Robert Einarsson wrote:

"Any k to 12 teacher who needs grammar curriculum can simply
plug into this web site [Ed Vavra's]  and there it is, ready to go.  It is
undoubtedly an effective and self-explanatory program, and it
bespeaks dedicated labour (something we on this list are all
familiar with)."

Yes, it's a great resource, and Ed should be commended highly (and often)
for all he has done.

The problem doesn't lie so much with what is available in teaching resources
(though there is always room for more), but rather with the lack of
implementation in primary and secondary education. Asking "any K-12 teacher"
to implement a program is like asking someone to breath in a vacuum. It is
practically useless for a single teacher to develop or use a curriculum and
write lesson plans if the work is not continued in some sort of logical and
sequential manner in the years that follow. Certainly, instruction should be
well advanced before the upper grades of high school, but usually students
are taught nothing, very little, or the same few repeated error-based topics
(run-on sentences, parts of speech, etc.);  and they rarely learn any of it
for longer than it takes to pass a quiz. The sixth grade teacher has no clue
what went on in fifth grade, even within a single school system.

I think this problem is a large part of what Ed is frustrated about.

Unless we have a complete K-12 program within a school system - whether Ed's
or another good program - the material will not be learned.

One big question that remains unanswered (unanswerable?) is whether or not
there is a "proper sequence" of content matter in the world of grammar.
Personally, I don't think it is possible to absolutely codify what should
follow what (which CAN be done with mathematics). One thing is certain:
Those few school systems with a K-12 Language Arts Coordinator (and they are
getting fewer every year) are not focusing on the issue; it's still
literature and composition focused.

We can only make change by a large group effort, with at least some measure
of agreement as to what should be done. Isn't that why ATEG got started?

Paul E. Doniger
The Gilbert School
"Reason enslaves all whose minds are not strong enough to master her." - G.
B. Shaw