Question
My daughter is six and in the first grade. She will not turn seven until June. Thus far, we have had two teacher/parent conferences. The first conference in the fall, the teacher said she didn't need to see us, but we went anyway. She told us our daughter was behind on reading and writing but to just keep working with her because she is fine. The teacher did notice that she takes her time to do things, that was all. Yesterday, we were invited to the teacher/parent conference because my daughter made a 68 in ELA (English, Language, Arts). The teacher now notices that my daughter is often distracted, "off task", and just looking around. The teacher tries to redirect her, but this doesn't work. At times, it takes my daughter thirty extra minutes to complete her work. The teacher comments that my daughter is quiet, sweet, well mannered and a very well behaved child. Then, the teacher tells us she thinks my daughter has ADHD with only the distraction part. I was shocked. I know that I have to really push her at home to do her homework and reading, but I honestly thought she was just being stubborn or tired from being at school all day. It does take her forever to eat, she is always the last to finish. She will do her work and read if I constantly stay on her. Although, she complains the entire time and it takes a very long time to get it done. The school says she may fail and the only way they can help her is if she gets diagnosed with ADD. Then, she can be given more time to complete classwork and get one to one time. What should I do? How can I help my daughter focus without ADD testing?
