What is "normal" attention span

I have a healthy seven year old daughter who is in second grade. She makes A's and B's on her work. She is everyones friend. She adjusts well, gets along with others, is not hyperactive but is not a dead head either. She is envolved in Tap dancing, church choir, other church activities as well as her schooling. Today her teacher approached me, (I work in the Pre-K class as an instructional assistant) and told me she thought my daughter was ADD. I am having a difficult time with this off the cuff diagnosis. My daughter will sometimes not answer the first time you say her name. I ask her if she hears me when I say her name. She says yes, I just want to finsih what I am doing. Which at the moment I asked was petting the cat under my desk. She gets distracted by lots of noise or confusion. She will tell you the noise level is bothering her concentration. I asked her when she is distracted what she is thinking about. She says that she worries about getting her work done on time and not getting into trouble with her teacher. She says her teacher will make her take lunch later if she doesn't get her work done on time. I know her teacher does prevent children from eating with their class if their morning work is not finished. Some children have had to wait an hour or more before getting their. lunch. I know, because I am in the lunch room with my class when my childs class has lunch.  When she is at home, she does her homework in a timely fashion. She plays and finishes games and art activities. She cleans her room with a little nagging. I feel like instead of ADD my child is suffering from stress in her class room. Can you give me some input?

[Sandman2]

    With holding a child's lunch as a pressure tactic to getting work done is not regarded as a good educational tactic.  Having said that, if only used occasionally  it can be effective.  If it is happening all the time, then it is a waste of time and some other method needs to be considered.
    I would listen to your teacher.  Many teachers won't get involved with parents and what she did in contacting you does take a certain amount of guts.  She sees lots and lots of kids.  Unless, she is telling this to every student, it is not an "off the cuff diagnosis".  Your daughter is doing something different that has caught your teachers attention.  Your daughter may be feeling stress in the classroom, but what is causing the stress?  It might be just as stressful for her in another room, or next year.
   What to do.  Well you could wait till next year.  Third grade tends to be a big transition for kids.  If she is having problems it will probably be compounded in third grade and be more obvious.
Two:  ask your teacher what she would recommend.  You might also suggest she lets you know if your daughter is not finishing work and you will make sure she gets it done at home.
Three:  Definitely start reading up on on ADHD so you will have an informed idea of what you might be dealing with.   Good luck

[RockTamFam]

I see my daughters teacher daily. I work at the school. I have asked her before if my daughter is finishing her work, and if it is a problem we will do it at home. It the past the teacher has said that my daughter is slow doing her work. In talking to my daughter, she will tell you about the outbursts by others and the fear of upsetting her teacher. My daughter says the teacher yells a lot and there are some diagnosed ADHD children in the class room that are very dissruptive. I have been reading up on ADHD and I just don't see it in my daughter. I realize my daughter is a young one in the class. She is seven and won't be eight till August and is in the second grade. But she grasps the work. She has come home with 100 math problems and five sentences to right consisting of eight words or more on a particular subject. She comes in sits down a the kitchen table while I fix supper. She is done with out direction in under twenty minutes. I check the problems and they are all correct. I am just very concerned my daughter is scared. She cries about going to school and it is always, I am afraid I will have to turn a card. I don't want her to yell at me. It alays comes back to fear.
Thanks for your comments and I will continue to research and support my daughter.
As for withholding lunch, I feel this is not appropriate behavior. Especially for this age group. It happens a lot. I am finishing up my CDA (child developement accredidation) in early childhood. Using food as a praise or a punishment is very wrong. Unfortunately, early childhood classes and developmentaly appropriate practices are not required teaching for elementary teachers. They and the children would really benefit from it.
Thanks

[Sandman2]

   Good information, thankyou - kinda changes things.  If your daughter is doing 100 math problems and 5 sentences in 20 minutes or less without direction - it doesn't sound like she has ADHD.  Beginning to sound more like she is very conscientious.  I have had children in the past who would always be the last one out the door because they were kind of perfectionists (only problem was they tended to beat themselves up a bit if they missed anything on a test).  I think the only problem with your daughters age is that she might be a bit more timid than the other kids.  A loud class, with a loud teacher, certainly would make for a scary situation.
  Yelling at kids, and withholding lunch are not teaching techniques that are very successful, and I would not have allowed that to continue at my school when I was a principal.  I wonder if the teacher got this class with the behavior problems because she is stronger than the other teachers.  Many times if you load up a teachers class, you also try and give them really good kids and the good kids will tend to suffer (well, if the teacher can't cope - everybody suffers)
  I wish I could give you some more advice.  About all I can think of now is to try and make your daughter feel as comfortable at school as possible.  If she has any other good friends in class, get them to talk about how they feel.  The idea is not to dish the teacher, but to let your daughter know that she is not the only one feeling this way.  Maybe explain that the teacher's behavior is being caused by the dissruptive kids.  When she yells at the class, she is not yelling at her.  Praise her for grades, but let her know that its perfectly ok to make mistakes - especially if she has to hurry up to finish on time.  And the perfect thing would be to somehow get some kind of attachment going between the teacher and your daughter.  Many times just a nice "hello" and a smile will do wonders. But I've got no clue how to get that done.   -  one quick thought, ask your daughter if she ever gets the chance to help the teacher, maybe to volunteer in class to pass out something or pick up something?
  Good luck on this.  Also a thought for next year.  Start scouting out the teachers now, and if there is a choice don't be afraid to tell the principal that she/he owes you one.  

[RockTamFam]

Thank you. I work hard at not putting the teacher down in front of my daughter. My husband and I talk in private. I try to help her understand the teacher has a job and rules she must follow. I will keep praising and supporting my dauhter and counting the days till May!
Thanks again.