This question should establish a separation between the content that mathematics teaches, and the cognitive abilities that develop as a result of learning mathe

This question should establish a separation between the content that mathematics teaches, and the cognitive abilities that develop as a result of learning mathematics. Could an 11 year old dive into the CRUD with an 11 year old's mathematical knowledge? Absolutely. Will he/she have the ability to rough it through debugging challenging problems that may emerge without the years grit developed as a result of solving difficult calculus and linear algebra problems? Possibly. Perhaps not. Either way, you sound like an awesome dad :) I say let him have at it!