LBS Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 (edited) Holy guacamole! All of a sudden I have a 15 year old. Now, while I firmly believe that kids shouldn't be on the road till 18 or 25 or so....I guess I still need to teach him to drive. Yep. In Virginia, there are four correspondence courses that are approved by Va. DMV: DriversEd.com I Drive Safely (idrivesafely.com) National Driver Training Institute (usdrivertraining.com) VADETS OnLine DRiver Education Course (vadriveredu.org) Has anybody researched these and done my work already? Any comparative comments would be helpful. I did search around WTM and found very little. Thanks, LBS Edited March 15, 2011 by LBS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkholland Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Hi! We didn't really research, just bought the cheapest approved program!:) We purchased driversed.com through the Homeschool buyers coop. Our second ds is using it now and it is very adequate. We are also in VA, so it is definately allowed. After they complete the course, we are having them do the driving portion through a driving school and then they have ther license. It seems quite painless for me :) My ds seems to chuckle a lot while doing the course and he also made a comment that he probably should have done it before he got his permit. He just read the va drivers manual booklet and took the permit test and passed. Now, he is taking the course and it seems to be a lot of review. But, he has learned new material also. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Our road trip so far on driver's ed: got the state driving manual read it took permit test got permit we're logging hours as she drives (have to have certain number of hours) We bought the National Driver Training Institute (usdrivertraining.com) course with book. seems nice and detailed on lots of things, which she likes. the videos aren't that great, but they work well enough. We hope to avoid the local driving school (cha ching! and extra time) I didn't really research all of the options for program. I had a friend who used this one with at least 3 of his children. ok, that and a discount offer from hslda. good enough. :) -crystal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 My daughter used the VADETS program a few years ago. It came with a textbook, video, and online lessons. I remember that the lessons had quizzes built in and wouldn't let her progress until she had a suffieciently high score on each chapter. At the end of the course she had to take a final exam online. I vaguely recall that she was assigned a real teacher whom she could email with any questions, but I don't remember her needing to do that (other than to take care of paperwork). We were pleased with the course overall, and it earned her the certificate you need to present to the DMV in VA in order to get permission to proceed with the licensing requirements for homeschoolers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LBS Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 Thank-you, Karen, Crystal and Kathy! I get the impression that our state is more organized than some in that there is a nice page or two at DMV website dealing with what homeschoolers should do, and that is where I got the approved list and instructions for doing the classroom and in-car components. There is a short form for me to prove I'm the approved homeschool parent, that will allow me to get authorization to teach the in-car portion to my child. They don't give names of places to install that second set of brakes on the passenger side. There has been no part of parenting that I didn't say "oh, this is my favorite stage" as we came upon it: diapers, sickness, adolescence, none of it phased me, till driver's ed. I only had to do the 40 hours in the car, with the older two, but I hate/hate/hated it with a passion. They did too. But we all made up and lived to tell about it. I guess it just seems so much less complicated than I thought it would be. Getting it done thru public school was a pain. The kids said the classroom part was boring and stupid. The only part that was easy was that the PE teacher who taught the in-car portion, was a neighbor and he'd pick one kid up really early in the morning and get it done before school, for the 5-6 days he needed. I guess my country kids had a little jump-starter, driving lawn and then big tractor some. The real road scares me silly, and I've been driving almost 40 years! I appreciate the help, so much! LBS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda1951 Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Our DD is starting driving school next week, a friend was teaching her daughter and her daughter got very offended about stuff and would not listen to her mother when driving, her mother was a nervous wreck. We took some of our income tax money and signed her up for the drivers school. BUt we still have to do the 10 hrs day and 10 hrs driving with her at night and she has to drive six months before taking her test at the dmv. At the drivers school, they give the written test for the permit then we go and get her picture taken along with the papers they give us to take with us. There are several sites on the web that you can get online test for 14.00 to do how ever long you need to, DD just finished the how 100 questions and passed with 100 percent. It asks all kinds of questions and this is with her not even looking at a handbook or being behind the wheel. In Texas they have to pass the parralell parking and doing ourselves I donot know where we would go to have her practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilovemy4kids Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 We used driversed.com which we purchased through homeschool buyers co-op and I really liked it for our son. We will use it with our youngest child as well. To the point and well constructed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZooRho Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 National Driver Training Institute (usdrivertraining.com) that is the program we use. Love it. Takes the kids step by step through the driving experience. they can't drive the next level till you say they are ready. I'm also reading a book called Crash proofing your children/teens? great book I'm going t use his lessons in this too. My oldest did this program and he is accident free and no tickets. after 4 years of driving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LBS Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 Thanks to all! I'm checking out all the recommendations. LBS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katiebug_1976 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 We just bought Driversed.com through the Homeschool Buyers Co op. Dd has only just begun the program, but she is enjoying it and it didn't cost $300 (like everyone in our local area had prepared me for). :driving: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imeverywoman Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 I was prepared to pay $300, (not really wanting to blow the $$$) but now, decided to give the FLVS course a shot. I'm hoping it will be a good preparation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Minnesota also requires a "program" for ages 15-17: http://www.dps.state.mn.us/dvs/DLTraining/HomeSchoolMaterials.pdf One of the approved courses is also one of your 4: usdrivertraining It's recommended by MFW, so it's nice to use something that has succeeded for *someone* The only feedback I got from Minnesotans was one person's thoughts on the books various programs use (and one is required in MN). Here's the feedback I got on the books, for what it's worth: we used "License to Drive" and they liked it. My daughter recalls that some of her friends disliked "Drive Right." Also, several folks said some of the books are at the library. Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne_in_TX Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 We just finished Driversed.com and it seemed to adequately cover what she needed. Although, in Texas, we are required to log 32 hours of classroom instruction and it didn't take anywhere near that long to go through the computer course so we had to fudge the log sheet a little. Some sections that the paperwork said should be studied for 2 hours could easily be done in 30 minutes. It seemed pointless to make her go back through a section several more times just to get the hours in, so if she did well on the section quiz we just moved on and called it done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.