Wow, I'm sorry, did cross hatching molest you as a child or something? But please explain to a child the difference between abstract rules and directly derivab

Wow, I'm sorry, did cross hatching molest you as a child or something? But please explain to a child the difference between abstract rules and directly derivable properties of distributivity of multiplication over addition. See how much of a difference there is to a first grader between "It's a fundamental property of mathematics" and "Because I said so." >But this line thing... this is a trick. Yes, yes it is. And seeing as all any one has said is it's a elegant (under certain circumstances) trick, why are you so hostile. No one here has proposed replacing the k-12 math curriculum with happy fun line counting time. EDIT: okay the sibling post may have said something that could possibly be construed as supporting the addition of this to the standard curriculum. Still not advocating replacement.