To recall my elementary school days, I kind of went through the motions in Grade 1. I did OK, but wasn't really all that excited about school content.

About half way through Grade 2, I was "reading" a Mickey Mouse comic book. At that point, I was able to read and comprehend most of the words in those little balloons. The whole story took a whole new meaning for me. Other comic books were then easily devoured. I then enjoyed the reading lessons in school. I was often in the library reading new stories. But I had to go through Grade 1 and half of Grade 2 to get to that stage.

Unfortunately, I can't see how we can make the content more relevant to students between 6 and 18 years old. If we wait until they see some real-life application to teach them about fractions, we won't be teaching this elementary-learned skill until they are finishing high school. And even then, many high school students still won't see the point.

We need to teach the skills before they are relevant. I can't see anyway around that.