Volume V11 Issue VI                                                        Newsletter                                    January 28, 2010

 Open House: Tuesday, February 2, 6:30-8:00 

Tuesday, February 2^nd is the date for our Open House.  If you have friends who are considering Immanuel, please send them our way.  We’d like to tell them all about our school.  If fact, this is what we’ll tell them.  Come and take the tour! 

We’ll start in the entryway of the building.  There’s a big blue seal that tells visitors that we were founded in 1877.  Our school is 133 years old, and yet it is housed on a new campus.  We are strong and solid.  What’s more, we’re built on a rock; that rock is Jesus Christ. 

Our preschool and daycare are in our lower level.  Many families enter through their doors.  Literally, those doors are off of Church Street.  Figuratively, many of our students in grades kindergarten through 8 first arrived on campus as preschoolers.  Even so, it is always a good thing to enroll at Immanuel.  Students can start at any grade.  Preschoolers and children in daycare must by 3 to begin.  There are a variety of preschool classes and combinations with daycare. 

The kindergarten classroom is near the school entrance to the left.  Nearly all students attend kindergarten all day, though half day is an option.  Kindergarten is staffed by a certified teacher and morning and afternoon aides.  All of our teachers are state certified and our school is state recognized.  We voluntarily comply with state standards regarding staffing, building safety, and curricular goals.  Several classrooms have teacher aides, depending on the class’s enrollment size.  

As we enter the first grade, questions about reading are often posed.  There’s a heavy emphasis on reading in this grade, and in many other grades.  Immanuel uses nationally published teaching materials, including the Houghton-Mifflin reading series in the elementary classes.  A separate phonics series is also used so that phonics can be doubly emphasized.  There is also a Title 1 teacher on campus all day to help students grasp what they might not understand.  This is a huge benefit to the children, especially those who sometimes struggle with academics. 

Walking into the second grade classroom, we see things like a writers’ workshop and a post office for letters to be sent to classmates.  It’s not just second graders who really learn to write well.  All of our classes participate in the Young Authors’ program and the Academic Fair.  Upper grade students have special projects like the Daughters of the American Revolution essay contest and a letter writing campaign to our congressmen. 

As we move into the third grade room, we’ll hear about math.  Most Immanuel teachers have completed the Math-Their-Way training to encourage hands-on learning.  Typically, elementary students have a formal math lesson daily and a hands-on math activity at another time in the day.  Drill and practice are also important.  Students who are advanced by 7^th grade may take algebra with a specialist teacher in 8^th grade. 

Since we’re moving into the fourth grade, we’ll hear about the four R’s. The “three R’s, reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmatic,” are really emphasized.  Immanuel often talks about its fourth R: religion.  We teach that the Bible is the inspired Word of God.  Our materials are Bible-based.  We believe that we are saved by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, and this we know through the Word of God.  Those are the main tenants of the Lutheran Church; they are sometimes called the “three solos.”  Immanuel is a Lutheran School, a mission to the community of Immanuel Lutheran Church.  Immanuel’s mission statement says that we want our children to be active in a Christian congregation.  About 40% of the students at Immanuel are Lutheran. 

The 5^th grade is in the newer wing of the school.  There is always something new on campus.  This past year we remodeled the 4^th grade room and the primary grade washrooms.  We built a huge storage shed.  Another classroom received a PowerPoint projector, and we are upgrading our intercom.  The primary wing was air conditioned; now all homerooms are air conditioned.  We’re planning for a new playground in the near future.  Recently, we’ve remodeled our gym to include a wooden floor.  We’ve gotten TV/VCR/DVD systems in every room.  Our grades are reported on-line.  The internet and Accelerated Reader have been brought into each classroom.  We’ve added an instrumental music program.  Immanuel may have been established in 1877, but there’s a lot that is new on campus. 

You might notice something different about the 6^th grade room.  It seems to be all about history.  The 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grades are departmentalized.  And the 6^th grade homeroom is where history is taught.  Our system brings about success.  Though the Iowa Tests are general knowledge tests, they consistently show that our children average 15 to 20 percentile points above the national average.  Still, we are not a “prep school.”  Our mission is to all of the families of Freeport.   

