Dragons Forever Fiction and Poetry Contest

My friend Eisley Jacobs released her second book today in her middle grade series "Dragons Forever."  B and I read Book #1 Born to Be a Dragon late this summer.  He can't wait to read Book #2 Blink of a Dragon.  I just have to get myself over to her house to get him a copy.  YOU can order one through her website below or you can go onto Amazon (and maybe other online sellers) and purchase it.  OR you can take part in the contest below and win a bunch of copies, PLUS get published in Book #3 AND have a character named after you.

Let me tell you something about Eisley.  She's an inspiring woman who homeschools her kids, opens her home to displaced people, travels to Ethiopia on mission trips, and is bursting with enthusiasm, creativity and life.  Now, if you've been following me for a little while, you'll know that my son, B, is dyslexic.  When he heard he could have a character named after him he grabbed Born to be a Dragon and started reviewing it again because he is EXCITED to write his own entry.  Did you hear that? My dyslexic kid is excited to write.  I am amazed.  And I am grateful for a talented friend who has worked tirelessly to inspire him and other kids like him.

Here's the info so you can get in on all the fun!




Contest dates JANUARY 6, 2012 - FEBRUARY 6, 2012In celebration of the release of the second book in the Dragons Forever series (BLINK OF A DRAGON), Eisley Jacobs is inviting you to take part in the BORN TO BE A DRAGON Fan Fiction and Poetry contest!
Who is elegible?
Children ages 4-99
What is fan fiction?
Fan fiction is a variety of stories about the characters or settings of a book as told by the fans. In this contest, entrants are encouraged to write a short story (200-600 words) about a missed adventure (something that could have happened but didn't) with any of the main or supporting characters in the book, BORN TO BE A DRAGON. Because it's fan fiction, this story does not have to follow the theme of the book, nor the characters' personalities. It's completely up to the entrant.
What about a poem?
Poetry is a form of creative writing in which language is used as an art. The poem can rhyme or not, it's up to the entrant, but it must be about BORN TO BE A DRAGON (or a missed adventure).
How do we enter?
You have from today until February 6, 2012 to write your fan faction or poetry. At midnight on the 6th, I will close the contest to prepare for the voting process. Voting will take place off line by a group of authors, parents, and teachers. The entries will be judged on creativity and use of BORN TO BE A DRAGON as their inspiration. Once voting is complete, all entries will be posted in the fan fiction area of Eisley Jacobs website.
Where do we send the entries?
Please send all fan fiction and poetry to Eisley.Jacobs@EisleyJacobs.com. You can also go to my website and fill out the form with the subject "Fan Fiction"(http://EisleyJacobs.com/contact/).
Teachers: If you'd like to submit all of your students entries at once, please email Eisley atEisley.Jacobs@EisleyJacobs.com and she will give you the proper address to do so.
What can I win? If your entry is chosen as the winner of the Fan Fiction and Poetry contest, not only will your entry appear in Dragons Forever - Book Three, but your name will also be tagged in the credits and a minor character will be named after you. ALSO, YOUR WHOLE CLASS AND SIBLINGS will receive autographed copies of BLINK OF A DRAGON, which means the more kids in your class you can get involved, the better all your chances are to receive the book. Homeschoolers, if one of you wins, you will receive 30 autographed books for the other kids in your homeschool group.
Contest Rules: This contest is open to U.S. residents only. All federal, state, and local laws and regulations apply. This contest is void where prohibited by law. Each child, ages 4-99, is allowed one entry, and each classroom/homeschool group has unlimited entries. By sending your entries to Eisley.Jacobs@EisleyJacobs.com they become property of Eisley Jacobs and cannot be returned. The winning entrant will have a week from the confirmation email to notify Eisley Jacobs with the names of his/her classmates or homeschoolers who will receive the books. In most cases, winning books are limited to 30 (some exceptions may apply).
This page and links can be found at http://dragonsforever.eisleyjacobs.com/fanfiction.html
If you have any questions, please email Eisley Jacobs.

I Will Not Let February Get to Me: Finding Affirmation

I've mentioned before that B is dyslexic.  I've also vowed to get him some help and this Saturday I did.  

I contacted a local educational consultant - slash author - slash "Outlier" (he's completed his 10,000 hours in the field for any of you who've read Gladwell's book), Jeffrey Freed.   He's worked with a couple of my friends' kids and I knew he'd be just the man to help B out and give me a feel for where we're really at with this.

I can tell you, I've never had an experience where I felt more affirmed. I think I was beaming as B completed every little activity Jeff asked him to do, even when it became more and more difficult.  Jeff assessed him in reading, spelling and math skills and when he was done he touted B's brilliance and giftedness and definite "right-brained" slant.  He even said, "I don't even think he's truly dyslexic, he's just that right-brained."   It's so good to see your child attempt something that you know is hard work and succeed (can you spell perpendicular backwards without a pause?  Now do it if you're dyslexic).

It's also good to be affirmed for making all the right choices for B in his life so far such as keeping him out of a cookie-cutter school experience, avoiding situations where he could be labeled or emotionally abused, giving him a non-pressured learning environment and encouraging him to continually push his feelings outward.

All these years, I've truthfully homeschooled for my oldest son.  He was the one that would have wilted in a classroom (or killed it, take your pick).  And in the past couple years as I've clued in to B's exceptional needs it turns out that homeschooling was the exact thing he needed too.  He wasn't just a tag-a-long in my endeavor to help my oldest, he was getting his needs met as well.  That's amazing because at one point I was almost convinced that he'd be a great public school kid...

God is good to us.

