This author ironically comes across as really quite obtuse. I'm willing to bet her daughter would outdo her or her "higher stream" peers in many measures of success one day if she were free from her no-doubt oppressive home and educational environments. The way the post concluded I'm not confident, so I feel bad for the little girl. She's likely never gonna get a chance.
This statement is suggestive: "the teacher encouraged me to practise reading and writing every night with her, but every letter was a struggle and every session ended in tears, tantrums and dejection. "<p>The kid is not in control, the mother is. It is a job of the person in control, to adapt and change the behavior, in order to change outcome "every session ended in tears and dejection".
Don't be hard on the mother. In this era where unskilled jobs are being automated and other skilled jobs are being outsourced what do you expect from a protective mother ? The mother obviously wants the kid to survive and she is very much upset about the thought of being not fit in the society. Well all this will disappear if basic income becomes reality and robots does all our jobs and humans are free of wage slavery. And that is where engineer(especially software) takes the role of god .
I wonder if the author is discussing the culture of intellectualism rather than being "bright" per se.<p>Not that this point contradicts anything in the article. You can still wish your children had inherited your cultural posture.