Christmas Break - Dec. 18

God is with us. Emanuel. He sent us a Rescuer. To us. Praising God these words are true. "Because of COVID" may be the new saying of the year. But "God with us" is the truth that brings us true comfort and peace. Forever!  I pray that over this break you may set aside time to read the story in Luke 2. Remember who God is and what He came here to do. God is with us. He is here. 

Tent School International: This class read over 5,977 minutes in 2 weeks. I am not even sure if I have ever read that much on my own! Way to go, 4th graders! Those minutes brought in a total amount of $968.92. WOW. Thank you for your donations and pledges. In this experience, I am reminded how we are blessed to be a blessing. Thank you for being that blessing.

New Student: We have a new joining our class on Monday! Luke Westfall will be joining our 4th grade family. Please pray over Luke and his brother Eli as they make the transition to Rose Park. I am praying they see the love of Jesus through their classmates and feel welcome at RP.

 

 

 

 

 

Week 16 - Dec. 11

We just completed a very productive week!  These kids are becoming masters at long division (just ask them if you need any help!).  They wrote an entire persuasive letter this week - some of you better be ready with your comeback arguments because they've created a pretty strong case for their opinion!  They've learned how to think deeply about the big ideas in their historical fiction books, and almost all the book club groups started their second or third historical fiction book this week!  They have spent time dwelling on God's love that is so evident in this season of advent and the reasons/stories leading up to the need for a Savior.  They've studied the stories of King David - God forgave him for some pretty serious sins, and God will forgive us too!  In fact, he not only forgives us, he saves us from the punishment we should get (here we are back at the Christmas story again - Jesus came to earth to be that Savior!).  And finally, we've explored the geography of our own United States, but also many other countries by looking at their Christmas traditions displayed all through the halls of our school.  It has been a FULL week, and our minds are a bit fuller too as proof of all we've accomplished!

We are also looking at a Bible test on David next week.  Watch for a study sheet to come home soon.

We will have no HOMEWORK next week.

Christmas Celebrations: We'll be celebrating with our class on Friday. We'll enjoy some fun Christmas activities in the classroom, and finish out the day with a Christmas movie and some snacks with the other 4th grade class.  If you are able to help provide any of our store-bought snacks, please follow this link to sign up.  Thanks in advance for your help!  We are also going to encourage the kids to go all out with their wardrobe - all things Christmas!  And that even means if they want to wear some PJs, go for it!  They may also bring ONE comfort item to curl up with while they watch the movie (blanket, pillow, stuffed animal, etc.)

Tent Schools International: On Monday the students will be bringing in their final tallies of reading minutes for the past two weeks.  Watch for an email next week about our totals so you can follow up with the pledges you made for this challenge.  Thank you for supporting this mission!

The Show Must Go On: If you have had a child here at Rose Park for first grade, you likely remember the beauty and excitement of the annual first grade Christmas program as well as the Christmas Blessing experience. If your child is yet looking forward to first grade, they're in for a transformational experience! As with ALL of our learning plans for our students this year, we want to design experiences that are safe and meet the return-to-learn safety measures but also instill just as much, if not more, invigoration and JOY in the learning process. Truth be told, this stretch of creativity has been an exciting endeavor for our staff together! Our first grade Christmas program and blessing experience cannot look like it has in the past with rows of parents and grandparents seated in the gym, but that doesn't have to stop us! Guess what! The Show Must Go On! ....outside in the parking lot! We're moving our risers outside to hold our singing shepherds and angels! A local radio station has graciously agreed to transmit our caroling fleet of angels and shepherds voices right into the listening car radios of parents and grandparents watching from the parking lot! Shoot! This year they might even sing along from inside their car! You are welcome to share the experience and tune into the Christmas joy on December 16 at 9:30 on WHTC. 

 

 

 

Coming to school everyday is such a joy for me!  I truly LOVE these kids.  It seems that they love being here too.  This class is so special to me, and we have a great time together doing the work God has called us to do during our days.  It is looking very probable that we are actually going to make it to the end of 2020 doing full time in-person learning for the first four months of 4th grade (unless you had a personal quarantine, but hopefully you felt like we kept things moving forward for you even during those long days)!  God is so GOOD to us!  We'll pray for the same blessings as we turn the calendar to 2021 in just a few weeks!

Week 15: Dec. 6

Thanking the Lord for Facetime, Zoom, and multiple devices! Because of these items, we can include everyone in a book club discussion.

Thank you for sending in your pledges for Tent Schools International!  The kids should be reading everyday at home to build up our minutes to earn even more money for this worthy cause.  I'll report back during the week of Dec. 14 what our total number of minutes was so that we can calculate our total pledges.

Next week we're excited to spend some time touring the school to view all the Christmas Around the World displays that the other classes put together too.  We're in for a treat!

BIBLE - We're studying King David and admiring his trust and obedience in God, which is resulting in blessings and covenantal promises from God.

MATH - We're practicing long division, and dare I say, actually enjoying it!

SOCIAL STUDIES - We continue to explore the human geography of our country.

READING - We're thriving in our historical fiction unit as we dig deep into the big ideas about WWII that are coming through in the books we're reading.

WRITING - We're enjoy writing persuasive letters about the ideas we have and trying to convince others they are valuable ideas too.

