The question of why math is important usually arises when children have learned how to count, add, substract, multiply, and divide; and they come to believe they know all they need to know to function adequately in life. After all, if one understands how to keep track of his own money, figure out what it means when a scale shows two additional pounds, or cut a cake so there'll be enough pieces for everyone, what else do we need to know?
The littlest children who don't like math can usually understand the explanation that knowing how to handle money, telling time, cooking, sharing things, or knowing how many of any item will be left if some are used, all require knowing math. Younger children can usually understand why it's important to know how to measure how tall something is or how heavy it is, and they can usually understand how doing things like wallpapering or hanging window shades call for knowing how to measure.
The littlest children who don't like math can usually understand the explanation that knowing how to handle money, telling time, cooking, sharing things, or knowing how many of any item will be left if some are used, all require knowing math. Younger children can usually understand why it's important to know how to measure how tall something is or how heavy it is, and they can usually understand how doing things like wallpapering or hanging window shades call for knowing how to measure.
