Tina Robertson

(I know this is long, but I have too many details and too much experience to not share with you. Also, remember things can change through the years, but changes are slower when dealing with laws.)

When Mr. Senior 2013 started to drive, it wasn’t anything like I thought it would be. Oh, for sure the red tape that usually is associated with government offices was all I imagined it to be, but the way I thought my son would respond to driving was not what I thought it would be.

Now, that Mr. Awesome 2015 is learning to drive (although he held off a considerably longer time because we had moved to South America) I have learned a lot about driving.

Too, though you may not live in Texas, some of these things may apply to you and some of my tips may give you a heads up for asking the right questions in your area.

Besides, even from city to city in Texas, things are not the same. Also, not only do I want to share my personal experience, but I want to share some tips of teens who were in our homeschool group, some who are now on their own and even with families.

Look at my 4 tips Texas homeschool moms need for new teen drivers. Okay, I know many more are here than 4, but I don’t want to scare you, but arm you for this can do project.

Each teen is different.

You’re probably thinking, you’re not a kidding. But I promise, I am making a point here that I didn’t fully appreciate until later.

Looking at the teens in our group, a lot of them, like my kids, were homeschooled from the very beginning.

They had a different view of learning to drive and a good part of them just didn’t care if they learned to drive now or later.

Maybe it’s because they have been out in the world mingling for a good amount of time or maybe they viewed it as serious, but we had more teens who were pretty laid back than were waiting with bated breath to start driving.

Not all of the teens felt this way because some had a burning desire to get behind the wheel, but mostly our teens were pretty relaxed about when they got to driving.

The point I’m making is that unless you have a need, a teen can wait until he is even 17 and can still follow the teen track option.

Understand the difference between teen & adult driving options.

Another biggie to understand is that if you delay your teen driving, which is what happened in my case with Mr. Awesome 2015 is that he is now considered an adult. That doesn’t necessarily have negative advantages.

For example, with Mr. Senior 2013 I started off teaching him to drive and he did some work online. However, I was teaching the younger two boys and I had a driving school near me, so I took advantage of the convenience. (More on driving schools in a minute.)

With Mr. Awesome 2015, he is considered an adult and in a way it led to different options. I had more flexibility in some ways.

He didn’t have to take the mandatory classroom time that a teen has to take.

He was eligible to take the one day adult course training course and then apply for his license by doing the written test and driving test.

This doesn’t mean this is what we did because we are interested in him learning to be a safe driver and that comes only with behind the wheel time with another adult (me or his dad) in the car and/or a driving instructor too.

We had several other teens (especially girls) in our group do the same thing, which is to wait until they are considered adults in Texas. We all had the same thing to say about it, which is that it’s a great option too.

Understanding the differences too between a 15 year old and say a 19 year old, who now realizes the seriousness of getting behind the wheel makes teaching them easier.

Not quite as confident as they are when they are 15 years old and “know everything”, it’s actually a joy to teach an older child to drive.

I enjoyed teaching Mr. Senior 2013 driving at 16 years old too, but I am really loving it with Mr. Awesome 2015 who is older.

It’s important to understand the price package differences between a teen track and an adult track if you decide to delay driving.

Though it can be cheaper to teach an adult (in the eyes of the law) how to drive, it’s not necessarily so.

For example, if your teen has had plenty of driving experience around the farm, he may have a pretty good idea how to handle a vehicle.

Since we didn’t live on a farm, I am paying for Mr. Awesome 2015 to have behind the wheel instruction with an instructor. That is in addition to the adult class, which is classroom instruction only.

The beauty of this method is that I can pay as I go and then he can take the road test when he is ready and not wait the 6 months that an underage driver does when he gets a learning permit.

Ignorance Is Bliss! – I Only Wish

Comparing teen programs is a must do to get your moneys worth.

Look at these options to ask about or know about.

1. What type of reviews does the driving school have? If we had looked at the reviews more carefully of one driving school I chose for Mr. Senior 2013, we would have known about the reputation of one of the instructors who owned a bar. (ugggg) Of course, I had to switch to a different driving school.
2. How many driving instructors do they have? In other words, the classroom instruction is not hard to get, but when it comes time for your teen to get behind the wheel, is he or she fighting for the attention of 1 instructor or are there 3 or more? It makes a difference when it comes to scheduling drive times.
3. Can the driving school give both the written part of the test and the driving test? I didn’t have this option with my first kid or should I say that the school was too far for us.
4. In other cities, driving schools are approved by the DPS (department of public safety) to give the written test AND the road test when the time comes. That is a true help because having stood in line with Mr. Senior 2013 all day to do the written part of the test and then issue his permit, it was stressful. Driving schools where we live now can do the written test there and then you take your teen down to the DPS to stand in line for photo and finger prints only because he has already taken the written part of the test. So convenient! Did I mention taking the road test with a car your teen is use to driving at their driving school and with an instructor they know makes a huge difference. It keeps time dealing with the DPS down to very minimal, which is what you want.
5. Does the school drop off your teen back at your house after driving practice? This made a huge difference to me when teaching Mr. Senior 2013 because we lived out a ways in the country. It was a nice convenience when I had the other kids to have the school drop him back off at the house. It may seem small, but it was a convenience that I appreciated that I don’t have now in the bigger are I am living in. The school here in the city won’t do that or so they say.

Those are just a few things to help you ask more about the school you may be thinking of.

A few more things to know.

• There are two parts of the test basically, the written part and the road test.

The written part of the test can be taken by a teen about 3 days after getting classroom instruction.

They are ready to try for the learner’s permit. The written test comes in two parts. One part are road signs and the other questions are general questions like intersections, insurance and driving. They don’t have to do anything written after this. That is only time. After they complete time with you and the instruction, they are ready for the driving test (a.k.a road test) after 6 months.

This is one reason why I switched from online and went to the driving school because the online school we were doing didn’t help to slice between the information needed now to get the permit and the whole classroom instruction he needed to complete the driving school.

With the online driving school, it was like  Mr. Senior 2013 had to study everything before he could take the written test which is what is needed to get the permit. That is just our experience with our online school, they may not all be like that.

• Read the paperwork.

Don’t go down to DPS asking them if they can take a copy of the birth certificate. When they say original, that is what it means.

But also, know the way around things.

For example, I didn’t use the birth certificate for either one of  my kids. I used the original  Social Security card  and a passport (current of course.)

• Don’t sign the application until you get to DPS because the application says “don’t sign this part until you’re in front of the notary public or DPS”.

Don’t think DPS is going to highlight it in yellow for you the part where it says don’t sign until you are at the DPS office. You have to read with sharp eyes and ask questions about everything.

There is No Rush – Just Know Which Choice to Make

There are several more details to know, but this is a huge sweeping picture of how to get your teen on the road to driving.

Maybe when I get ready to do it the third time around, I may have it down.

Do you have any questions? Are you in the middle of this now? It’s an exciting time to have your kids driving.

That is all I get I all my grocery shopping done. (okay, okay)

Hugs and love ya,

Also, check out my category How To Homeschool: A Teen to Graduation for more tips in teaching teens.

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