@jdiakiw Hi Jerry, Oh my goodness, you were a superintendant of schools! I could sense your extreme education! You would have loved me as your teacher. I loved the article you wrote! I learned long ago in my teaching journey, that the main ingredient in learning all grammar and spelling is through reading!!!! Read, read, read, and the rest comes naturally!!!! No need at all for grammar or spelling lessons except for within the context of something that a child is working on. The main thing is to make sure the what a child reads is totally comprehensible; the student must make meaning, or is not reading!!!! Lots of kids who hate to read have learned this hate because they choose books way beyond their comprehension. During my quiet class reading time, I would sit in the back of the class, calling on 1 kid at a time, and checking on what they were reading to make sure it was comprehensible. If comprehensible, I would then help the student just enjoy the book!!!! I made avid readers out of kids. And the more they read, the more their writing would improve. The more they read, the more their grammar would improve. And throw away spelling books, altogether. A normal brain spells correctly, with occasional gliches. You might was to read the philosophies of Stephen Krashen, a learning a second language guru. His philosophies set me on the right track of teaching. So much of education is just taught wrong. Read this guy!!! You will adore him!!! Lori Renee