The fact that English class is required for all 12 years of someone's schooling says something about the students. If you are still learning English when you are 18 years old then you fail at life. But this isn't the kid's fault, it's the school's, for thinking kids need to know this. Do I need to know how to find the transversal of a triangle? No, and I forgot as soon as we took the test about stuff like that. School is a social device designed to babysit kids for 8 hours a day while the parents go off to work. The only thing taught that is worthwhile is history (and even that isn't necessary)- the rest of it is interesting but it is still useless bullshit! The best way is to foster a love of learning in your kids, as my parents did, and your child will teach themselves the way the world works and anything else they want to know. All the practical skills that I still use and remember today were taught to myself by myself. The schools do nothing.

"I try not to let my schooling get in the way of my education."
-Mark Twain