G5052 Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 I like the guy we chose. He came with many excellent recommendations from people we know. I'm pleased with the details he's catching. Our state requires 14 hours with 7 hours of them driving, the rest observing. But...he gives very specific homework and how many hours to practice. Then we call when that's done and the next appointment is made. I think I've decided that I've got to clear my schedule more in order to get this done! I figured 1-2 lessons a week and just having him drive when we were out. It's not working out that way. We had to do three hours of specific highway driving before the lesson he's having today. This could well take two months instead of the one month I figured on. It's going well, just longer than I expected. Just curious what others have experienced... Update in #16. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MysteryJen Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Unless you have regular driving times, we found it very hard to get in the required hours. I can't remember but I think it was like 70 hours with 15 of them being at night. Ds1 had to take two road trips with Dh to get all his hours in. Dd1 was easier, she had morning practice 4 or 5 days a week, 30 minutes away. And leaving at 5 am, it was dark for all of the winter. She is a better driver than ds1 (personality counts here), and much of it is due to the regular practice instead of spurts. Upcoming ds2 will be very hard to get all his hours in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 Yes, we had to have 45 hours daytime and then 15 hours at night BEFORE calling this guy. That was hard. No wonder one of the driving schools in a neighboring county actually offers a package where they do that part as well. Now the instructor wants hours of practice in between the time with him! So glad we are doing this in the summer. I could never manage this with homeschooling and my regular school year work. Naturally I made a note that doing this part has to be timed carefully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 Whew! Today was better. He's supposed to do 30 minutes of backing down our curved driveway, or however long it takes to get good. Another lesson tomorrow. Maybe this will move forward after all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenC Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Our state requires 50 daytime hours and 10 night time hours and a minimum of 6 months driving experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Wait a second - you guys can do the driving practice on your own?? Before or after permit? We have to do 32 hours in the classroom and 8 hours on the road, both with the school, before getting their permit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 For us, only part of the classroom portion needs to be done before taking a computer test for the permit. No driving practice is legal until after receiving a permit. Texas requires 30 hours of driving practice and 10 of those have to be at night. The program that I used required 50 hours of driving practice and 10 of those had to be at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 50 hours required here, with 10 at night, but no drivers ed classes required. So, basically I'm making them drive a lot between 15 and 16 years old. My oldest had a permit for 1.5 years before she got her license. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 We have to do 30 hr classroom, take a test to get permit, do 6 hours behind the wheel with an instructor in their car, 50 hours with a parent (15 of those at night), then road test with parallel parking and 90* back parking. It's tough to get it all in!! But, it does make for better prepared drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 We are in Oregon, which has a very strong driver's education program: The Mixed Bag of Driver Education The program we used for two of our three kids works in conjunction with the Oregon Department of Transportation and the class final is the driver's exam with no trip to DMV. It took my youngest just over two months to complete the requirements and part of that is due to the scheduling requirements which are at least a week between each instructor supervised drive. We did make time and do more trips in order to get in as much practice as possible. Even if it is really a pain, I would recommend getting as much practice as possible. Our youngest is a much better driver than his older siblings, not only in part, because of his personality, but because he has had tons of practice on all kinds of roads, in all kinds of traffic, in all kinds of conditions. We tried to go above and beyond the requirements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samba Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 30 classroom hours 6 hrs behind the wheel with instructor 60 hrs with parent (not sure about nighttime hrs) 9 months of permit before testing for license 18 month provisional license with no offenses or you start the 18 mo over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Women Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Wow. Our state requires about 4 hours driving and 4 observing. Also, it requires 40 hours total before the test, including 10 hours after dark and also including the 4 hours with the instructor. I've never heard of needing so many hours before the instructor nor of needing to practice between bouts with the instructor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn- Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Wow. Our state requires about 4 hours driving and 4 observing. Also, it requires 40 hours total before the test, including 10 hours after dark and also including the 4 hours with the instructor. I've never heard of needing so many hours before the instructor nor of needing to practice between bouts with the instructor. I'm sure the requirement is so the kids don't just get the few hours of driving time they get with the instructor before heading off to get their license. I guess I should look into logging my DD's driving time because I haven't even started looking at driver's ed classes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 He passed his driving test! We ended up doing just an hour or two in between each session to work on specific skills that the instructor identified, but we got it. This instructor was indeed very detailed and specific, but that's of course a positive. I had to provide a copy of the completion certificate for the online part, a copy of his learner's and my license, and a copy of our practice log. Other states/instructors might be different. Lesson learned for the next one? Lots more practice in a lot more diverse situations. This instructor is thinking of retiring, but hopefully he'll be around when my next one is ready. He was very organized and likable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 He passed his driving test! We ended up doing just an hour or two in between each session to work on specific skills that the instructor identified, but we got it. This instructor was indeed very detailed and specific, but that's of course a positive. I had to provide a copy of the completion certificate for the online part, a copy of his learner's and my license, and a copy of our practice log. Other states/instructors might be different. Lesson learned for the next one? Lots more practice in a lot more diverse situations. This instructor is thinking of retiring, but hopefully he'll be around when my next one is ready. He was very organized and likable. :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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