When I was a child I lived 20 minutes away from my school...but my bus ride was a full hour with all the stopping and loading/unloading. In the morning it wasn't so bad. In the afternoon it was tiring a bit. It can be done but is it right for her...I see your point about the extra stuff being what keeps her going.

...reading is pleasure, not just something teachers make you do in school.~B. Cleary