I think this is pretty wonderful. Yes, it's not free, but I hardly think that promotes consumerism. The fact that I'm paying for it is completely not on my daughter's radar, so I don't understanding dinging it for that. And of course it uses the PBS characters, but it never feels like they are trying to sell my daughter anything. The use of the PBS characters helps to get her interested, so I think it's a plus. Sometimes you have to pay for quality products, and I feel this is quality. In the short time my daughter has been using this software, she's been very engaged, and she has noticeably improved in several of the skill areas that the site focuses on. I'm very keen on the parents section where we can see a progress chart of how she is progressing in a variety of areas as well as activities that we can encourage her to work on. It doesn't replace "real-world" activities, but it's a pretty darn good supplement.