleds, slipping and sliding! We will meet at VanRaalte Hill hill from 2:30-4:00. It’s best to access the hill from the 24th street entrance to VanRaalte Park. If you’re not able to make it, no worries! Josh will start at South Side on Tuesday. Be sure to give him and his family a big warm, South Side welcome!

SPARK project– We have started to collect Valentine’s cards for our SPARK project. This week we talked about how kids who are part of Holland Rescue Mission may not be able to purchase Valentine’s cards to take to school. We discussed how our simple act of love can help those kids feel God’s love and in return spread love to their classmates. While you’re out and about, would you mind grabbing a box or two of Valentine’s and bring them to school on or before January 31st.

Wacky Wednesdays-The ever popular Wacky Wednesdays are in full force.Please take note of the following events:
1/22-Mismatch Day
1/29-PJ Day
2/5-Wacky Hair Day

Scholastic Book Orders- If you’d like to order online you can go to http://www.scholastic.com and enter code: L7WQ4 or you can send a check or cash to school (the old fashion way!). Book orders are due on January 31st.

New Spelling Lists: We are going to take one more week to review spelling words from the first semester. Next week we will take previously learned words and learn how to construct a sentence with them . We’re going to focus on proper use of capital letters, periods, and sentence structure. This would be a great thing to do at home as well. Our next spelling test will be January 31st.

Special Visitor: Friday afternoon we were treated to a visit by Deputy Tim, Ava’s big brother. Our children were so curious about how he helps people and God helps to keep him calm in some difficult settings. We thank God for Deputy Tim and all who keep us safe!

If you made it to the end, you win some sort of price. How about an extra long weekend? Enjoy having Monday off!

Blessings!

We sure have been enjoying the winter fun this week!

 

Happy New Year!!!

Welcome back, everyone! It was SO good to see all of our little firsties back again. It’s amazing how much they change and grow over 20 days. From hair cuts to missing teeth that we didn’t even know were loose, many appeared a little bit taller and everyone was full of eager new stories. It’s wonderful to be back to our structure and routine to create good quality learning and growth.

Each One Reach One-You will find a HC postcard in your child’s Friday folder today. This postcard is given to each family with the hope that “each one will reach one”. We had a wonderful boost in enrollment, well beyond our projected numbers, last year. By one family telling their story to another family, we can spread the word of all the academic, social, and best of all, spiritual growth that happens at Holland Christian. If you know a family who is debating where to send their child for preschool, kindergarten or is considering Holland Christian, please reach out to them with this postcard. You never know what God can do with a little seed planted by one conversation.

Our New Friend-The date is coming closer when we welcome our new friend to our class. Josh Bruxvoort will join us at South Side on Tuesday, January 21st. For any and all who can make it, we’re going to have a class sledding party at VanRaalte Hill on Saturday, January 18. Perhaps, when racing his new friends down the hill or flying over a jump, he’ll feel more at ease about the idea of starting with us on Tuesday. In the meantime, please remember to pray for the Bruxvoorts as they walk with God through this transition in life.

SPARK project-Our SPARK project for the month on January is very dear to me. We might take for granted the simple Valentine cards and treats our children pass out to each other next month. For many families, this simple token is a luxury they are not able to budget for or offer their child for other reasons. When children right here in Holland pour over  Valentine cards from friends, some will be missing or hand written on construction paper found at school. From now until the end of the month, we will collect boxes of store-boughten, fancy shmancy Valentine cards that students from the Holland Rescue Mission can pass out to their friends at school and feel just as included as everybody else. So, when you’re out and about, please toss a simple box or two into the grocery cart for our collection at school. I will deliver our card sets to the children on Friday, January 31st. Please take this opportunity to try to help your child understand how this simple gesture will brighten the week for children who need to feel love, not from a card, but from God’s love flowing through us to these children. Thank you!

Wacky Wednesdays-The ever popular Wacky Wednesdays are nearly upon us! Please take note of the following events:

1/15-Hat Day

1/22-Miss Match Day

1/29-PJ Day

2/5-Wacky Hair Day

Please let your child get as wacky as he/she would like, or as mild as he/she is comfortable. These days come with no pressure. Just the parent teams gesture to spark up the long days of winter. Thank you to our parent team for organizing these fun events!

Our New Playscape-South Side has been granted approval to include a natural playscape in one quadrant of our playground for our children to enjoy exploring, creating, playing and imagining. Research is clear that there are academic, social, behavioral, and physical benefits for children who play creatively in a natural setting in addition to our constructed playground. For more details, please refer to this blog southsideplayscape.wordpress.org. To pull this off, we need teams of willing parent helpers for one day in the spring to help construct this playscape. You are invited to attend an informative meeting regarding this project on Monday, January 27 from 6:30-7:00!

Reading Minutes-Your child should have taken home a blue reading minute paper again. Please return 1/4 of the paper each Monday morning throughout this month if she/he completes 15 minutes of reading for 6 days each week.

No School-please note that we have no school on Monday, January 20.

Scholastic Book Orders- Book orders went home in your child’s Friday Folder. If you’d like to order online you can go to http://www.scholastic.com and enter code: L7WQ4 or you can send a check or cash to school (the old fashion way!). Book orders are due on January 31st.

Wow! That was a lot of information. I apologize if I’ve overwhelmed you on the weekend. Enjoy your time together and may you each experience a blessed Lord’s Day!

Now enjoy some pictures from our fort building today. Watch for the precious handwritten story to come home giving all the details!

 

 

Merry CHRISTmas!!

What a joyous time of year to be a teacher! There is nothing greater than seeing child like faith in action. Last week we collected money for World Renew. It was simply amazing to see a community of learners come together to bless others who don’t have access to basic needs. The students gained a greater sense of what it means to help others. Our class alone  was able to purchase a water filter, one calf and a beehive. Thank you for your support and making a difference!

We had another opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others  when we headed to Maple Woods nursing home. The halls were filled with echoes of “Go Tell it on the Mountain” and “Silent Night”. The residents were in tears of  joy that your child brought to them. It didn’t cost any money to make a difference, just a little time and a lot of love. We were all blessed by our visit!

There are only a few things to keep in mind as we approach the new year.

• We will not have a spelling test the week we return from Christmas break. Our next spelling test will be the week of January 13th.
• January’s reading incentive will be sent home on the Monday we return from Christmas break.
• It has been brought to our attention that some of the Holland Christian emails have been going to SPAM folders. Would you check to ensure that you’re receiving all HC emails?

May you take the time to slow down and reflect on the birth of our Savior. Enjoy Christmas break with your little one at home. Play in the snow (or mud puddles), read books together, build forts and create memories. Thank you for all of your support you’ve shown this fall. We are daily thankful that we are  on this educational journey together!

We wish you a VERY Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

See you in 2014!! 🙂