Question: I have an almost-eight-year-old daughter who's very bright and well-rounded. She's just finished first grade because she has a "late" birthday. My concern is that while she's made mostly A's on tests and classroom/homework assignments, her teacher harped on her "conduct" grades. Her teacher's complaints include not staying on task, blurting out answers and calling out the teacher's name without raising her hand.

After the second month of school, my daughter's teacher suggested that I have her tested for ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). I went along with allowing the school guidance counsellor to send an "observance sheet" to me to complete at home, and one to her teacher to complete in class. The score she received was "borderline."

I had her paediatrician read the test and results, and he stated to me that since her grades were above average in class she might be "bored" with the lessons, that they're just not holding her attention. He stated that while my child has some characteristics of ADHD, in his opinion she did not need any further testing and certainly was not in need of being "medicated". When I questioned her teacher about lessons and suggested my child may indeed be bored, she said that if she were bored, all of her work would be finished on time, rather than at the last minute, rushing to finish.

My daughter will soon be in second grade and is beyond a second-grade reading level because of her love of reading. I'm dreading the upcoming school year. I don't want to meet with her new teacher and give her any preconceived notions about her behaviour, nor do I want her future teacher(s) being told negative things by her past teacher. The problem is my child was pretty much up on the basics before kindergarten, and now I feel I'm being punished for being a parent who taught her child before she started school. Please, Dr. Rimm, any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Answer: If your daughter waits until the last minute to finish her work, but gets it done on time, it could be a symptom of giftedness, ADHD or too much chatting with a friend, but you would need more information before you and her teacher decide. Since you've already complied with an evaluation for ADHD, why not ask the school or a private psychologist to do a further evaluation of your daughter to determine whether she needs more accelerated or enriched curriculum? It's true that high-energy children desperately need challenging and interesting work or they're tempted to direct that energy toward getting into trouble.

It's been a difficult year for both of you, but encourage your daughter to begin this new school year with a positive attitude and a promise to work hard and follow the teacher's directions. Continue to support her school learning with a love of learning outside of school so that she can develop strong interests and enthusiasm that she can transfer to the classroom.

As to her high-energy characteristics, try to be positive with your daughter at home, but be sure to stay reasonably structured and be absolutely clear about your limits. Don't say no too quickly, but when you do, don't let her push you to change your mind or she won't respect "no" from her teachers either. Also, it's important for you and her dad to stay united, and that you both stay supportive of the school while you work out what went wrong during her first-grade year.

For free newsletters about ADHD or keys to parenting the gifted child, send a large, self-addressed, stamped envelope to P.O. Box 32, Watertown, Wisconsin, 53094, or go to www.sylviarimm.com for more parenting information.

Dr. Sylvia B. Rimm is the director of the Family Achievement Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, a clinical professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and the author of many books on parenting. More information on raising kids is available at www.sylviarimm.com. Please send questions to: Sylvia B. Rimm on Raising Kids, P.O. Box 32, Watertown, Wisconsin 53094 or srimm@ sylviarimm.com.