Learning how to drive is a significant milestone in the life of an individual. And although it is exciting, it can also be a scary thing. If your children want to learn how to drive, it is only normal that you as the parent will want to be involved in the process to help them as much as possible. However, teaching someone how to drive is not as easy as you may think. This article will discuss six things parents need to know when teaching a teen to drive. These tips will advise you of what you need to be aware of so that you are successful in teaching your child this new and crucial skill.
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You Will Need to Be Patient
A crucial thing to remember when you are teaching a teen to drive is that you will have to be patient. Even if you are usually a patient person, many emotions may arise during this process. Try not to let these get the best of you. It can be extremely difficult for someone to learn a new skill when the one teaching them is overreacting and presenting in a negative manner. You may quickly lose the connection you have with your child if you get angry with them for mistakes. Remember how you used to be when you were younger and this should help you keep calm.
Find The Best Approach That Works For Your Child
Every person is different and may have unique learning approaches. Do not try to teach your teen how you think it is best because it worked well for you or maybe worked well for your other children you have previously taught. Work with our son or daughter to find out what is best for them. Let them guide the sessions. Perhaps they feel more comfortable watching you or going through one specific thing for the entire session. Discuss this with them often – they are the learners so they should participate in the creation of how these lessons are delivered.
[Read: Top Parenting Tip for Raising Teens]
Support Them With Additional Courses
Even if you consider yourself to be a very good driver and have a lot of experience, this does not always mean you are the best person to teach your child how to drive. Remember that experienced drivers often develop their own set of very bad habits and these should not be passed along to a new driver. If you want to avoid this, the best thing to do is hire a professional driving tutor to deliver high quality intensive driving lessons to your teen. This does not mean that you cannot help them – if you support your teen alongside the professional lessons they are more likely to learn faster and pass their test on the first time.
Find a Good Location To Teach Them
Location is everything and new drivers do not want to be around loads of people or cars as they will put additional pressures on them. It will also be more pressure for you, trying to keep everyone safe. Make sure that you find a perfect location without traffic or cars. A car park is usually the safest option as long as it is not busy and there are no pedestrians walking. Even a near accident can be stressful and traumatic enough that it will put your teen off driving for good.
Teach Them By Modeling
Showing people what to do can be a great way to teach them and this includes driving. It may not seem doable but when you drive, teach your child the road trafficking rules and code. Have them look at signs and explain what each of them means. If you are a good driver and follow all the rules, it will set a good example for your teen and they will learn a lot from this. Make sure to be the best role model so that you pass on positive driving habits – what they see is likely to be what they mimic.
[Read: Preparing Teenagers For Adulthood: A Guide For Moms]
Mistakes Will Happen
As mentioned before you will need to be patient because mistakes will happen. Unless your teen was born with a driving gift they will make mistakes – everyone does when they first start learning how to drive. The important thing is to create the appropriate conditions for them to make mistakes rather than avoiding them. They will need to learn from any mistakes they make so try to remember this before starting your lessons. You should also be aware that no matter how prepared you think you are, it can be a scary situation to be in the passenger seat in the car where the driver has no experience.
Teaching Your Teen To Drive
Teaching your teen how to drive does not have to be emotionally draining. Make sure that you are aware of the tips discussed below so that you can both do this successfully.
For more on this topic, check out the full All About Teen collection
