My mother gave birth to five girls and six boys. Yes, it was a large family, but we lived on a large farm in southeastern Pennsylvania's "Dutch" country. Mom passed on to all of us her skills in cooking, canning, baking and gardening needed to survive the 1940s, '50s and '60s.

Manchester junior softball pitcher Ashley Harbarger will readily admit, “(Big sister) was my role model, but I always wanted to be better than her.”

Everyone needs an occasional mental break, or “junk food” for the brain. But when questionable programming becomes the main diet, it crowds out more meaningful activities. Reading, sports, hiking, conversation, and board games utilize action-oriented skills, mental or physical, that contribute to development and education.

The news headline reads: “Graduation Rates a 'Catastrophe' in Cities” and indicates that among larger cities, 34.1 percent of Cleveland Municipal City School District students received their diplomas.

If your child’s grades are fine, you may feel there is no need to meet with the teacher beyond the occasional parent-teacher conferences scheduled by the school. But additional meetings give parents more information about the classroom environment, teacher-student relationships, and even who’s who among your child’s classmates.

Parents select private schools for various reasons. Some want their children to learn from a particular world-view, while others appreciate the specialties offered by certain schools, such as in-depth reading skills, problem-solving or critical thinking curricula, strong math or science programs, and college prep.

he U.S. public school system educates a significant number of students in our country. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that as of 2001-2002, there were 47.7 million students enrolled in elementary and secondary public schools, being taught by 3 million teachers.