Hi Lizatola,
I second the suggestion of finding a study buddy. Maybe you could ask your son to quiz you? He might get a kick out of helping mom to study, given that it's usually the other way around.
If there is no one available, make sure that you close the book after reading a section, jot down what you recall, and then go back to review to make sure you got it. Even if your son doesn't want to quiz you, you could tell him about what you're studying. Just knowing that we're going to have to explain something to someone else often helps us check our own understanding.
Finally, ask questions of the material (who would need this? What is this process called? Why is it necessary? How many steps does it require to do ________? etc.) All of those tricks help us to read actively so we retain the information better.