I agree with you. Children also need to know that a quadratic equation is a way to describe a physical thing, such as the arch of a bridge. I never understood that and no one ever told me that. I figured it out on my own when, as an adult, I restudied math. If they could see that math is a descriptive language that we all make use of, whether we fully realize it or not, they would then A) more readily understand math, and B) see its worth rather than question its worth.