Are girls smarter than boys?

I have to coach my girl and my boy for their school tests. It made me wonder. Are girls really smarter than boys? ;) Or just more hardworking and diligent.

It is hard for me to tell because my boy and girl have different personalities that may make it appear as though one is smarter than the other. My girl is the intellectual, inquisitive type. She does not like to play with dolls and such. When I gave her a doll to play with, even when she was younger, she would ask "what does this do? It doesn't do anything." then she would toss it aside. Pity mummy here who thought that finally, with a daughter she could play with all those Barbie dolls and their pretty little clothes and accessories that she never had. Too bad. Barbie did not move my girl. She prefers books, writing stories and making cards. She is one who thinks that writing an essay is "play".

As for the boy, well, he is naturally playful, a little joker who can make anyone laugh, he can make up stories on the go (by that I don't mean fibs but real stories like those you read from a book). It is funny to listen to him. If he can get away with something, he would. He is a sore loser and must win in any game. He is very physical and loves to jump on people and hug them. He can do his work very quickly but it is often messy.

The girl is a joy to teach. She has an excellent, almost photographic memory. She remembers her lessons easily. She is hardworking and diligent. She is in the good class which has a majority of girls in it. Last year, the top 7 students in the std were all girls. Are girls smarter?

As for the boy, he is good in Math and can do mental calculations easily. Unfortunately he is not very good in his languages especially Chinese which can make him misinterpret an entire section of work and get zero because he misunderstood or did not understand the question. He is careless in his work often mixing up his capital letters and small letters. He can't copy a passage without making mistakes. Quite often, he will copy LiKe ThIS or Li keTh is. Mixing up his letters or leaving a gap in between words at the inappropriate places or putting them close together at the wrong places. "Laut" becomes "luat" etc. He is carefree and happy go lucky. Are boys less smart or just lazy?

I guess boys develop slower that is all but they will catch up with us girls, eventually. ;)