Another year has come and gone, but once your teen hits 16, it means more than adding another candle to the cake.
Around this age, teens begin learning to drive and become of legal age to get their license. Although this is an exciting milestone, it can also be one of the most stressful periods. Distractions and other drivers can be enough to cause concern, but there are ways to make the learning process easier.
If you want help learning how to teach your teen to drive, take a look at the tips below!
1. Manage Your Emotions
One of the worst things you can do while your child prepares for their driving exam is stress them out.
Many teens get discouraged or don’t properly learn because of their parents. Although it’s good for your teen to understand the risks, you don’t want to overwhelm them with negative info or increase their anxiety. Practice deep breathing and view errors as an opportunity to learn.
2. Explore New Areas
During a driving exam, your teen will be instructed to go on different roads.
Exploring can help expose your child to any situation they’ll encounter during the exam. Your teen can gain driving skills while learning more about their community and traffic. If you don’t have a lot of time, consider signing your teen up for a 5-Hour Course (MV-278).
3. Learn How to Teach Your Teen to Drive Through Modeling
There’s no better way to teach something than by modeling it.
Driving safely and being aware of others on the road can help your teen drive. From a young age, you can play games to help them understand driving and learn how to spot other drivers on the road. Finding motorcycles and pedestrians is recommended since they are often overlooked.
4. Motivate Your Teen
Learning something new can lead to frustration and self-doubt for teens.
Your child might be going to driving practice and learning the material, but it’s not enough to help them feel prepared. A lack of motivation and self-trust could be holding your teen back, but you can foster a positive mindset. Motivation and constructive criticism can help them gain trust in themselves.
If you respond to your teen with fear, anger, or frustration, they are more likely to shut down. Deep breathing can help you control your emotions so you can guide your teen.
5. Go out in Different Conditions
You can’t predict what the weather will be like when your teen takes their test, so you need to prepare for everything.
Letting your teen practice driving in different conditions is essential if you don’t want them to panic on the roads. Snow, rain, and night driving can be challenging, especially for new drivers. Each time they go into a different terrain, offer advice, and go over the basics again.
Take Your Hands off the Wheel
Learning how to teach your teen to drive requires patience, modeling, and a positive mentality.
As a parent, it’s your job to prepare your teen for the road, no matter how anxious it makes you. When everyone in the car is feeling worried, self-doubt can overcome your child and increase their risk behind the wheel.
If you want more info about safe driving and parenting your teen, check out our blog for the latest content!
