Back to School Treasures

Miss me?
Did I mention my boy had Fall Break 
all week?
We spent some of the extra time reading 
from the textbook his peers read from 
and he doesn't. He asked a lot about word
definitions. Like many kids with autism, 
he doesn't learn these from osmosis. He 
needs to see the definition, or at least
hear "croon means sing."
The textbook has many illustrations and 
helpful hints, though the page layout is
cluttered and confusing.
I found myself often using the high-tech 
teaching tool I learned at a workshop
years ago-use a blank piece of paper 
to cover what you're not working on.
One of the tips is using context to teach 
yourself new words, and I tried to
show him how to do that by first pointing 
out the nearby synonyms and then checking
the glossary.
I feel reluctant to mark up the (borrowed) 
book, so I may make photocopies in future.
Starting Monday, his teachers will again 
decide what we read after school.
Have your children learned to define words 
from their contexts?
Let's define ourselves .  .  .
-Spectrum Mom