I think that's very true.
But also: kids are notoriously hard to work with, which makes it kind of amazing Spielberg has possibly never had a truly bad kid performance in any of his films. Not even Hook (which I think is underrated, but the movie certainly has problems; but not the kids' acting).
E.T., obviously. One of the best scenes in Jaws (Scheider and Jay Mello at the dining room table). Empire of the Sun (young Christian Bale!). I don't like Temple of Doom, but Ke Huy Quan is great. Movies with big parts for kids, movies with small parts for kids.
HOOK has Charlie Korsmo, who acts rings around Hoffman and Williams. Warren Beatty also got an amazing performance out of him in the wildly underrated DICK TRACY.