Brandon over at
Siris blogs about different lists of the parts of speech. Yes, there's a history of difference and debate behind that list you learned in elementary school. I plan to teach my son the rules of grammar well before he gets to them in the classroom, and I think I'll also instruct him in the reasons and history behind the rules. I can see him a few years from now, in second grade, asking his language arts teacher whether and why she thinks an article is a type of adjective or an entirely different part of speech.
