Happy Earth Day!  (Mrs. VanMeeteren generously whipped up a batch of dirt for our class :)

Your children were simply beautiful on Monday evening. Thank you for squeezing this event into your busy spring schedule and arranging for your children to participate. They lifted their voices and hearts to God in praise and it took my breath away. I told the kids that I think angels were doing cartwheels while listening to the children's voices. Such energy and joy and love...your children are blessings from God. It makes my heart overflow to see and hear them give all they've got in praise back to Him.

Our chapel worship time is coming together beautifully. Every child plays a special part as our class is scheduled to lead South Side in this time of worship, praise and drawing closer to God. We did, however, run into one little snag. Second grade is in the middle of an AMAZING unit called Kid Town. Your children will be SO excited next as the big folks on campus engaged in Kid Town. Long story short, the gym will be used all week long for Kid Town. That means our chapel will be moved into the art room. If it works with your schedule, you are invited to attend chapel from 8:30-9:00 on Wednesday, March 1. Your child would love for you to join us :)

Thursday, May 9, our children will walk in the Kinderparade as part of the Tulip Time festival. Your child will need a dutch costume for this event. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need assistance in locating a costume for your child.

Wednesday, May 15, we will be embarking on our field trip to St. Joseph for all kinds of fun in the sun (we've prearranged for a nice, sunny day that day :)  Please see the peach colored paper that came home in your child's folder for more details. 

Wednesday, May 22 will be field day at South Side. More details to come as it becomes available. 

Enjoy our weekend of beautiful sunshine!

Rolling Into a Busy Few Weeks

Merry Christmas!!  (Wait! What? I guess the weather had me a tad confused :)

I certainly don't want all of our work and learning this week to become an oversight, but we've got some important dates and times I want to communicate with each of you. 

Program

Please note that Monday, April 22, we will have our Spring Program at Christ Memorial Church. Your children have been learning all year that we all are growing stronger in God's strength, and certainly their praises proclaim this truth! They sing BEAUTIFULLY!!! 

• Our program will be at Christ Memorial Church
• It begins at 7:00pm
• Students will need to arrive at the hallway outside The Gathering Place between 6:30-6:40.
• Refer to the map that came home today to find best seating, etc.  Note:  The section next to the Choir Loft will NOT have a good view of the South Side children.  
• Dress:  Please dress your child in nice clothing and remember that it will be warm on stage.

Chapel

Monday, May 1 our class is in charge of leading our South Side chapel worship time. We have chosen to read a story exemplifying God's amazing love for all of us, even though we are imperfect. All of us are a beautiful work in progress. Each student will have a special part to participate in this service. If you can make arrangement, please plan to attend this special worship time. Our chapel service will be from 8:30-9:00 on May 1. The students have been making some of the necessary props for this service as you can see from these pictures:

We are also looking for 5 bongo or hand drums for the percussion section of our praise team. By any chance, if you happen to have any postal worker uniform materials on hand (bag, hat, shirt) we will have an appreciative mailman that morning as well. Thank you for supporting us in all of our projects. 

Tulip Time

We will be walking in the Thursday Tulip Time parade. Your child will need a dutch costume for this parade. Please contact me if this is going to be difficult for you (I think Brayden would happily hand his over ;)

Memory Work

Our memory work for April is John 14:1-6. I usually like to handle the majority of the memory work memorization at school. However, with this month's passage, I believe we may need some assistance from home. I'm finding that verses 2-5 becomes tangly for many children. We'll continue to work on this for the next two weeks, but if you have time to help your student at home, I would appreciate a great deal. Please feel free to email me if you child recites this passage to you at home.

1. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

2. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.

3. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

4. You know the way to the place where I am going.

5. Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

6. Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Thank you for your continued prayers, support and love. What an honor it is for me to partner with you in your child's growth and development. Above all, I'm so humbled to be allowed to help foster your child's relationship with our loving Father in Heaven. 

Chick Week - Spellbinding!

Here you can see our eggs are warming and waiting for God's nudge to come out.

The first sign of life!!!

New Life!!! A gift from God <3

We watched in awe and excitement as two babies hatched from their eggs.

They were wet, skinny and scrawny. Upon hatching, one proud student exclaimed with a smile, "He's BEAUTIFUL!"

Like all great first-time parents, the paparazzi showed up in full force.

Another chick hatched while we were eating lunch (at least we weren't eating drumsticks! He may have crawled right back into his shell!!)

What a sight to see new life entering the world. Truly a miracle.

Another chick interrupted our math lesson. No one seemed to mind :)

We were simply spellbound. Not so much speechless...but certainly spellbound!

To add to chick week, Cooper took in his bunny Ruby. She was loved immediately.

Lots of animal lovin' going on this week.

Ruby was a good sport about her sudden celebrity.

Fun to both pet and watch. Thanks, Coop!

On Friday we let the chicks roam a bit.

After four days we were amazed at how they were already attempting flight.

Finally we got to hold them!

We took turns passing the little cuties around.

Lots of love to give.

There's a slight possibility we may need to look into post-traumatic stress therapy for some of them after all the love they were feeling :)

What a unique learning experience we'll not soon forget.

Here is Sunshine...

...and Midnight and Peepers.

I love my peeps!

As the pictures demonstrate, we've had a very special week. God was SO present in the hatching of these tiny chicks and their growth. We were truly blessed.

Our spring program is coming up soon! On Monday, April 22 we will perform the praise songs that we have been practicing for all who can attend. The program will begin at 7:00 at Christ Memorial Church. More details about drop off and pick up times and locations will be coming. Please mark your calendar. You will no doubt be blessed. Certainly I am every time we gather to praise. Your children sing from the bottom of their hearts with such energy and gusto, sometimes even with their eyes closed. I often find myself with a big lump in my throat. How God must bask in their innocent love for Him.