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sunnyviewmom
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| Posted: May 25 2010 at 5:29pm | IP Logged
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I have seen online driving courses that help prepare teens for the written exam for a specific state (Iowa, in my case). These look really good to me! But I don't know if I can trust them. I have no experience with this. Have any of you used something like this or known anyone who has? If so, please advise.
Thank you very much!
Dana
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SallyT
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| Posted: May 27 2010 at 11:35am | IP Logged
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How useful they are probably depends on your state's regulations regarding teen drivers. If all you need to do is get a learner's permit (or license),and the state doesn't get involved in how you prepared your child to pass either the written or the driving test, then an online course could be a good thing.
Here in NC, all teen driver MUST complete driver's ed, including six hours of driving time with a certified instructor, BEFORE applying for a learner's permit. In our case, online courses are explicitly not a state-approved option, so would be a waste of time and money. Here, you either have to take driver's ed through your local high school (for free, but always oversubscribed), or find a state-certified private instructor (which we did - the best $400 we ever spent). You have to present a certificate of completion of the approved course, plus(as homeschoolers) another document from the state certifying that you are a student in good standing, before you can take the test.
But if all you need is to go in and pass a test, and you don't have to have any documentation showing that you've passed a state-approved course, then an online course could be a good thing, if it will help your prospective driver engage more with the material in the drivers' handbook from which the test material will be taken. As long as the material lines up with what's likely to be asked on the test, then I wouldn't see that there would be any problem. (but that's probably what you're really asking -- does it line up with what's on the test? And I don't know the answer to that, sorry!).
Good luck! This is all very fresh in my mind for the first time, in case you can't tell. ("Whoa! Watch out for the parked cars!")
Sally
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guitarnan
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| Posted: May 27 2010 at 11:54am | IP Logged
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Our state is the same (Maryland) - only classroom driver's ed/training with a state-approved skill is allowed.
Teens have to log 60 hours behind the wheel to take their driving test, too. (I thought it was draconian...until we did it. It didn't take that long, really, and my son was a very confident driver by the time he took the test.)
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ALmom
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| Posted: May 27 2010 at 9:25pm | IP Logged
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Don't know anything about on-line driving instruction. Honestly, our state doesn't require much, but depending on your insurance company, you get an insurance break for drivers ed course and that might have worked - not sure. They have started to require a certain amount of time driving with a permit- but by the time we let our children get their license, they've driven tons more than that. As far as I know, no one has ever asked to see a documented version of this.
The drivers license handbook - we can get a hard copy/ or at least print it off of - free of charge. That is all the children needed to do to take the test for a permit, then you come back in later to take the actual driving test. It was insanely simple test of common sense. The main thing in our state seems to be that you have a piece of paper from the school that you are a student in good standing and aren't skipping classes - or if you are, you meet one of the exceptions for teens getting a license when not in school.
When we did driving training with our oldest, our insurance required a certified driving class to get a discount and we made sure to do whatever got that discount. We did one - waste of time and money except for the savings on our discount. DD learned tons more from driving with dad. Her comment, she drove wherever she wanted with the examiner in the car, the certified teacher in the car, the teacher never commented on anything, never made her vary type of driving (highway, etc.). She did take her to the actual driving test route and run her through it once. We also had to watch a worthless film the insurance co. gave us. My husband found a much better one on PBS and simply taped it for all of ours to use. (We watched the one from the insurance co for the discount and the one from PBS for actual benefit). The PBS one was a simulated - hit the button type of thing and they were teaching you to be observant, etc. kind of interactive which was more engaging than listening to a lecture about the dangers of drinking or whatever (true though it was, it wasn't something we needed to hear repeated over and over and over in practically the same words for an hour).
Next 2 children, we have different insurance that doesn't require drivers training - husband has done all the training. He drills them on lots of things - what would you do .... and he makes sure they have done a lot of a wide variety of driving and that he is comfortable both with their driving and their attentiveness to finer points on these drives. I really don't think a course would help.
I'd be very, very cautious about letting child go off driving with a driver instructor you don't know from these driving schools, so if this helps you fill some sort of requirement without having to do the send teen dd out with strange man driving a car with no one else in it but dd, I'd sure do it. They had some problems with some inappropriate things with one of the local driving schools. We requested a female driver, as they will not allow parent to ride in car with student and/or worked out shared class with another teen we knew. We were not at all keen about this whole thing and did lots of investigating - and requested a specific trainer at one point for safety more than ability to teach - someone we trusted could vouch for them.
Janet
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sunnyviewmom
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| Posted: May 31 2010 at 7:32pm | IP Logged
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Thanks for the helpful information ladies! This is new to me so there is a lot to think about. I really appreciate your input!
God bless, Dana
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: Online Driving Instruction?
