In the case of the multiplication tables, Minsky missed an opportunity to point out to the child that the product (a x b) of any two numbers in the multiplicati

In the case of the multiplication tables, Minsky missed an opportunity to point out to the child that the product (a x b) of any two numbers in the multiplication table can also be obtained by _counting_ the number of items in the multiplication table bound by the rectangle of height a and of width b. That would have provided additional motivation and insight into solving other problems (e.g., area).