Thanks to everyone. I can of course imagine it would be good to learn discipline, and how to stick with a project. These are certainly important skills, and he doesn't much have them. He will definitely need to develop them at some point. What I can't figure out is whether now is the time to start in on them. I have tried to be very conscious of taking his lead - playing math or reading games with him when he seems excited but not forcing them on him when he's not showing an interest. I feel like I'm starting to understand this balance well. We do a lot of those things, but I don't think he thinks of it as a burden at all. They happen in his free time, as the spirit moves us. What I'm nervous about is the idea of changing from this rather free-spirited, playful approach to something more like: every morning at 7:00 a.m. you must take out the cello and practice! It's not that I think there's no room for this kind of discipline, it's just that I don't know whether age 4 is really the time to begin teaching it.
There must be some out there who have avoided early music lessons because they felt its being so scheduled would dull their DC's interest. Anyone want to take that side? We have about a month to decide, and hearing from both the pros and the cons would be really helpful.
BB
