David Pratt

David Pratt, a quiet, respectful, friendly young man, is the second of nine homeschooled children. He grew up in a suburb of Atlanta, GA on his family's 31 acres of land. He and his siblings would spend much of their time outside, as his family built a full outdoor basketball court, tennis court and football field as well as trails around the pond. His parents chose to homeschool David and his siblings due to their strong conviction in the Catholic faith. Living in an area of the country where attending an academically strong private Catholic school is very expensive, it was more feasible to homeschool their kids in the Catholic tradition. Additionally, it would ensure that their children were raised well.

As a child, David was homeschooled from elementary school through high school. He took self-paced, self-taught classes that had scheduled tests with Seton Home Study. His classes included the typical English, history, math and science courses, as well as language and Bible study. Accelerated classes were offered, which allowed for a student to skip grades in math or another subject. 

Outside of school, David participated in tennis and golf tournaments, as wells as played guitar, piano and flute. He was also incredibly active in his church. He not only played guitar for his church services from 7th to 12th grade, he also participated in parish activities such as family retreats. During three summers, David and his brothers worked at the Eucharistic Conference in Atlanta, GA playing music. David has also worked with a family friend at Mendoza at the University of Notre Dame.  

When asked to consider how homeschooling may have affected his relationships with his family, David noted that it kept his family very tight-knit, which may not have been possible had they not been homeschooled considering how many children there are. David mentioned that, being an older brother, he would help his younger sibling with school when needed, however they often turned to their mom for help with academics. Additionally, since he and his brothers were always around the house, they would often go play a game of pick-up in their yard. David noted that the biggest affect homeschooling had on his relationships with his family is that it taught him patience and how to interact with young children (his youngest sibling is still  4 years old) as well as adults. 

Now, David is a freshman at the University of Notre Dame. Retrospectively, he believes that his homeschooling education served the purpose intended. He and his siblings were raise in the Catholic tradition in a much more controllable way than going to public school. While David is glad he was homeschooled, he does admit that it does have drawbacks. He was not able to see his friends much. He also wasn't able to participate in organized team sports, however this was due more in part to their family size than lack of programs for homeschooled children. 

In terms of learning style, David recognizes that homeschooling has molded him into a visual and verbal learner. Upon entering college, he had difficulty pacing himself to the schedule since his education until now has been self-paced. He struggled to learn how to take notes from a lecture, since he had never done so before, however he continues to succeed since he is a very efficient, independent studier. He noted that while being in a class with other students is new, it does not intimidate him. He does not always like how the other students act, however in general he recognized that the other students are very nice. 

Some academic advantages of homeschooling that he recognizes include his religious education. He notes that often times in Sunday School settings, his family was often excluded from certain tests of knowledge since it was assumed their children would win. Even still, he says that of all of his classes, his religions class was the easiest. However, religion was also present in his English and history lessons as well. He is looking forward to taking Theology classes at the University of Notre Dame to test his knowledge. 

When speaking with him, it became incredibly apparent that he is a family man. However, in keeping with his upbringing, David identifies the "American Dream" as his future lifestyle "if God wants it". He hopes to become a mechanical engineer and invent something that improves society. He joking added that he and his father could work as a team, since Mr. Pratt works as an electrical engineer. He hopes to find a woman who takes her Catholic faith seriously, and from there the rest would "fit into place". He, similar to his parents, wants a large family. While he admits that this does not provide for much one-on-one time with his children, he does not view this as an issue. Since he was always around his parents, there was no need for true one-on-one, which he hopes will be the case with his children. 

David stresses that homeschooling is not necessarily his first choice of education for his future children. His decision would depend heavily on the the schools in the area in which his family lives. He would consider the teaching staff, how the students act, and what material is taught when making his decision. He emphasizes that he would never send his children to public school since a parent cannot control what the children are exposed to and therefore makes it difficult to ensure that a child will grow up to be a good person. He concludes by stating that he wouldn't mind homeschooling his children he would simply have to make sure they are socialized and play organized team sports [3].