On New Year’s Day, my family gathered at my mom’s house for dinner together in honour of what would have been my Dad’s 72nd birthday. In the afternoon as the turkey was cooking in the oven, we all headed outside. The weather was cold and crisp, the sky clear. Afternoon Booked Solid With all the [...]
In August, as I was cleaning up my office in anticipation of a new year, I came across a book called “Advice for a New Principal” that was given to me by my last class as a teacher at ACS. It was written by the students from 2A in 2020. Although it’s my third year as [...]
A few weeks ago, my son came home from kindergarten and shared that at recess he played with the gnome. I’m pretty familiar with the playground and the areas where kids play. There’s the little toy, the big toy, the forest, the soup tree, and the sandbox (also known as the long jump pit) but [...]
For many of our ACS families the parent-school partnership kicks off with a meeting in the principal’s office. Not because their child is in any trouble but because, as a school, we feel that partnering well with parents is a crucial component to creating a school community where students will flourish. A Sweet Response In [...]
The events of the last few weeks have left us feeling shaken and vulnerable. Many of our school families were horribly impacted by the flooding. We have family, friends, coworkers, and classmates who are trying to recover from devastating losses. All of us, including our children, are trying to find a sense of security amidst [...]
For those of us who’ve been in our ACS community a while, the name “Sandra Elgersma” makes us think about singing, xylophones, recorders, concerts, and musicals. Many ACS alumni, honorary members, and staff fondly remember our former music teacher, Miss Sandra Elgersma, who taught children music at Abbotsford Christian School from 1988-2012. If you had [...]
Prepare yourself, I’m going to complain. Yes, it’s probably not healthy and it goes against my typically moderate stance on anything that gets posted on social media, but I’m doing it anyways. I, Karin Riemer, mother of a kindergarten student, think that Kindergarten Gradual Entry is the worst! Professionally, as an educator and an elementary [...]
I don’t think it matters if you have one child, a baker’s dozen, or any number in between; raising your children and being a family is one of life's greatest adventures. For my husband and I, we have learned that in the joys, the struggles, and the in-betweens of this great adventure, parenting our four-year-old [...]
Happy New Year, everyone! This is the year that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. There was great satisfaction in pulling the plastic off my new family planner and cracking it open. I’m generally a future-focused person but doesn’t it feel especially good to leave 2020 behind and move [...]
I was raised on the bottom of the sea. No…really, I was. I grew up in the Netherlands, in a province called Noordoostpolder (North East Province) which used to be the bottom of the sea. I lived on a dairy farm situated on reclaimed land between the former islands of Urk and Schokland, a place [...]