The 7^th grade room is set up as a science lab.  We use A Beka science through 5^th grade.  That’s a Christian series.  They are a challenging series, but they do not offer a junior high series.  The Holt series that we use in the upper grades offers a year of earth science, followed by a year of biology, followed by a year of physical science.  In the upper grades, they do many experiments in the science lab.  Some of the equipment in the lab room includes microscopes and dissecting kits.  

The 8^th grade room is used for language arts: English, spelling, and literature.  Our 8^th graders take the Constitution test.  They elect class officers.  They go on a class trip.  When they go to high school, most are leaders.  They are used to being involved.  They are high achievers.  Immanuel is proud of its graduates.   

There are other stops along the way.  The gym is impressive.  Immanuel has a physical education specialist.  We offer interscholastic sports including soccer, volleyball, basketball, cheerleading, and track and field.  The computer lab is staffed for formal instruction in technology.  All classes, k-8, come for computer class twice each week.  The lunchroom offers a hot lunch cooked on campus each day.  The lunchroom is used for art classes during some non-lunch periods.  The library is staffed by volunteers and has over 10,000 books.  Down the connecting link is Immanuel Church.   Weekly chapel services are held each Wednesday, geared toward the students.  A dynamic music specialist teaches vocal and instrumental music, and directs a number of musical presentations throughout the year. 

Immanuel has so much to offer.  Tell your friends about the upcoming Open House.  Better yet, bring them here yourself! 
 

January Classroom News 

Preschool 3 – The 3 year olds started to learn about day 4 of creation, when God created the sun, moon, and stars.  The classroom is decorated with all three.  They also listened to the book called The Mitten by Jan Brett.  In this story, a little boy wears his knitted mittens outside, but loses one.  Slowly, several animals decide to make a home in the mitten and the mitten stretches bigger and bigger. Then a mouse comes along, sits on the bears’ nose and then the bear sneezes!  The mitten flies into the air and the little boy soon finds his lost mitten.  After, the children played a game where they all got to sit under a blanket and sneezed, the blanket flew off, and the children laughed and laughed!    

Preschool 4 – The 4 year olds enjoyed playing in the snow, sledding, and making snowmen.  All of the children are hoping for more opportunities to get outside and play some more.  It was fun learning about snow and cold temperatures.  The children put water outside to see what might happen to it.  They discovered that it had turned to ice in 75 minutes.  The children also saw that when snow melts, it does not look like such a big pile.  Even so, the children enjoyed investigating snow and are hoping to play with it again.  The children have been learning Mother Goose rhymes.  Many of the rhymes the children have learned have “Little” in the title.  How many Mother Goose rhymes can you think of that start that way?  The Bible stories the children have heard tell about Jesus life as a young child, and even one time when Jesus seemed not obedient to Mary and Joseph. 

Kindergarten –As the year progresses the kindergarteners keep getting busier!  The children continue to work hard, and have recently learned about Martin Luther King Jr.  The class wrote their own book about what they would wish for to make our world a better place.  They thought of many wonderful ideas!!  The kindergarteners led chapel on January 27^th.  They shared the message about how Jesus shows us the way.  The following day on January 28^th the class will be going to Freeport Jr. High School to see the play, “The Mysterious Case of the Missing Ring”.  The class is counting down to the 100^th day of school.  The children are looking forward to a fun celebration at the end of January!  

Grade 1 – In math, the first graders are working on fractions. The children are learning that a fraction must be divided equally.  First graders should be working on numbers to 100 at home. They have been working on the long vowel “a” in phonics and will begin working on the long vowel “i”. Thank you parents for helping your child with their first book report. Remember that your child needs to read the book to you. You may help them write their sentences that tell about the story. It won’t be long and we will be celebrating our 100 days of school.  

Grade 2 - The students spent several days learning about how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. changed our world.  The students were genuinely surprised about and compassionate for the cause that Dr. King fought for. Second graders have huge hearts and love everybody!  That’s why it is so easy to love second graders!  The students are working hard during math learning to add two digit numbers that require addition.  They are doing very well.  Many students are working on subtraction facts now in Rocket Math.  The new theme in science will be the Solar System.  The students will be learning about the planets, stars and the earth’s moon. 

