Back in the day (the 70's) I instituted a be'ur tefilla curriculum from grades 1-8 which was a part of the regular syllabus and appeared as a graded subject along with humash, dinim, etc. Making time to explain the davening so that children can understand what they are saying and why goes a long way towards an appreciation of the siddur, the daily davening and the avoidance of rote.
Each teacher can design an age appropriate program. There are many available sources to teach be'ur tefila on every level. Unfortunately, without this base knowledge, most adults as well will not fully appreciate the words that are uttered day in and day out. A hasid complained to the Ba'al Shem Tov about the difficulty of saying the same prayers every day and the rote nature of his davening. The Ba'al Shem could not comprehend the question. "My davening is never the same". As educators, this should be our objective.
Dr. Wallace Greene