I don't know about this particular software, but I'm not too sure about this whole "giving my kid an advantage in life early on" business.
I think there was a study done [1] that showed that love and security and the availability of parents and family mixed with a certain degree of freedom were more crucial to success later in life than skills such as math. It allowed children to explore the world on their own, but if anything bad happened they could always rely on parents to be there for them. To tell them things would be fine, or to put a band-aid on their wounds. This allows children to develop trust in others, self-confidence and a positive outlook in life. While at the same time motivating them to explore the world.
However, another very important thing was allowing the kids to join in when the family (or other kids) were solving a problem. This could be anything from helping with cooking, fixing something in the house or collecting firewood. I assume the benefit of this was not only practice of problem-solving and social skills, but also allowing them to develop a sense of self-worth.
(The problem is, I guess, that our modern world is solving all our problems for us. We don't repair, we replace. We buy solutions for things that we'd had better dealt with ourselves. And so forth. And that we put so much emphasis on self-reliance, which seems to be a good thing but in reality has serious disadvantages. I believe this is one of the big (root-) problems of our modern civilisation that nobody seems to be talking about, but I might be wrong.)
Furthermore, the ability to work on a specific problem _with others_ is a different from being able to do maths alone. It teaches all the right things in life.
So I guess the point is: If you want your kid to succeed, be there for and allow it to take part in life the way he or she choses to (all within reasonable limits of course, you still need raise your kids to be decent etc.), especially with others.
I agree with everything you say. Personally I work on mobile apps for a living, but our family does not own a tablet and we seldom allow our 2 daughters - ages 1 and 5 - to use our phones.
But! As a parent, there are times when you need to distract the kids for a few minutes. My main goal during those distraction times would be that they are distracted sufficiently, and enjoy themselves. If they happen to also "learn Algebra", well I don't really have a problem with that. So I see this as something that is probably worth having on a tablet instead of the completely made-up-off-the-top-of-my-head Disney Princess Tea Party App.
.... love and security and the availability of parents
and family mixed with a certain degree of freedom were
more crucial to success later in life than skills such
as math.
So let's suppose you have all that stuff and then add math as well!
designer of DragonBox Algebra here...
0- i totally agree with your post : )
1-the game was never conceived as a headstart product!
2-our goal is to deliver products that introduce the big ideas in math in an engaging and efficient way, because math can be such an unnecessary pain for many children
3-we recommend to play DragonBox with family members : )
4- your reference [1] could be about self regulation (social interaction primarily) and academic achievement: http://people.oregonstate.edu/~mcclellm/ms/Morrison,%20Ponit...
interesting point. It was not conceived as headstart, but it is sold as headstart. I want it as a real game, and i want it as an efficient learning tool. I want it for discovery and shared learning moment, and i want it for avoiding math challenges later. I want it for pleasure and i want it to teach very difficult stuff quickly. Seems like many contradictions here. arghh u revealed that i m human i guess : ), with incompatible goals and complex realities. At the same time, this complexity and contradiction makes it a very interesting challenge : )
I think there was a study done [1] that showed that love and security and the availability of parents and family mixed with a certain degree of freedom were more crucial to success later in life than skills such as math. It allowed children to explore the world on their own, but if anything bad happened they could always rely on parents to be there for them. To tell them things would be fine, or to put a band-aid on their wounds. This allows children to develop trust in others, self-confidence and a positive outlook in life. While at the same time motivating them to explore the world.
However, another very important thing was allowing the kids to join in when the family (or other kids) were solving a problem. This could be anything from helping with cooking, fixing something in the house or collecting firewood. I assume the benefit of this was not only practice of problem-solving and social skills, but also allowing them to develop a sense of self-worth.
(The problem is, I guess, that our modern world is solving all our problems for us. We don't repair, we replace. We buy solutions for things that we'd had better dealt with ourselves. And so forth. And that we put so much emphasis on self-reliance, which seems to be a good thing but in reality has serious disadvantages. I believe this is one of the big (root-) problems of our modern civilisation that nobody seems to be talking about, but I might be wrong.)
Furthermore, the ability to work on a specific problem _with others_ is a different from being able to do maths alone. It teaches all the right things in life.
So I guess the point is: If you want your kid to succeed, be there for and allow it to take part in life the way he or she choses to (all within reasonable limits of course, you still need raise your kids to be decent etc.), especially with others.
[1] wish I had a link.. :/