He knew that our encyclopedia had articles on opera, and that he could find additional information at the library, or from knowledgeable people. The most likely result would have been resentment, frustration, and less interest in that particular area. After all, no one is interested in everything, nor is every field of study essential to living a good life. In some circumstances, we should direct and model important concepts that children may not be ready to learn all by themselves - avoidance of danger, constructive handling of anger, peaceful conflict resolution, compassion for others, and so on. There seems to be an unspoken assumption in our society that if a child has not mastered each and every subject by the age of ten, we have failed in our homeschooling.
Children are very adept at hearing our hidden messages.
Another problem with requiring a child to do something is that it implies potential punishment. If we punish, then we give many harmful messages to the child. The goal of homeschooling is to help a child learn how to learn. At the same time, we should not dictate what that learning must be, or when it must take place. As John Holt so often reminded us, the simple truth is that we can and should trust children.