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Dear Teachers Q & A

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Beginning Reading Problem

Question: When my child reads, she has trouble recognizing words that have short vowels. For example, she might confuse let, lot and lit. She is in first grade. Is this a common problem? – Reading Problem

Answer: Having problems with short vowel sounds is not unusual for beginning readers. Not knowing the short vowel sounds can make spelling difficult too. Here’s why. Consonant sounds are generally sounded out easily as they are largely crisp clear sounds. On the other hand, the differences are small in how short vowels are pronounced.

The word family approach can make learning the short vowel sounds easier. For example, the “an” family teaches the short “a” sound as different consonants are placed in front of it to produce van, man, tan, and can.

We have developed 126 short word family stories with games called Skinny Books that will help your child learn short vowel sounds and read hundreds of words. You can find out more about them on our Dear Teacher website.

Deciding Whether a Child Might Have ADHD

Question: My second-grade daughter has very poor concentration. Her teacher commented on this several times last year. Does that mean my child has ADHD? – Wondering

Answer: When children have trouble concentrating in school and are overly active, disruptive and inattentive, many teachers and parents jump to the conclusion that a child has ADHD. However, to find the answer to your question, you need to start with a routine visit to your daughter’s primary care doctor. Tell the doctor about the teacher’s observation of your daughter. You might even want to bring the child’s report card along to the appointment.  Ask the doctor to test her for ADHD. Some doctors will do the evaluation. However, others will give you a referral to an ADHD expert because testing for ADHD takes several hours and analyzing the test takes a significant amount of time too.

If your doctor does not give you a referral and you still want testing, seek out a referral from the special education teacher, a psychologist or guidance counselor at your child’s school.

Here are the areas that will be used in helping to make the diagnosis of your daughter:

By the time the clinical interview is over, most experts who diagnose and treat people with ADHD will have a good idea of whether your daughter has ADHD.

By Peggy Gisler and Marge Eberts

As always, please consult your health care provider with any questions or concerns.

©Compass Syndicate Corporation, 2020

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