1. She doesn't watch that much TV.
2. She seems very insightful, is a good organizer and works very hard but she clearly has some sort of learning disability. She has trouble reading books to my son and her spelling is incredibly bad.
3. I can remember kids in my elementary school who would clearly be classified as having ADHD today. This was over 40 years ago. There was not much TV to watch in my town. One of these kids was a big reader but had trouble paying attention or sitting still in school. His family did not own a TV.
4. Maybe too many people re being grouped together under the heading ADHD, but there clearly are kids who have problems focussing on schoolwork despite seeming otherwise intelligent. What is your solution for them?
5. I was hoping that I could give our babysitter some tips that would help her get into a good college. Now it seems like graduating from high school without getting pregnant might be a more realistic goal.
6. It's hard to offer help or academic suggestions to teen agers without seeming like their parents.
You got that right! It's as if everything has some 'value-judgement' on it. Offering help can be sometimes be construed as implying that her parents didn't do a good job in some way when all you are doing is trying to help a kid for who you have fond feelings!
When it comes to college, know that there are schools are there that work with these type of kids (my daughter is going to one this fall). They may be more expensive, but going to a huge state school is a waste of money.
Maybe she has dyslexia. Public schools will not start helping kids with dyslexia until they are 2 years behind in reading. Some kids have it and can sort of manage, but they really need extra help.
My daughter has special needs (brain damage). She's been struggling in school this past year (3rd grade), so we had an independent evaluation done by a neuropsychologist, learning specialist, and speech therapist. We knew about my daughters speech problems, but they also found auditory and reading problems. Besides speech, they recommended a multi-sensory reading program for her. The district will not provide it because my daughter is not 2 years behind. We're pulling my daughter from public school and putting her in private and getting her reading help.
I hope your babysitter can get a good evaluation on her and find out what is really going on. There are lots of programs that can help struggling kids.