Grade 3 –‘Jesus is the Light of the World!”  That was the theme for the third grade chapel and the kids did an excellent job of leading the worship service for the school.  The Bible readings they all read aloud celebrated the wonderful way that this age level can not only navigate around the Bible, but they can read it themselves.  Praise God for His Word!  In math the class has started the concept of multiplication and have covered the times 0, 1, and 2.  They have made two booklets that will track what is learned. Thanks to Mrs. Tina Rubin who has taken on the task of showing the class how to make a weathervane centerpiece so they can be used on the tables at Pancake Day.  Also look for the paragraphs written by the third graders that cover comparing and contrasting. 

Grade 4 – The fourth graders are working hard learning how to use adjectives and multiply larger numbers.  They are reading stories about Americans and their heritage.  In social studies they are learning about the regions of the U. S. and how settlement helped shape the country.  The students are doing a family history project as a tie in between reading and social studies.  More than half the class has reached the finish line in the class multiplication races.  Division races will start when the rest reach the finish line.  In science, the class is learning about the states of matter and weather in our world.   

Grade 5 – In religion class, the fifth graders are learning about how God was with the Israelites and how He made it possible for them to take possession of the Promised Land.  They also understand that God is with them in all they do and will help them to accomplish the tasks He has set before them.  Two digit division has been the topic for math class.  The students have achieved great success with division!  In social studies, the fifth graders are learning about the early colonies in America.  The ocean is the subject for science class.  The students have been able to take a close look at sea shells, coral, and ocean animal specimens.  Punctuation is being practiced and put into use in English class.  The students continue to read lots of books and love when new books are added to the classroom library.  

Grade 6 – The students are studying the movement of ocean water in earth science class.  They will be making dioramas in conjunction with this chapter.  In math class, they are learning about data collection (mean, median, mode, and range).  They will need their calculators to do the work in this chapter.  In reading they have just finished Theme 4 on Ancient Civilizations. Next week they will begin Theme 2 on Triumphs. In English the students are right in the middle of verbs.  After verbs, they will be doing some writing.  A study of India in history class includes several activities and a video presented by “Mission 21: India.” 

Grade 7— The students did a great job on their frog dissections and are now learning about birds and mammals.  They will be constructing a model of a bird’s digestive system this week.  Ratios, rates, and proportions are the topics in math class.  In English, they have finished with the four styles of writing.  Now the focus will shift to grammar.  In literature, they are finishing up their unit on nonfiction.  The novel study of Johnny Tremain will be the next unit.  The students have also been preparing for the school spelling bee.  As part of their study of American Revolution, students will be creating their own PowerPoint presentation for the class.  This study will coincide with their novel study. 

Grade 8— In physical science, the students are starting a unit about sound and light beginning with a chapter about “waves”.  Percentages and their application in everyday life is the topic in pre-algebra class.   The students have finished up the four styles of writing.  The next focus in English will be grammar.  In literature, the 8^th graders are studying newspaper journalism.  It will culminate in them writing a school newspaper.  Their next unit will be the novel study of Across Five Aprils.  They have also been preparing for the school spelling bee.  After a short unit on the Illinois Constitution, students will prepare for their final Constitution Test, scheduled for Thursday, February 11.  The next morning, those 8^th graders who plan to attend Freeport High School will be signing up for classes.  Parents should plan on attending those sessions with Freeport counselors and their children

News Worth Noting!

Child Development Center:  The number of preschool children who spend all day at the center has grown to its maximum number.  Previously the CCDC has been able to accommodate those children who attend preschool here, but may need to stay for a long day on an occasional basis.  We will no longer be able to help out in this manner because the group is full in the afternoon.    

A Pasta Extravaganza will be held February 17^th from 4:30 – 6:30 pm the church fellowship hall sponsored by the 8^th grade students to raise funds for their class trip to Boston.  They will take a free will offering. 

Lenten Worship:  Immanuel Church offers mid-week services all year on Thursdays at 6:30.  During the 40 days before Easter, a time of Spiritual preparation known as Lent, those services are particularly important.  Wednesday 12:15 services are also offered.  Children form various classes are asked (not required) to sing according to the following schedule:  Feb. 25: kindergarten, March 4: grades 1 & 2, March 11: grades 3 & 4, March 18: grades 5, 6, and 7, and March 25: 8^th grade Last Supper drama. 

MEMBERSHIP CLASS:   A new membership class for Immanuel Lutheran Church is beginning in pastor’s office on Sunday mornings from 9:15 – 10:15 am.  The title of the booklet, a basic Bible and doctrine study, is “I Have Good News for You.”  Completion of this class could lead to adult membership at Immanuel Church.  Call 235-1993 (Pastor  Schwichtenberg) for more information.  Alice Schwichtenberg is the teacher. 

