She says in the article she spends three hours a day "learning." Learning what? By her own admission and her mother's, she can't write, she can't do math - she can read and sites as a favorite book 'The Zen of Zombies' So what does she exactly do all day? Not to mention how incredibly sequestered she has allowed her to become. The poor child has ONE friend in her neighborhood. I get that she is afraid of school, but did that prevent her from joining local teams, clubs, groups?
The mother is neglecting her and milking the system. She has allowed her daughter to fall so far behind, it will require herculean effort to catch up.
But, you are right, she is probably just as polite as they come