Help with schooling!!!

[melliek]

Hi all! I have a question concerning my step-daughter. She is a fantastic child of 6yrs old with a great personality.Her mom and dad have been seperated since she was a baby so theres no problem with that.The thing is is that she is grade one and her first parent teacher wasn't that great. She has a problem with paying attention and actually letting things register. Her attention span is pretty short. When I do homework with her it seems like she is trying to remember the sounds rather than learning them. She guesses alot. Even at school she is behind in her daily activity book.
The thing is is that I don't know what to do. She is mostly at her moms house but usually about 3 times a week she is with us. I would be devistated if she ever failed a grade...Does anyone have any suggestions to help us help this little girl.

You are an American?

Thanks for the replies. I am a Canadian actually.She is otherwise a very bright child.As far as her other developmental skills I really don't know because I didn't come into the picture until she was 3.I know she does get her b's and d's mixed up all of the time. What are other symptoms of dyslexia?

There have been some good threads on dyslexia in the past, why don't you do a search on it, and see what you get? She may just be a bit young for her age. I'm afraid I hate the system of not passing a grade, we don't do it in the UK, and can imagine how upset you'd be. Is her attention span short whatever she does, ie, if she is playing with something she likes does she focus for a long time? Or is it across the board. I'm not sure, but i would think that across the board is a sign of immaturity, and she'll get there in her own time, and if it is only conected to the "paper" work of reading and writing, they she may be struggling with it.

I've just read that over and sounds a bit negative. 6 years olds are so different, and change so fast, and confusing b and d is very, very normal when learning to read. Finding it hard to concentrate is also normal for little ones faced with school for the first time. Is the teacher actually suggesting she might be kept down a grade?

No, the teacher isn't saying that she might keep her back, her dad just doesn't seem to think that this is serious enough. His coment was that he failed two grades himself. It just seems to be that when she is suppose to be listening to me, him, her mom, teachers she is on another planet.How can we creatively nipp this in the bud??