I enjoy math, but I understand that a lot of kids find it, well about as fun as sitting in the waiting room at a dentist office to get a root canal. I think part of that comes from the lack of connection they see to what they are dealing with in their life or what they think they will need later on.
Even word problems, which should help bridge the gap from the abstract variables and mechanical process of "solving for x" to something at least remotely relevant are usually lacking in creativity. A kid probably won't buy 100 watermelons and 20 boxes of crayons, yet many word problems have this type of context to them far too often.
Some more updated textbooks have outdated questions with things like cell phone plans have become quite old. People typically no longer pay per minute, or have 200 minutes for x amount of dollars per month. They have unlimited plans, perhaps with data caps, and possibly hidden fees, etc. They are more interested in video games, sports, and having fun.
They obviously need the skills, but building logical thinking and problem-solving should be more of the focus when possible vs. "teaching to the test" which is so common. I know there have been efforts for more creative thought put into math, but I feel that it has still fallen short in practice. I don’t know what the solution is, and I know some prefer the more stripped down version of math that sticks to the core algebra/geometry concepts, but I wonder if more could ve done to really make some creative problems that can incorporate the skills necessary, while also tapping into those higher order thinking skills so kids don’t get bored and makes math more interesting and useful for students.