Maths is not pattern matching. There's a lot of beauty to be had in playing around with numbers; some of the biggest, deepest unsolved theorems of mathematics can be expressed so that fifth and sixth graders can understand them. Combinatorics and probability can be easily taught to kids, and even the basics of abstract algebra can be expressed in an easily understandable way.

These topics are much more fascinating than mere calculus could ever be, but this requires people to stop viewing mathematics solely as a tool, and start viewing it as a way to reason about the world.