Specializing earlier means the children must earlier pick their path, when they're even less grown up and sure (some are, some aren't). It could also lead to a defeatist approach when the plan fails. There's something to be said for both generalizing and specialization. Both have their pros and cons, and the latter still happens at e.g. uni (but also bachelors and such).

Sometimes I ponder what would've happened if I'd have been able to start earlier with using computers seriously instead of opposed to gaming on DOS. I end up with the conclusion it doesn't matter, and that pondering about it means I don't accept the current path I've taken.