Note the difference between being superficial in fact and being superficial in the opinion of the parent. Certainly, (barring some egregious exceptions) all par

Note the difference between being superficial in fact and being superficial in the opinion of the parent. Certainly, (barring some egregious exceptions) all parents want to do what's best for their children and think they're doing so with every decision they make. The real question is - are they, in fact? They might earnestly feel that giving their wunderkind a STEM-only drill-style education is what's best for them - little budding engineers that they surely are. Conversely, having had a dislike for mathematics from an early age, they might unconsciously feel that their future Picasso doesn't need that boring stuff at all, or in very limited quantities. An important upside of attending school is that it exposes a child to a lot of different educators with different perspectives, and different biases. Their chances of discovering what they're good at and what they truly enjoy, as opposed to what mommy sincerely thinks they enjoy, is thus higher. (Also I hate that this article has just been censored on HN and most likely no one will read this reply).