Symbolic manipulation is a fundamental concept few kids are exposed to early. Providing exposure thereto, thru whatever means, gives her a cognitive tool for ap

Symbolic manipulation is a fundamental concept few kids are exposed to early. Providing exposure thereto, thru whatever means, gives her a cognitive tool for applying motor skills, social interactions, problem solving, etc. before any other kids can; this is an advantage. Indeed, the sheer brilliance of this game is the separation of the concrete blandness of raw numbers and plain symbolic letters (which she's already having enough meaning imputed upon while learning to read) from the pure symbology and entertaining rules applied thereto. That's why I'm a programmer: the joy of symbolic manipulation; this game starts her down the same track. I gave some positive feedback, yes, but the bulk of that was just acknowledging her excitement in creating a new "monster" and next to nothing about the algebraic content. She took her own interest in the game far beyond any parent-pleasing feedback she got.