I'd go even further-- to suggest that actually-- for quite young students, it quite possibly makes MORE sense to pursue those areas of inquiry which are less mainstream.
The reason? Because it slows down the inevitable progression into post-secondary (and post-graduate) topics in the subject.
Since opportunities at that level come with certain strings attached (an expectation of maturity that will allow a student to function as an autonomous adult on a college campus, for starters-- or to be escorted continuously by a parent at all times); it makes sense to explore WIDELY in an effort to delay that as long as seems feasible.
I'm not talking about depriving a child of learning-- but in gently steering that learning where possible so that the maturity gap isn't quite so wide. Vector calculus with 20yo classmates.... 14yo? Or 16yo?
KWIM?
