I learn at my pace..

I had taken Varsha to the pool on Thursday. She was splashing around, wanting me to see her antics. She does not know proper swimming but she enjoys being in the water and has learnt number of tricks from her brother. While watching her could not help notice the anxious parents watching their children who were learning under a coach.
Most of the children were 4/5 yrs old. There were two children who were wailing away. One parent was standing away and watching, the other parent kept coming and wiping the tears. I could see that the mother herself was almost in tears.
It took me a few years back when my son was learning how to swim. I remember once standing on the side and telling him that he could do better and he should put out his hands in a certain way without having once entered the pool myself. The poor child told me that he was trying his best. But only when I entered the pool,I realised what I had done,I was so scared to be in a 5ft pool :-)). It really changed the way I was with him. Now, it makes me so happy to see him working on his techniques by observing others and he loves to swim. This also helped me with Varsha. She would go to the pool with her floaters and was very happy and content with it. She would be floating all around the pool and used to feel comfortable doing that.
She would keep watching others learn, how they were thrown into the pool by the coaches etc and did not express any desire to learn through coaching and I did not bother. When she completed 6yrs she suddenly said that she wanted to go for coaching. She said she was ready for it. It was interesting to watch her as she went through the process. I was still worried whether she was going to start crying but she surprised me...no tears. She went through the whole coaching like a breeze, not that she learnt the technique but she felt very comfortable in the water. Now, she pushes off with her friends and enjoys being in the water.
Many parents have told me that if she does not learn now she may never get her technique right and excel in it even if she has the potential.
Raises some questions in my mind: Is there an age to learn something?
What is the purpose in children trying to learn everything by age of 7/8?
Does everything have to be learning ..learning all the time.
Why cannot the child just do something which they enjoy without having to think of excelling in it or having to prove something to someone.
Why cannot a child learn things at their pace and when they want to?
Where is it that we are tying to reach ?
Thinking..pondering....