Teen Teaching Tips

Tips for Teaching Your Teen How to Drive:

1) Safety should always be the main concern. When teaching your child how to drive, emphasize safe driving methods. Both good and bad driving habits develop their foundations at the beginning of a driver’s experience. Therefore, it’s important to start off on the right foot. Start each lesson by going over safe vehicle maintenance and rules needed for the day’s activities. Your teen will then learn by example and make this a part of daily driving practice.

You may also want to consider using some tools that help transform your car into a better training vehicle. The Parent-Teen Behind-the-Wheel Training Guide is specifically designed to help you, the parent, systematically teach your teen to drive safely and confidently with printable lessons that you can bring along when you teach practical skills in the car. This guide also includes a detachable rearview mirror. The mirror allows you to monitor the car's surroundings while driving and observe your child's driving techniques. You also will get our "Caution Student Driver" magnet. This notifies other drivers that a new driver is operating the vehicle.

2) Don’t get frustrated; remain calm. This may sound like an unreasonable request; teaching a nervous teen how to drive may one of the hardest things you will ever have to do. However, the tone of the driving lesson is set the minute you step into the car, perhaps even before. Let your teen learn at his or her own pace and take a deep breath if you find yourself becoming frustrated. The less stress your student experiences, the more space he or she will have to learn.Your teen will appreciate it and the lesson will progress more smoothly.

3) Go in with a gameplan. The more planning, the better. It may also be a good idea to practice driving to specific places your teen may drive to frequently (Movies, church, school). If he or she knows the route, driving will be less stressful.

4) Forget your own bad habits. There have probably been a few times in your own driving experience when you have gone above the speed limit, increased you speed for a yellow light, or forgotten to use your turn signal. Make sure you do not do any of this when your child is observing you. Your teens does not have any room to take short cuts.

5) Leave room for questions. If you have successfully accomplished all of the tips listed above, you teen should feel comfortable asking questions when he or she needs to. Remember to keep and open mind and be specific about your answers. Your teen will appreciate it.