Thank you for all the responses! I'm taking everything in. In terms of widening the gap with formal instruction, I think that gap already exists regardless of my choices. However, he's not-fully potty trained and he can't dress himself so he's got lots to learn developmentally, but things like that fall on parents to teach outside of school. I do like the idea of just letting him play as much as possible until he definitively shows us he's bored or not challenged. I have been trying to pre-empt the problem because of how hard it is to get into any school in our area. Every childcare, pre-K and kindergarden has a wait list or lottery system.
Jenna, the montessori doesn't accept on a rolling basis because it's in high demand - spaces given through a lottery system. There's a private montessori I've talked to about letting him start after his birthday but even then I'm on a waitlist and they seemed extremely reluctant. As with your son, I guess it feels like you have to fight the system every year?!
I waffle between "give him opportunities to excel early in the areas he seems passionate about" and "hold off just in case it's a passing 2 year old interest"... I would really hate for lessons and practice to bore him or kill his love of music. Whereas now, it's this big smorgasbord of all music is awesome, all instruments are fun.
SAHM: love the idea of the instrument corner.
My husband and I have decided to chill out a little bit... it can all get pretty overwhelming very quickly.
