Precious Children

"I have told you these things so that you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33. 

Tonight the media is saturated with the inconceivably tragic events that took place today in Connecticut. In response, we turn our tear-streaked face to our Father in Heaven and cover these families and victims with our prayers and pleas for comfort.

Your children were not made aware of the events today. If you talk together this weekend about this tragedy, please reassure them that God's love is much bigger than any single person. While we do have trouble in this world, Jesus was born into this imperfect world to overcome sin. We can choose to trust in our loving Father in heaven. Secondly, Mr. Brandsen's priority is to keep South Side a safe place to learn. We have plans, and have practiced these plans, to keep our children out of harm's way. Finally, you can please remind your child that I love him or her so dearly. I promise to do all I can to keep each of them safe.

I have been asked to spend Monday at the administration building reviewing various math curricula. If you feel that your child would be more comfortable coming back to school with my presence and reassurance in the morning, please don't hesitate to send me an email. I can speak with Rosemary Ervine and make arrangements to begin the day with the children. Presently, the plans are for Mrs. Amy Luce to teach our children on the 17th. I have not told the children about my absence because I didn't want to create undo concern for the entire weekend. I'll trust your wisdom with your child to mention this news.

One additional message about email: it seems that several messages to my hollandchristian.org account as well as other teachers' accounts have received messages a day or two late or not at all. Please know that I try to return messages with 24 hours. If you haven't received a reply from me within that time frame, it may be due to this misdirect. Hopefully, this will be corrected soon. In the meantime, it may take an additional message or you can text me at 510-1593.

With a heavy heart, we do continue to make plans for our next school week.

There were no new spelling words sent home as we have a short week next week.

Wednesday, December 19 from 8:30-9:00 a representative from World Renew will be at our chapel to accept our offerings. What can I say more than a huge THANK YOU for your support in this cause. When we began this project several weeks ago, our high hopes were a $60 sheep and MAYBE a $12 mosquito net. Look at what your child was able to democratically choose to offer to families all around the world:

Calf-$90
Water filter-$25
Health kit-$18
Mosquito net-$12
Stove-$17
9 chickens-$14
6 packets of seeds-$12

I tried my best to help them understand how this will bring so much joy to many families around the world. Each family will tangibly realize God's love and share in our bounty. Thank you for helping your child be a part of this experience.

Wednesday, December 19 from 10:15-11:30 we will bless the residents at Rest Haven with Christmas carols. Please feel free to join us in praise by meeting us at school for the walk over or drive right to Rest Haven to meet us. What a blessing the sound of children's voices singing Christmas praises will be to the residents!

Wednesday, December 19 from 2:00-3:00 we will have our very own Mexican Pasoda at school. This will culminate in the art room with a Mexican fiesta. Ask your child to teach you the dance moves he/she learned (hopefully it's the hat dance!)

Thursday, December 20 from 10:30-11:30 our class will celebrate Christmas with a fun party. Thank you to the room moms who are at the helm on this one. Would you please have your child bring a wrapped $3 gift tagged "To (boy or girl). From (your child's name)? You may send those gifts to school anytime next week to "hide" under the Christmas tree.

Because my own children are playing throughout the house tonight, our T.V. is off. I'll likely catch the main points of today's events on the nightly news. Please know that, without exception, your child is loved at school. It is my tremendous honor and privilege to work for them and for you. It makes me happy to picture each child at home with you this weekend. What an amazing gift and responsibility God has given us when he granted each of us the miracle of life in these precious children. I do not take this lightly and do so love your child.

Ms. Verastegui has a blog for you and your child to enjoy together:

http://spanish-south-side-k-1st-2nd.posterous.com/ 

Please enjoy a few pictures from the week.

The kids and I are so excited about our latest unit of study in Social Studies. Before giving you all the fun details, it's worth acknowledging that our 6 and 7-year-olds are going to become citizens of a global community in ways that we likely can't even grasp today. In an effort to begin laying groundwork for broadening our understanding of other cultures and people, we will spend a good deal of time this month studying the people, culture, language and customs of our neighbor, Mexico. One of the most effective methods for learning is to personally experience the concepts and objectives being studied. Though the argument for experiential learning is a strong one, I thought it a bit too bold for a rookie to request a field trip to Cozumel ;) Therefore, we are going to bring a slice of Mexican culture to first grade. We'll have the first graders dressed up in serapes, carrying a homemade lantern and walking the halls of South Side asking each classroom in Spanish if there's room in the inn. This will culminate with a Mexican fiesta in the art room. Our fiesta could use a few more hands if you are willing and able to help. We will have a food station, a craft area and a time for dance instruction. We could use three parent helpers for this fiesta which will be held on Wednesday, December 19 from 2:00-3:00. If you are not able to attend but would be willing to help, we also will need a bowl of cubed pineapple, a bowl of cubed papaya, a bowl of cubed mango and a bowl of cubed avocado. If you are willing and able to help at the fiesta or contribute one bowl of fruit, would you please contact me via email and I'll put you on the list? mrynsburger@hollandchristian.org  Thank you!

