conuly

That's really an amazing amount of time to spend on something when you're a kid, since children need so much time to sleep. If you take how much time a typical kid spends getting ready for school, eating meals, and doing homework, and sleeping even if we assume minimal chores (say just tidying up one's own room and stuff when one uses it) that leaves very little time for anything else during the week. If the family also insists on any sort of weekend activity (such as church/temple/etc.) then that leaves even less free time.

But it is certainly true that vast amounts of practice is the way to really develop a skill. I just hope those kids really enjoy it. I would not be at all surprised if I averaged 3 or more hours per day reading throughout my childhood, since I did really enjoy it.