Week 16

Welcome back!  I hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving Break!  We were excited to come back together again as a classroom family!  On Monday we decorated our classroom for Christmas - now it's nice and festive!  (Imagine 22 2nd graders spreading Christmas decorations all around ;) ).  

Our forest is a WINTER WONDERLAND! We had so much fun exploring with all the snow!

Announcements & Reminders:

*Please remember to order lunch by 7am on Monday!  Remember you must order in this time frame for the whole week.  If you click on the three lines in the top left corner of the blog, there is a quick link to the lunch form.  

*Homework bags are due back on Monday with a completed reading log and a completed 2-sided phonics page. Please encourage your child to do his/her best and to remember to turn in his/her homework bag on Monday!

*Please take a look at the papers in Friday folders and send the empty folder back on Monday.

*Don't forget about our Gateway Mission Christmas project! Attached to the weekly update email is the letter again.

*From the Office:  

-3rd Annual “And Heaven And Nature Sing” Family Fun

We hope you can join us for a special evening in the Forest with your family from 6:00 - 7:30pm on Friday, December 12! As part of this third annual event for FS K-5 families, the FS Parent Board has planned a special craft, a guided nighttime hike through Luke 2, and Christmas caroling together!

Kindly RSVP for this event by Monday, December 8.

-Child Advocacy Center Presentations

As part of our mission to equip minds and nurture hearts to transform the world for Jesus Christ, HC works to provide students with the knowledge and skills to guard themselves in this fallen world. Part of HC’s commitment to student safety is providing counsel and resources for sexual abuse prevention and intervention from the Children’s Advocacy Center. Please see the CAC informed consent letter for more information. 

If you have any questions about the content of the presentation, we encourage you to reach out to the Children’s Advocacy Center. If you would like your child to not participate in the presentation, please fill out this form at least one week prior to the presentation date. HC will anticipate participation unless they receive a submitted opt-out form.

Our class will participate in this presentation on Friday, December 12th from 10:30-11:15.

-Christmas Lunch Helpers

Please join us in celebrating our  FS teachers and staff during the Christmas season. Several volunteers are needed to provide classroom coverage on 12/10 from 11:30am-12:45pm so that teachers are able to attend the FS Christmas Luncheon together. Please find our sign-up link here.

-Swimming Lessons

Our Holland Aquatic Center is providing swim lessons for us again this year! Because our children are blessed to be raised in Michigan, surrounded by bodies of water, we believe this safety instruction is a blessing that we pray they will never need but feel responsible to equip them. If you find yourself pondering over the “why” of swimming lessons, please take a listen to HC mom Jenny White on the why for swim safety. HCAC Swim School welcome video will help you understand a bit about the logistics. Our 1st-2nd graders will be bused to the pool each day the weeks of January 5-16.

-Christmas Spirit Days (completely optional)

• 12/15 Monday: Christmas headgear (antlers, hats)
• 12/16 Tuesday: Christmas sweater
• 12/17 Wednesday: Red/green day
• 12/18 Thursday: Christmas socks
• 12/19 Friday: Christmas PJs

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Bible:  We learned that advent means "a time of waiting" and as we learn this Christmas season about the birth of our Savior we are enjoying spreading joy around our classroom!

ELA:  In writing we started our week by updating our JOY tree! We used Christmas lights to write what brings us JOY this Christmas season.

In writing we also worked on writing our own books about how to catch a gingerbread man.  These were a lot of fun to write and to share! 

We're also preparing for our JOY trip to downtown Holland next week!  We will be spreading Christmas JOY throughout the community!  

For reading, we've moved back into non-fiction and we're learning all about the different non-fiction text features: table of contents, photos/captions, headings, index/glossary, etc.

Math:  Double digit addition with and without regrouping is a LOT of work! Now we're adding in story problems with double digit addition!

Outdoor Learning:  We've heard there's gingerbread men running around Sassafras Ridge! We read some books about gingerbread men and then worked with a group to create a "trap" to catch one!

On Wednesday, we were shocked to see that THE TRAPS WORKED!  

Gingerbread men were caught!  ;) ;) ;)  The forest erupted with happy shouts and screams of triumph!  Just look at these smiles!  

We learned sledding expectations at Sassafras House and had a lot of fun sledding down into our playscape or into the backyard!

Star Student: Quinn was our Star Student this week! We had fun looking at Quinn's poster and pictures! We learned that she is really good at math and wants to be a hair stylist when she grows up. Quinn, you are a special child of God and we are thankful you're a part of our classroom family!

Important Dates:  

*December 1-10: FS Gateway Missions Children & Womens Ctr. collection

*Wednesday, December 3: Chapel at K-1 FS Cabins

*Tuesday, December 9: Off-Campus JOY trip to downtown Holland (8:15-11:15)

*Wednesday, December 17: Chapel at K-1 FS Cabins

*December 22-January 2: No School - Christmas Break

*Monday, January 5: School Resumes

*Wednesday, January 14: Chapel at K-1 FS Cabins

*Wednesday, January 28: Chapel at K-1 FS Cabins

Have a Wonderful Weekend!