Child Does Work very Slowly

My fourth-grader does very well in school -- all A's. The main problem is she works very slowly in class, losing interest in what she is doing along the way. As a consequence, she has loads of homework every night. None of her teachers has been able to speed her up. I dread facing a continuation of this problem. -- Any Suggestions
Answer: You are definitely right about the need for your daughter to handle her work in a timelier manner. Otherwise, her workload is going to become more than she can possibly handle in the near future. Two avenues need to be used to address this problem.
First of all, she needs to be tested to investigate by the school to determine whether there are some big holes in her study skills and whether a learning disability is the problem or part of the problem. You and the teachers also need to consider the possibility of the child being a perfectionist -- unable to do less than perfect work.
Second, your role in learning more about your child's problem is to observe her doing homework for several days. You should observe how she approaches the task, organizes her work and what causes her to slow down. Note also what tasks she handles quickly.
If you and the school can figure out why she works slowly through testing and observation, a solution to this problem can be formulated. If it is a learning disability, an Individual Education Plan should be able to turn things around. If it is perfectionism, try at home to project the idea that mistakes are acceptable and to not give any indication that you expect the child to get all A's. Her teacher should also promote the idea that making mistakes is a part of learning.
One approach that could be helpful both at home and at school is to set time limits for a task. After the time has elapsed, the child should relax or go onto another activity.