Presidents’ Day:  There is no school on Monday, February 15.  The daycare and latchkey will be open.  Please call Mrs. Yarzak (232-3443) or register in the Child Development Center for care on this day. 

Fun Fair:  The Parent-Teacher League will be operating a Fun Fair in the gym on Tuesday, February 9, from 6:30 to 8 PM.  There is no admission fee, but families are asked to bring a 2 liter bottle of beverage, or a bag of snacks, or a baked item for the cake walk.  The 7^th and 8^th graders will help man the games. 

A Tri-State Organizational Meeting will be held Monday, February 1st after the basketball game at about 7:15 pm. 

Scholastic Book Sale:  After school on January 28 and 29, as well as during Pancake Day and after Sunday worship at Immanuel Church, a Scholastic Book Fair will take place in the front hall of Immanuel School.  Proceeds benefit the school library.   

The Spelling Bee was be held Wednesday, January 27th.  The winner was 8th grader Madison Eshleman; second place was 6th grader Ashley Babler and third place was won by 7th grader Daniel Slechta.  They will now advance to the regional spelling bee.  Classroom winners were: 4th grade:  Evan Ruthe, Joshua Stenzhorn, Gregory Yount; 5th grade: Grant Holman, Kadin Kutzke, Micah Schlesselman;  6th grade:  Ashley Babler, Emily Burt, Andrew Stevens;  7th grade:  Daniel Slechta,  Chance Greenfield, Nolan Ruthe; 8th grade:  Madison Eshleman, LaKonka Collins, Erin Kohlbauer.  Congratulations to all the winners. 

Receipts for Tax Purposes:  Immanuel will mail childcare, tuition, and fee receipts from 2009 by Friday, January 29.  Families may need these for tax purposes since they are deductible. 

Market Day is a food co-op that offers restaurant quality food with a percentage going to the school.  Ordering can also take place either at school or on their web site, www.marketday.com.   The next Market Day delivery is February 19th with pick up on Tuesday, February 23rd from 3-5 pm in the school cafeteria. 

OUR CENTRAL PURPOSE
"Immanuel Lutheran School, a ministry of Immanuel Lutheran Church, exists to call students into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, to move them into active discipleship in a Christian congregation, and equip them to be effective witnesses in the community.  Immanuel Lutheran School strives to direct the educational experiences of its students, while developing their talents to their greatest potentials, so that they may fulfill God's plan for service in our world." 

Board Meetings:  The Board of Christian Day School Education at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 10th and the Board of Christian Child Development Center will meet on Wednesday, February  17th at 6:00 p.m.  Dan Medler and John Wichmann are the directors.  

 SNOW DAYS:  When District 145 (Freeport Public) cancels school because inclement weather, such as extreme cold or snow, then Immanuel Lutheran classes are also cancelled.  If possible, Immanuel’s daycare and latchkey will still be open.  Call ahead (232-3443) to make sure.  School closings are announced on  television channels 13, 17 and 23 as well as pm radio stations WFPS Country 92.1, The Big Easy 93.7, Q 102.1, and WFRL AM 1570.  

Valentine’s Day Babysitting:  On Sunday, February 14, the 8^th graders and some adult chaperones will be offering child care in the school for $10 per child.  The available hours are 5:30 to 10:30 – perfect for dinner and a movie.  There is no school the next day because of Presidents’ Day, so the kids can sleep in on Monday.  Reservations are not needed.    

Parenting: The Early Years:  Your children have more energy than you do.  How do you guide that energy?  Meet other parents with young children and discover God’s way of parenting.  The group is meeting  the 4^th Wed from 6-8 pm in the fellowship hall.  Contact Brian Elmer (815-233-5631) if you wish to join the class. 

Parenting:  The Teenage Years:  They are growing up and getting older…now what do you do?  Walk with other parents who are facing some of the same issues in parenting teenagers.  They meet the 4^th Wednesday of each month from 6 – 8 pm.  Contact John Wichmann (815-233-0881) if you wish to join this study. 

SCRIP is simply a word that means “Substitute money.” They are gift certificates to national and local businesses, purchased at face value and used at face value.  The businesses that sell the gift certificates give percentages back to the purchaser for tuition costs and directly to the school.