Is there anything wrong with her?

This morning I went to the school's office to see Des's class teacher, 魏老师。She told me Des doesn't like to answer questions. I was dumbfolded for a while. Then only did I realise what she was trying to tell me. During the recent oral test, Des only got 1 mark out of 5! 魏老师 said she even went to the extent of scaring Des dat if she wouldn't open her mouth to answer, teacher would have to give her a ZERO. Dat would bring her grades down just becos she failed her oral test. *sei hmm sei*

魏老师 told me the questions she asked were very simple and general questions, like, "what are u going to do when mommy said she's having stomachache?", "what must u do when mommy cuts her finger?" 魏老师 said Des wouldn't answer. Oops, Std. 1 students have to do this type of oral tests? Those are general knowledge questions, moral questions or what? Oh dear, I think I'm a bit outdated.

My girl doesn't know how to answer or was she scared or she doesn't know how to answer in Chinese? I know Des is scared of answering questions which she's not sure of. Sometimes I've to assure her dat I won't scold her if she has a wrong answer, only then she'll try. She's a chatterbox in the house but in a crowd, she's the opposite. At home, she's a different person. Sometimes I've to ask her to shut her mouth and I don't want to hear another word from her. She'll be asking this and dat until I get fed up and ordered her to stop else I'll tape her mouth or I'll get the cane (which she's very scared of). But alas, I'll get a moment of silence only ... *boo hoo hoo*

When she's with some kids she's not familiar with, she can isolate herself and won't join them in the fun. Yes, she will cling to me like a koala bear or she'll just stand and watch the kids play. She'll only play with her cousins and friends she knows. She's not the friendly and sociable type. I've been trying to let her mix with kids but she doesn't like the idea. She's scared of 'rough' kids too. She will ask "mommy, why are they so 'chou lou'" (rough in Cantonese) ... sigh ...

She has a mouth like a kerang (clam). She has not, on her own, call "auntie", "uncle". She has been reminded every now and then when she sees my friends, she has to call "auntie" or "uncle".

I guess I've to brush Des up with not only general knowledge but everything in general. She's so blur blur and I guess she's too dependent on mommy doing things for her and she's scared of doing things on her own for eg. when we were in a restaurant, she wanted to watch the fishes in the aquarium, she would want either Pappy or me to accompany, she just wouldn't go on her own; she wouldn't go to the washroom alone; she wouldn't sleep alone; she wouldn't dare to go any further from us to get things; she's just not independent. Too pampered, spoilt or over-protective?

Very embarrasing to say dat Des cried for 6 months (yes, almost every day) going to school. She broke the school's record to some one who cried for 3 months. She was okay during the 1st week of school but the ordeal started the following week. She even told me she didn't want to go to school.

魏老师 did praise Des has improved a lot compared to the first few months when she entered school. She dared not do anything the teacher told her to do and dared not go to the school's office to pay fees, toilet, library, bookshop alone. She always persuade Christine (her best friend who's a very independent girl) to accompany her.

I know 魏老师 'forced' her to enter a story telling competition which she refused to take part but after much coaxing from me, she said she would try. I din see how she performed but I know she did her best cos she had been practising hard at home, trying to remember the Chinese characters which I wrote in 'han yu pin yin' for her.

I know it's quite difficult to deal with kids like mine and I would like to thank 魏老师 for being so patient and tolerant and I really hope the other teachers will be patient and understand too.

How come some kids are so independent and brave? Were they trained or it's in their genes? Pappy and I are not the talkative and sociable type and I'm not the brave type too. Is there anything wrong with my girl?