Week 17

What a beautiful week we had in the forest this week!  We are so blessed with such a beautiful space to spend time in God's creation!  

We had so much fun on Monday with our Y5 buddies with all the fresh snow!  

We've been very creative in the snow this week!  

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 and empty Friday folders are due on Monday. We will not have homework next week but reading is always encouraged! ;)

*Please talk with your child about any extra gear hiding in his/her backpack. With 22 students sometimes it's tricky for us to check all backpacks for extra gear. Going over this with your child so that s/he is aware of where all there items are located it super helpful!

*From the Office:

-Christmas Spirit Days

To get in the spirit of Christmas, we have fun, themed days our last week of school before Christmas Break, December 15-19. Here’s what we (along with all HC elementary schools) have planned:

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

-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. 2nd grade lessons are from 1:20-2:20.

-Extra Gear

As you inventory your extra winter/outdoor play gear, we’d be happy to take old items that still have life in them off your hands. We will share those gear items with children who forgot theirs, are underdressed for a change in weather or are in need. Thank you! 

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Bible:  We continue to learn about advent. We're making a craft to remind us about this time of waiting.

During Thursday Praise we've been enjoying singing Christmas songs!  

We had a quiet morning with God today.  

ELA:  We started the week off writing Christmas cards for our JOY trip on Tuesday.

In reading we are enjoying reading a variety of fiction and non-fiction!  

Math:  We've moved into learning about money. Currently we are learning about pennies, nickels, and dimes.

Outdoor Learning:  We had a wonderful JOY trip on Tuesday! It was so much fun to go to downtown Holland and spread Christmas cheer! The kiddos kept saying things like, "He sure smiled!" or "It's fun to make people happy!" each time they passed out a Christmas card. What a blessing!

We're beginning to learn about solids, liquids, and gases.  We put water and nature items into a container and left them overnight...

...and came back the next day to find ice sun catchers!  

We also got to experience snow paint today during Fun Friday!  

Star Student: Sawyer was our Star Student this week. We enjoyed looking at his poster and pictures. We learned that Sawyer is really good at football and wants to be an NFL player when he grows up. You are a special child of God Sawyer and we are thankful you're a part of our classroom family!

Important Dates:  

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

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

*Monday, January 5: School Resumes

*January 5-16: Swimming Lessons at the Holland Aquatic Center (1:20-2:20)

*Tuesday, January 13: Off-Campus trip - VanRaalte Farm (8:15-11:15)

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

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

Have a Fantastic Weekend!