Today, the children teamed up with their reading partner to research an animal that lives in Mexico. They created beautiful posters of their animal and presented the information they learned to the class. Wow...I learned a few new, interesting tidbits as well! :)

Researching

And teaching.

THANK YOU for your generous offerings for our World Renew collection. Our goal was to purchase a sheep for a family and we have surpassed our goal! We have the joy of going back to the catalog and selecting what else to bless a family with. Thank you for allowing your child to work to earn the money, or in other cases, you have encouraged your child to donate a little of his or her own money. We will offer our donation to a World Renew representative at chapel on December 19. We have until next Friday to collect our money. Thank you for your generous heart.









You hopefully found a green note in the Friday folder today with information about our caroling event at Rest Haven on December 19. Please feel free to come along as the children bless the residents with their praises to our loving Father in Christmas carols.

You may have heard that our friends from China returned for more of our first-grade action this past week. Our students were more than happy to oblige. We were a little less shy this time and even had some small conversations with the help of the guests' interpreter. Here is a link to an article that recently ran in the Grand Rapids Press. This write up gives you a little more background on our new friends from China and what they hope to accomplish during their visit to our classroom and the other places to which they are traveling.

 www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2012/12/kent_and_ottawa_school_leaders.html

Our class Christmas party will be held on the last day of school before our break, December 20, from 10:30-11:30. Would you please keep an eye open for a $3 present that your child can bring to school? We will have a gift exchange that day as well. Please wrap and tag your gift To: (boy or girl) From: (your child's name).

We are in the process of memorizing Luke 2. It's one of the most beautiful stories found in the Bible...and, boy, it's a big one to commit to memory. Your child took home this passage on purple paper earlier this week. We appreciate any help that you can offer at home. If you need a new copy, please let me know and I'll send it along.

Wasn't swimming so fun? Enjoy these pictures taken on our last day.

 

Blessed are the merciful...

 

World Renew (formerly CRWRC) offers a very real opportunity to share the love of Christ with those around the world in severe need. Each class at South Side will work together to bring a love offering to chapel on December 19th. A representative from World Renew will be present to receive gifts from each class of students. The students in our class voted to work at home in the hopes of raising a few dollars to donate to this cause. Our goal is to raise $60 to purchase a sheep for a family in Guatemala and/or a mosquito net to be given to a child in the hopes of reducing the risk of malaria. If you could talk with your child about the great need in the world and this opportunity to help, the experience will allow your child a tangible way to share Christ's love and demonstrate mercy to those in need. December 14 is our last day of collection. We have already collected several dollars from a few students, and they really seem to feel good about the help they are able to offer. 

Next week will be our last week of swimming. We are at the pool Monday-Thursday from 2:00-2:35. You are welcome to watch any of these days. On Thursday, December 6, they'll have extra time to show off the skills they've learned. If it works with your schedule, come and watch all that we can do :)

Our focus in writing this month is to make our stories readable not just by an adult, but also by peers. Partners have worked together to share tips they have learned in the past months of writing. I'm thrilled with the growth that the students are making. You'll notice this improvement in neatness, spacing, basic spelling and punctuation. Your children are like sponges; so eager to learn, grow and stretch! Our next author celebration will be next week.

Eric and Ellie offering each other hints and helps they've used in their writing.

Thank you to Mrs. Hoekstra, our story reader for November.

Meta was pretty proud of his mom :)..and possibly dreaming of the donuts his mom took along to share with everyone!

Above, you see the children examining a world map. They were trying to find Mexico. For the next few weeks, we'll be immersing ourselves in the culture, geography and customs of Mexico. Watch for lots of fun projects and new knowledge coming home!

December 20 will be our classroom Christmas party. Our wonderful room moms are planning this party. Please be on the look out for a $3 gift that your child can bring to school to be exchanged at the party. If you could, please, wrap the gift and mark it with a tag "For a (boy or girl), From (your child's name). We want to make sure no one goes home with a lump of coal (oh dear, that was meant to be a joke but I now have a horrible vision in my head...please be assured, I always have extra gifts on hand for "emergencies")!

December 19, from 10:30-11:30 our class will sing Christmas carols to the residents at Rest Haven. Can you imagine how blessed the folks at Rest Haven will be that morning? When our children's singing voices drift down the halls of South Side, it just makes my heart soar. What a gift to offer to others. You are welcome to come a join our class. We'll walk from South Side to Rest Haven, sing for a while and walk back to school in time for lunch.

The yellow reading incentive forms are ready to wrap up. Please return the last 1/4 slip on Monday, December 3, which your child can exchange for a simple prize, a bookmark and coupon to Pizza Hut (funny story...I took the big cardboard box of all reading incentive gifts for the year along to the pool last week to divide for the South Side teachers. The students sitting near me, of course, wanted to know what was in the box. I told them it was a surprise for the reading incentive program. Then, I overheard one student whisper to another that they were probably iPads for each student. Oh boy, well...at least the bookmark is the scratch and sniff kind.) I have SO many moments throughout each day that make me smile and laugh. SO many proud moments I wish you could be there to see your child in action living out the love of Christ to others and to me. Truly, blessed are these merciful little people, for they shall receive mercy.