We read lots and lots of books and had occasional essays, but no training on how to write an essay. We were supposed to have learned that in middle school.

We didn’t do grammar, vocabulary, or spelling in my high school classes. But there were some remedial type classes some of my friends took which offered those components. I tested out of English 101 and 102 for college, but I think there was a bit of grammar in even some of those early college classes. I know the remedial classes offered it. I ended up teaching undergraduates while I was in graduate school. The class was related to public policy (so not language arts). Sadly, not one person in that very large class could properly construct a sentence and/or relay a coherent thought. They should have all failed on that alone. They weren’t allowed to fail. This was a fairly large and somewhat reputable state university. I write all that to say, most high schoolers still need to work on basic language mechanics.