People learn better when it is fun, playful, and seems to relate to or be useful for things they care about. Doing so is part of teaching it “head on” and teaching it well.

I’ve actually been teaching my 2nd grade son Math recently though Minecraft- things like using euclidean coordinates, triangulating positions, etc. we’re both having fun and he’s learning valuable ideas.

You seem to have a dry, joyless, and uninspired view of math and how it should be taught. Traditional math education has done an impressive job of turning something incredibly fun and useful into something that seems stodgy, dry, and pointless.

I’ve always had a fun playful view of math that I learned from my own parents and mentors, and I think that is what has led me to continue studying and using math to solve real world scientific problems as an adult.