This week, we are customizing B's curriculum.  Since I'm already a unit study practitioner, it's already fairly customized.  But I'm trying out some of the things that Jeff suggested.  B is happier, I feel less pressured to add in more and more (Jeff said take stuff out!), and I'm praising him for asking questions.  Here are three things I'm focusing on right now:

1.  If B can't visualize it, he can't learn it. This means, write words in colors, even changing it at each syllable.  It means as he's reading silently to remind him to get a movie going in his head of what he's reading.  It means have him close his eyes as I take him through an auditory sequencing scene.

2.  Work his left hemisphere.  Because he sits so strongly on the right, his left is obviously weak.  So we're creating crossword puzzles, working through some sequencing exercising, and determining how similar things are different.  As I find more ideas I'll incorporate them.

3.  Use intensity in short periods.  The photo above is how we took a break yesterday.  Rather than plowing through our work before lunch, the boys went outside (yay!) and played in the biggest pile of snow we have left. After about an hour of play we finished our reading exercises and called it a day.  It'll take some getting used to for me to have a break in the middle but I think it's good.

Dyslexia Discovery

B has been more than frustrated with Math lately.   (If I'm honest with myself, it's been longer than "lately."  I believe I went looking for new curriculum this summer and ended up simply continuing with our current pick.)  He displayed some extreme frustration this week because he'd neglected to finish one day's assignment and therefore needed to finish it and do the current day's assignment.  He cried.  "I just have SO MUCH math to do."

But I don't think that was why he was crying.  I think he cried because it's not making sense.  And I think it's not making sense because of his dyslexia.

His curriculum utilizes spiral learning. So at the same time that he's learning to multiply and divide, he's reviewing addition and subtraction of some rather large numbers.  Every day that he has subtraction he asks me,

"Do you take the bottom out of the top, or the top out of the bottom?"

Every time.

When he has big numbers to multiply he uses the white board to write out 7 x 7 x 7 x 7 x7 x 7. Then he groups them into 14s and adds the whole thing.  I look at this and wonder why he uses the extra white board step and when I see the doodles all along the edges I assume he's spending the time unwisely.

"Not so," says his dyslexic father who encourages him to keep using that method.  He's being visual and I am reminded of some things I've read about right-brained children...using the whiteboard is easier on the hands and eyes...visualizing is powerful...

And then I get it.  Not only does dyslexia affect his reading and writing, it affects math too.  I knew it affected the way he saw the world in total, but I'd excluded math from that world somehow.

I'll be more sympathetic toward B's math struggles, to be sure.  But more importantly, I'm finally going to apologize to my bank account and do what it takes to get my boy some help.

He's Doing It

B is dyslexic.  One of my hopes for sending J to a charter this year, was to free up some space to get B some reading help.  However, financially, I am completely unable to get him outside help from a reading specialist.  So, it's just B and I working through auditory skills together.  I'm continually educating myself on what works for him and what doesn't.

This year, I was still picking up readers from the library easy reader section for him, thinking that if I kept his reading work a level below where he actually was, he'd be encouraged by what he could do and not discouraged by what he couldn't do.  Self-perception is so important and if he begins to believe he's a reader then that will help him push forward. 

He stumbled through them all and read ever so slowly.  I was a tad bit discouraged that they were too hard and looked at the budget again to find a way to eek out a couple hundred dollars a month to bring in more help. It turns out that they may not have been too hard but perhaps too boring and maybe offensively easy.

I tried a different tactic.  I picked up a Magic Treehouse Chapter book. He's been reading them to himself for a few months.  I'm not sure how successfully he's read them but at least he appears to understand them and enjoy them.  He also enjoys the audio versions and this might be the key to his success here.


When I sat down with him to have him read a chapter to me.  He flew through it and because he's reading it faster he's understanding what he's reading a little more.  Because he's already familiar with the characters he gives them a wee bit more expression and because he's reading a chapter book aloud to me he's stinkin' proud of himself.

I'm not afraid to push my dyslexic son anymore.  As long as he's enjoying what he's reading he's willing to do the work to get through it.  He's doing it.

Admiring My Dyslexic Son

Describing my middle son has always been easy for me. He has a good amount of healthy determination. He is a problem solver and loves a physical challenge. When he’s with peers he watches them for a bit and then picks a good one to become friends with. He’s an inventor and a builder. He’s sensitive and compassionate.

And we’ve just figured out that he’s dyslexic.

While I don’t think his dyslexia is severe, it consistently gets in his way: he talked late, he uses nebulous words like “things” and “stuff” when he tries to describe things, spelling is tough, and reading has been a very slow going process.

After reading up on this learning disability I have found out many things about its inner workings. But what’s really been made clear to me is not the severity of my son’s weaknesses but the abundance of his strengths. I’m learning that he relies heavily on context in order to understand meaning. I’m also learning that this applies to more than just words.

He understands his entire world by noting its context. He solves problems by considering the situation he’s in and calling upon his prior knowledge. He chooses friends by first noting their character. He knows how to serve others by picking up on their emotional cues. He can even find all the lost things in our house just by paying close attention to his environment. These traits demonstrate his genius ability to create sense and purpose out of the world in ways that don’t require reading. However, when it does come time to read, he perseveres through it just like any other problem he encounters, by fitting together everything he knows until it all makes sense.

I am amazed at the remarkable strengths this “disability” brings out in him – intuitiveness, creativity, and empathy among them. This new knowledge about my son doesn’t disappoint me in the slightest because I’m confident he has all the skills he’ll need to create a purposeful, productive and fulfilling life in the years ahead. We’ll just cheer him on no matter how long it takes him to get there.