I think there's value in teaching a student to deal with confusion. I seek out chances to intentionally confuse my kids, and let them sort things out on their own. If I wrote a textbook, I'd use all sorts of names, make up problems where all the persons' names started with the same letter, etc.
Maybe that's why Age of Problem Solving appeals to me. I've always made DS7 noodle things out for himself, and it seems to stress that approach heavily. My experience is that, discussions of cognitive load aside, training a kid to handle whatever's thrown at them makes them stronger. A lot of it comes down to attitude.
