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I've taken on the task of teaching my granddaughter to drive. She prefers me over her parents as to her, they are "nervous nellies". We've had two lessons so far, starting in empty parking lots and then on quiet neighborhood streets. I know we need to start on larger roads, stoplights, lane changing etc. Just not sure how quickly or how slowly to proceed.
If anyone out there has done this recently, any advice or pointers would be greatly appreciated. How many lessons? When to graduate to merging on freeways? How to know when she is capable of moving on to more challenging driving. Anything will help. It's been 50 years since I learned to drive and I don't really remember all the steps and hours of practice needed before taking the final test.
We opted for paid instructors. I can tell you that in 4 sessions they had the boys driving on the freeway into Atlanta during rush hour. I never could have done that. Instructors must have nerves of steel. Props to you!
WOW I taught my 4 kids, 3 of my nine grandkids and one of their friends. Not all at the same time.
My success was never showing them I was afraid, never yelling at them, and letting them know I trusted them.
We live in the country, in the mountains, so they all learned skills not taught in drivers training. After they learned to maneuver the narrow mountain curvy (seldom used) roads, I took them on the 4 lane highway so they would learn about passing, using their signals, mirrors and how NOT to get angry at someone else's bad habit because of road rage. Then a trip to the shopping center for practice pulling in and backing out of parking spaces. Finally s in our own driveway teaching them to parallel park.
The biggy for all of them and one that pretty much made them lose sleep was a trip to our lake property in Ohio. They had to maneuver the car through Cincinnati and around the loop and on to Dayton and my family, and finally to the lake for a weekend of camping
Finally, back home we made a trip or two through the drivers course before scheduling the driver test. All of them passed on first try
Unless you have a lot of patience and really enjoy teaching, I would recommend another way.
We opted for paid instructors. I can tell you that in 4 sessions they had the boys driving on the freeway into Atlanta during rush hour. I never could have done that. Instructors must have nerves of steel. Props to you!
Currently teaching DD, I have no advice, my child cannot seem to master the art of turning. We are still on unpopulated streets in under construction sub divisions, she is not ready for the streets. I am contemplating driving school as she is afraid of driving and I don't think I can fix that like a pro might be able to.
Practice a lot on empty lots (we went to one of the schools) until she gets confidence. That means, to me, she knows where the car is in space, stopping distances, etc.
I got a bunch of orange cones my kids had to drive around, do maneuvers around, etc. We did that for a long time before they hit the road. I would also use the same vehicle and not switch around. They can do that after they get their license.
They also went to driving school with a certified instructor.
We opted for paid instructors. I can tell you that in 4 sessions they had the boys driving on the freeway into Atlanta during rush hour. I never could have done that. Instructors must have nerves of steel. Props to you!
Well worth the money for this family, but I still got a few gray hairs out of the experience, and I still have one kid to go.
Practice in empty lots and have her drive in the actual aisle space and turn as though there were really cars parked there.
When she's ready for streets, go on a sunday morning, early, so there isn't much traffic. Practice Right turns first, then l
Left. Make sure she understands which lane you can turn into with each. Then practice changing lanes and using the mirrors.
I let a driving instructor do the freeway stuff! Good Luck!
Patience. Mine was really scared to drive. But when they want to go someplace, they are going to have the courage to learn. My daughter wanted to go to the mall with friends. That meant she had to get on the freeway eventually. So like everyone, we started out in empty parking lots, moved on to quiet streets, then I had her get up early on a Sunday morning and we drove on the freeway, eventually doing it all the way to the mall. Do it early (6am here) on a Sunday morning and no one was on the road. Eventually when she became comfortable with no one on the road, we bumped it up to 7am with a scant few ars merging on and off and changing lanes, then we moved it to 8am, etc. Eventually she was good, not great with the freeway. To this day she will still turn off the radio and ask passengers to have quiet conversation (and not with her!) if traffic is heavy or she is in a situation where she really has to concentrate.
The ost difficult thing our kids have to do for the driving test is parallel park. We live in a semi-rural area and they never have to use this skill. A set of tall orange cones and lots of practice was the only way to win that battle.
Lastly, there is a FREE driving experience called Drivers Edge. Google it and see if it is coming to a place near you. It is a great one-day experience for evasive maneuvers, teaching about stopping distances, and talking about lots of other issues like drinking and driving. The instructors are mostly race car drivers who generously give of their time. The vehicles they teach in are all equipped with the highest level of safety equipment. In our area the highway patrol makes a day of it, providing their own simulators and lots of additional fun stuff for the kids. Part of the day will be spent in a classroom, but most of the day is spent in the cars. If they have one in your area it is an awesome experience for your young driver.
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