I love children’s books. One might say I have a fascination with them. And every now and then I come across one that I just absolutely adore.

Hana in the Time of the Tulips by Deborah Noyes is one of those books.

I bought it to use during our study of the Netherlands and my mom and I have spent so much time admiring the pictures and story that the book tells {I do believe we’ve forgotten it was for the children}.

Hana lives during the time of the ‘tulip fever’ in Holland. Her father, someone she used to spend so much time with, has become caught up in the tulip phenomenon ~ and the market is now failing. Her family stands to lose everything. Tulips in those days were ‘as precious as gold’.

Hana works as hard as she can, along with help from a family friend ~ Rembrandt, to help her father see what is really important.

The paintings and sketches in the book were done by Bagram Ibatoulline in the style of that period’s Dutch master artists. The lighting and color in the pictures are beautiful ~ one that will stay in our collection for years.

A few months ago I posted on some great products from Alphabet Alley, a company that I am growing to respect more and more every day. Alphabet Alley is a company that provides preschool toys for children that are faith-based and provide positive messages. Their toys range from puzzles, to magnet playsets, games, wooden toys and stickers.

They sent me another toy to review…which I would LOVE to review here, but because of the recent changes in toy standards from the CPSC, Alphabet Alley removed the product from their line until they are certain they meet the new government standards. They are dedicated to providing products with only the highest quality for their customers, and that gives me a new level of respect for their company. :)

I will tell you that we play with our Noah’s Ark Go Fish ($5.99) frequently and the cards are extremely durable {ahem} and oversized for little hands. Our kids have also enjoyed their stickers ($2.99) – and with Easter approaching, they have a Good News sticker set that would be great for your kids either at home, or to share with your Sunday School class as a special treat!

Alphabet Alley also has an online catalog available for you to browse through. I would really encourage you to visit their site. They will have a new product line to add to their catalog coming this summer – can’t wait to see what they have in store!

We do the bulk of our homeschooling in the afternoon with the girls while our youngest two are napping, but even then there are plenty of interruptions when we try to do quizzes or tests. There are times that the girls need some extra practice on some of the spelling rules and new words that they are learning during the week. Having them able to practice their word lists independently is extremely helpful because it allows me 1:1 time with the other child to help them in their studies.

SpellQuizzer is a spelling software that allows you to enter your child’s spelling or vocabulary list and make an audio recording of the word and a definition or ‘clue’. Your child is then quizzed on the list one word at time and types the spelling word on the keyboard. SpellQuizzer immediately lets the child know if the word has been spelled wrong and later will re-quiz him once all the words have been spelled. At the end of the test he is told how many words were spelled correctly.

My kids love working on the computer, so they have had a lot of fun using this program and are learning some great keyboard skills at the same time (a lovely added bonus). It also has helped break up the repetition of copying spelling words by hand and allows one child to be working on the computer while I have some 1:1 time with the other. The program is simple enough that the girls can open the program and click on the list that they are working on – all by themselves.

In order to record the word clues/phrases for your children you do need a microphone attached to your computer (around $10 at Walmart). SpellQuizzer also has free lists online that you can import into your SpellQuizzer program. If you choose not to use the audio portion, you can instead type in a clue word or phrase for your child to use.

SpellQuizzer is available to download for $29.95 and the company also offers a group discount (for co-ops, etc..) with a multiple license purchase. Downloading and installation is quick and easy and they also offer a free 30 day trial so you have a chance to try it out and see how it works for your family. If you would like a peek at program at work, be sure to check out the video demos that SpellQuizzer has available on their site.