Oh really?
There are public libraries just about everywhere, filled with books. These books can be checked out for free. If the children read some of those books, they would, practically by osmosis, figure out what a semicolon is and how it's used, among other things. Even if all they read was fiction they'd learn a lot.
I wonder why these children don't read?
Haven't you, as an adult, stumbled upon something which you realize you know nothing about?
I left high school thinking I had a core of basic knowledge which would be the foundation my college years were built upon. Guess what? I couldn't have placed any historic event in the correct decade. I have to consult my cookbook to figure cups vs ounces vs whatever. I had only a very general knowledge of world geography. Most of my grammar comes from "instinct". I have always read a great deal, so I can usually figure what "sounds right" but I couldn't explain it to anyone.
But I had NO idea that there was so much that I didn't know. I was a smart kid, I took honors classes, and got good grades. I did my reading, wrote my papers and assumed I was being educated.
Ummm... does like reading contain, like, graphics or something? I mean, is there like video or audio?