This has been a really fascinating conversation. So many interesting things to think about.
Dad22, you sound like an awesome parent.
My kids all love starfall, and each one at a younger age. My 18 month old is currently obsessed. I will have to think about whether I should limit her time more. She's so strong willed though and I confess to taking the path of least resistance at least some of the time.
In actually fact you might argue that she IS hothousing herself. She went through 4-8 week stage of being obsessed with television, strictly her favourite shows only, and could not be interested in anything else (when we were home). I was getting quite freaked out about it and feeling like such a terrible parent that my toddler was TV obsessed. She then made a dramatic leap with her speech and lost all interest in the TV. Instead she moved on to books and starfall, I see signs that she will loose interest in starfall soon, she's not as obsessed as she was. Mercifully her interest in books continues to increase and her list of acceptable books is widening steadily. I look back at the last few months and it seems pretty clear to me that she is determinedly spending as much time as she can working on whatever it is she wants to learn at that point in time. But she absolutely WILL NOT move on to an activity that I want her to do until she's good and ready. Books being a great example, she would scream and throw them across the room if you tried to read to her only 6 weeks ago. Not ready, not interested and not having a bar of it, now it's a favourite activity.
Perhaps she'll be ready for puzzles soon, I am so ready to move on to puzsles, or lego, or block towers that she will at least let me get past 3 blocks before she knocks down...
Pru - I tend to agree with PTP that it's not your job to help your DD realise her projects, and that they don't necessarily need to be measured against adult standards of failure and success. BUT I do wonder is there a point at which she maybe does need SOME guidance to figure out the follow through and completion to a really great result? I am thinking here about the difference between you getting completely on board with ever project and making sure every single one suceeds from an adult perspective v. figuring out at what point she really needs a hand up to the next level so she can see/feel what "doing it properly" would be like and can then run with that.
Vaguely related story - We have always bought blank cards so that our kids can make cards to go with gifts for friends and family. I have always let them just go for it. I have come to realise lately that I probably should have provided more guidance and direction as to the standard that they should be aiming for relative to what they are capable of. I feel I fell too far on the side of not meddling with their creativity and self direction at the expense of them learning that putting in the effort to make something really great will mean a lot more to the recipient (I am thinking particularly of my eldest child who spends the same amount of time now as she did 4 years ago and produces a similar quality result, when I KNOW she is capable of more). I think it's something I need to address, but given I can't draw to save myself and would NEVER hand craft a card myself I haven't the faintest idea what to do about it.
