Not saying dwarves are anything like hunter-gatherers, I'm saying it's an important discussion.
Dwarves learning in classes doesn't appeal to me. I think dwarf society is probably more of the kind where dwarves start apprenticeships from an early age, some in the library i guess.
Huh. Forget about the idea of high school class with a board and degrees.
Think more of a class, where teacher tells stories or teaches kids by demonstration. As it was done once in the past.
As for what the thread starter said, it raises all those other questions. Are dwarf children looked after in a daycare? Are they let loose, locked up somewhere, forced to work, etc? Or is it all player's choice? And can we get the psychological effects the upbringing is likely to promote? I would love that.
What about giving a setting to a player?
"Enforce physical regime" where kids would need to run rounds every morning?
might get them stressed a bit but increase their physical stats.
"Encourage creative thinking" where they would ponder over many strange things? Might give them odd personality traits but increase their mental stats.
And so on and so on.
You see, once we have a location as a base, we can do a lot of great things with it. Hell, we could even sell kids to the goblins.
My impression is that dwarven children think they are working from a young age, but the work they do is really superfluous and designed simply to help them learn the trade. That is, there is no penalty to not having an apprentice in one's workshop handling the small tasks. Think of the Ladder Holder job in the real world.
It's sort of a coming-of-age ritual when an older child learn which steps are real and which can be skipped. Might be an explicit lesson in the First Secrets of the Trade, or implicit like figuring out snipe hunts and the Tooth Fairy.
I would not mind if something like this was implemented. I mean once upon the time kids did something useful, both in DF and in real life.
Now all they do is play all the time until adulthood.
I suspect that in the world, where dragons roam the lands, huge and twisted titans destroy settlements and hordes of undead come to eat you and your family, a kid who is old enough to help on the farm or "hold the ladder" would be expected to do so.