Back to Basics

After my long schpiel on language, I thought it would be fun to get back to basics.

Yesterday Sweet M and I went to K-mart in search of a birthday present for her little school friend and as we were at the checkout counter, I spotted this book: 600 stickers of daily objects. Yo. Cool. Impulse purchase! $12.95. Even cheaper online, but then it wouldn't have been an impulse purchase! And, perfect for M and I, because we're getting a little tired of the Dolch cards.

So we started making these word cards—sticker/picture on one side, text on the other. I know that there are card sets specially designed for teaching our kids, but they aren't inexpensive, and besides, I like making the cards with M. It's fun . . . it appeals to my inner elementary school teacher.

I figure that M is going to have to memorize a whole lotta words, so why not rely on one of her autism powers—the famous remarkable rote and visual memories that our kids are reported to have. And if Chinese and Japanese readers have to memorize 3,000 kanji to be able to read the newspaper, Sweet M and I had better get started on her word list!

Keywords: autism • childrearing • parenting • reading instruction • Dolch lists