Grammar Shrammar!

I was going to vent today about how difficult one of my children has been lately and how frustrated I am.  But then I read The Homeschool Minute email and decided to pursue a lighter tone.  
I'm not a huge Ruth Beechick fan, but I know who she is and that she has written books on teaching kids to read and write.  She's old and respectable, right?  
I went to college a long time ago.  I graduated with a degree in English.  Blah  blah blah.  I eventually, ironically, taught high school English, though I knew nothing about teaching at the time.  And still, I always thought schools spent too much time on grammar and that sentence diagramming was a waste of time, paper, pencils, and brain power.  Still do.
So, when little old me (I?), full time homeschooling mama, has the same opinion as some respected, published, homeschooling legend, I'm tickled.  Here's what Ruth said in today's article:

It's Just Common Sense

Ruth Beechick, Curriculum Specialist 

I have seen an occasional engineering student who enjoyed diagramming. Everyone else thinks it is a dumb assignment. I do too. Research has not shown that knowing how to diagram makes better writing.

~ Ruth

(http://myemail.constantcontact.com/The-Homeschool-Minute---Let-s-Talk-about-Diagramming-Sentences.html?soid=1101381905269&aid=VRbwtDvoCvo)

It's like standardized testing and playing with matches: Just Don't Do it.