Just to let you know and put your mind at ease, this lesson was my child's (age 11) most favorite out of the whole book! He even made birthday cards for the entire family with their numbers. They do get it. ;)

Thank you, Cassie, and Cate, for your responses. I did decide to use Life of Fred instead of Right Start. It just seemed clear to me that if I myself had such a hard time with that first lesson, my daughter would end up in tears in trying to do it. I will still try to introduce some magic squares during the year, and do some other things to encourage her to think outside the box, but this doesn't seem like it would be a good fit for us to start with Level E. Probably works much better doing the earlier levels as well. Thanks again.
Susan