Punctuation lesson

I hate to be a nag, I really do, but I've been driven to it. In the past week, I've read three different posts by moms who homeschool that were filled with punctuation errors of a very specific kind. I don't give a flying fig whether people choose to homeschool or to send their kids to school. But I do think that if you are in charge of teaching your kids, you'd better make darn sure you are teaching them the right thing. And lest you think I give school teachers a pass - I've been known to send handouts and flyers back to my kids' school with editing marks all over them. So there.

Here they are: three very simple rules.

1. PERIODS AND COMMAS ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS GO INSIDE QUOTATION MARKS.

(Unless you live in Canada or England, where there doesn't seem to be any rule at all.)

Examples:

She said, "I want to go to the mall."

"I want to go to the mall," she told him.

We read three articles in English class: "Effective Study Habits," "Training for Life," and "How to Succeed in College."

2. QUESTION MARKS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS GO INSIDE QUOTATION MARKS IF THEY ARE PART OF THE QUOTE; OUTSIDE IF THEY AREN'T.

Examples:

Puzzled, she asked the doctor, "What do you mean I'm pregnant?"

Who wrote "To be, or not to be"?

"How thrilling!" she exclaimed.

3. COLONS AND SEMICOLONS ALWAYS GO OUTSIDE QUOTATION MARKS.

There, now I feel better. I'm climbing off my soapbox and turning off caplock and getting back to my real job.