WORD WORK - Two more weeks of word work words until Christmas break!

MATH FACT PRACTICE AND READING MINUTES - Encourage your kids to stay diligent with these!  We'll do two more weeks of it, but then I'll give them time off over Christmas Break. ☺️

Week 14: Nov. 24

HEY...We made it through another week! AT SCHOOL!

 

WE love our new masks. What an amazing gift! Thank you, Donor!

Christmas Around the World:

We're excited to delve into our Christmas Around the World study over the next week!  We will be studying the country of Brazil and their Christmas traditions.  Each class in the school is studying a different country and during December we will have our learning on display for all to learn from.  We're looking forward to this experience!

Christmas Giving:

In the intersection at Rose Park, for the month of December, we will have a display set up representing the work of Tent Schools International. They are formerly known as World Wide Christian Schools. Tent Schools International identifies needs of school-aged children throughout the world and works to set up temporary schools, often in refugee camps, to meet the academic, emotional and spiritual needs of children. What a beautiful example of doing Kingdom work this side of heaven! You can learn a bit about them here .  While touring Rose Park and learning all about Jesus birth celebrated around the world, students will also  learn about the pursuit of Christian education around the world through the eyes of this organization. Do you think we could help collect funds to purchase part of a tent Christian school? We will put a tent frame in the intersection and grow the tent based on the dollars contributed for the school tent purchase. Please read over the note and pledge form that came home today and return it by Tuesday, December 1.  You can either pay for every 30 minutes for all 17 students OR give an upfront donation. Either way thank you for considering. Thank you!

Classroom Christmas Party:

For those of you who like to plan ahead.....this year our classroom Christmas celebration will look a bit different since no visitors are allowed in the building.  I will devote the day to Christmas activities that I do with the students in our classroom.  In the afternoon, we will enjoy watching a Christmas movie together.  (We do not do a gift exchange between the students in 4th grade, so no need to purchase anything for that.)  We would love to have some snacks to enjoy with our movie, being mindful that these need to be individually packaged from the store.  A sign-up genius link will come out sometime in early December for you to sign up to supply something if you wish to do so.

A Special Note To Parents From Our Encore Teachers:

Parents, what a joy it is to enrich your child's learning experiences through art, Spanish, physical education and music! The treats of gratitude your beaming children brought in were simply over the top! How can we adequately thank you for entrusting us with your young one? Please accept our heartfelt thanks. Much gratitude, Amy Luce, Hannah York, Dinah Pereira, Susan VandenBerg, Julie Raak 

Little Maroons Basketball Update

Due to the current safety protocols, our kindergarten through sixth grade Little Maroons basketball programing will be postponed till after Christmas break.  Current registrations will be automatically registered for the new dates.  City of Holland Recreation will also be postponing our 5/6er programing as well, but more specific information will be coming from them as well.  The dates we are planning on at this point for our grade levels are the following: 

K-2: Skill Sessions on 1/9, 1/16 and 1/23.

(10:30-12pm: Girls at Pine Ridge & Boys at High School) 

3-4: Skill Sessions on 1/9, 1/16 and 1/23 & League Play 1/30, 2/6, 2/13 and 2/20. 

(8:30-10am: Girls at Pine Ridge & Boys at High School)

5-6: Skill Sessions on 1/9, 1/16 and 1/23 & City of Holland Dates Coming. 

(12:30-2pm: Girls at Pine Ridge & Boys at High School)

More information about specific safety protocols may be communicated as we get closer to January, but the plan is to continue with our current practice of wearing face masks, 1 spectator per participant, distancing, and washing of hands and equipment.

 

                                Celebrating our writing work with our 4th grade classmates!

 

 

 

Week 13: Nov. 13

On Thursday, we had another great trip to Hemlock Crossing.

We unloaded around 12:30 and headed for the trails. We first stopped at the map and talk about the topography lines on the map. We brainstormed by the river's edge had such steep banks. We reviewed our understanding of erosion and how over time water can cut through and shape a new path.

 

 

We felt the soft stems of a Sumac Tree.

 

We captured a picture of Pigeon Creek and talked about the different water paths that lead into the creek. The students learned about the path of Pigeon Creek and where it flows. As geographers, we study the rivers systems in new places.

We stopped farther down the path and wrote more personification sentences about the nature around us.

"The leaves performed somersaults from the trees."

"The ducks laughed out loud as it floated down the river."

 

 

 

 

We hiked some more and discovered a large meadow. The kids found a spot to read and eat their snack. The sun felt so good.

 

 

 

Clayton and Will found some great treasures along our hike.

 

God is so good. He stays true to His promises. 

We will likely be wrapping up our Bible unit on Saul and David in the next week.  Stay tuned to your child's planner for details about our upcoming test and study sheet for review at home.

We wrapped up two units at school this week.  We finished our character study in reading and the students all made a bookmark to reflect on their reading and their study of a character from a book they read during their independent reading time.  We look forward to starting a Historical Fiction unit next week where we will explore stories that take place during WWII.  We will also complete our math unit on multiplication and take a test before Thanksgiving Break. Next we will delve into a unit on long division!

Thank you for all the goodies. Don't worry, I have been sharing these with others :)

Every day we are in school is a gift!  I love spending my days with these precious children of the King.  Keep praying for health and face to face learning - it truly is a blessing!