Parent Involvement Guide
Introduction
Learning and developing driving skills is a complex task. It is important for your teenager to get as much driving experience as possible while he/she is enrolled in driver education. For this reason, we are asking you to provide practice driving sessions for your son or daughter.
Please understand that home driving practice is not intended to be a substitute for in-class driving sessions. However, home practice is recommended for several reasons.
The amount of time that a student is enrolled in driver education is minimal considering the complexity of the driving task. Students must learn the basic skills of a lifetime task in driver education.
A considerable amount of in-class instruction time is necessary for students to develop the fundamental driving skills and the necessary advanced and emergency driving techniques.
The Parent Involvement Guide is designed to help you provide useful and enjoyable practice sessions for your teenager while he/she is enrolled in driver education. A performance checklist that can be used as a practice guide is included on this website in pdf form for you to download.
It should be pointed out that you, as a parent, are not expected to replace the driver education instructor during home practice sessions. Instead, you should concentrate on supervising your son/daughter while he/she practices driving skills that have been learned in class. Please do not allow your teenager to practice skills that are beyond his/her present ability.
Safeguarding the Driving Situation
Although many parents are wary of teaching their children how to drive, home practice sessions can greatly improve a student's driving skill.
There are several precautions that you can take to prevent problems during home practice sessions. Become familiar with these guidelines before accompanying your son or daughter on a practice drive.
- During the first few practice sessions, it is best to have your teenager drive at a low speed.
- Avoid nighttime practice sessions until your student driver has gained skill in daytime driving. Because night driving is much different from driving during the day, it is wise to include several nighttime practice sessions once your son/daughter is ready.
- Avoid scheduling practice sessions during the morning or evening rush hour.
- Look and think well ahead of your beginning driver. Try to anticipate any problems that he/she might encounter.
- Use a hand-held mirror to keep track of traffic conditions to the rear.
- Driver education vehicles have dual braking controls as a safeguard. Your dual control is your teenager’s ability to stop the car quickly and dependably.
- Turn off the ignition
- Take steering control
- Shift to NEUTRAL to cut off power to the wheels
- Reach across the car with your foot and apply the brakes
- Reach across the car with your foot and depress the accelerator.
As mentioned earlier in this booklet, you as a parent are not expected to replace the driver education instructor during practice driving sessions with your son or daughter. Instead you should supervise your teenager while he/she practices driving skills that have been taught in class.
The following teaching tips are provided to assure you and your student driver of a safe and rewarding practice experience.
- Before beginning your first home practice session, be sure that your student driver can identify and operate the instruments and controls in your vehicle.
- Decide on a practice area before leaving home. Choose a quiet park, parking lot or residential area for the first few sessions. It is never a good idea to allow a beginner to drive in traffic until he/she can control the vehicle with confidence. You may want to drive to the practice area instead of allowing your teenager to drive through traffic to get there.
- Before leaving home for a practice session, be sure that your student driver knows his/her destination and what he/she will be practicing.
- Choose one driving skill to concentrate on each session. Also, it is a good idea to preview skills from previous practice periods during each session.
- While your teenager is driving, give directions clearly and well in advance of the situation.
- If your teenager is having difficulty with a particular driving skill, it may help to demonstrate the skill to him/her.
- Expect your teenager to make mistakes during practice driving sessions. Mistakes are a natural part of learning. When your teen makes a driving error, correct him/her gently. He/she probably will feel pressure over making a mistake even if you make no comment. Courtesy, honesty and patience are required if your teen is to benefit from a practice session
- Be patient with your teenager. Usually it will take several practice attempts for a beginning driver to learn a skill.
- Reward success with praise. If your teenager shows improvement, tell him/her. If he/she handles a driving situation with skill, praise him/her. One of the greatest rewards you can give a student driver is your approval.
- Try to keep practice driving sessions short. Students learn more from shorter, more frequent lesions.
- Take a break or end the lesson when your student driver becomes tired or when his/her skills begin to deteriorate. Generally, your student will not improve when he/she is tired.
- Setting a good example while you are driving is one of the best teaching methods you can follow. It is likely that your teenager will imitate your driving style.
You can help your son or daughter develop driving judgment and decision-making skills while you are driving by discussing various driving situations with him/her. Several examples are listed below.
- When you are approaching an intersection, ask your beginning driver whether the intersection is controlled or uncontrolled.
- When stopped at a stop sign, ask your teen to tell you when it is safe to continue through the intersection. If you are turning at the intersection, ask him/her to choose a safe gap for turning.
- When you must wait for oncoming traffic before turning left, ask your student driver to select a safe gap for turning.
- When approaching a traffic light, ask your teen whether or not the light will change yellow by the time you reach the intersection.
- When you are approaching an uncontrolled intersection, ask your student driver to scan for cars and decide whether or not you should stop.
- When looking for a parking space, ask your teenager to judge whether or not a particular space is large enough for your car.
- When you are parked a the curb, ask your beginning driver to tell you when it is safe to pull into traffic
- When following another vehicle in traffic, ask your student driver whether you should pass the car ahead or remain in your position
- When you are about to meet an oncoming vehicle on a narrow street, ask your teen whether you should stop and let the other vehicle pass or proceed without stopping
- When entering a highway, ask your beginning driver to tell you when it is safe to merge into the through traffic lane.
- Parent Involvement Guide
- Performance Checklist{printable form}
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