Driver's Ed

We are looking towards teaching our 15 yr old this school year. (He'll be 16 in March.) Unfortunately, our state (Indiana) doesn't acknowledge any homeschool type driver's ed curriculum. We have to either take a class at a local school, private driving company that is approved by the state, or teach him ourselves.

If we did go with the private course we'd have to think about these things...

• Traditional courses give an average of 30 hours classroom and 6 hours actual driving experience.
• Child is 15 yrs old with learners permit. Will get driver's license at the age of 16 yrs and 1 month.
  
• You attend at the school’s schedule, not yours.
• After completion of a traditional course, the parent is still responsible for preparing the teen to drive collision-free.

How can a kid learn everything they can in a 36 hrs of class that lasts only 3 weeks?

Considering that we do not have the money to pay a school ($350 when I was last quoted in May) and we do not want our son back in the public school setting, we are left with one option. Teach him ourselves.

We are going to use, more than likely, Driver's Ed in a Box enough though its not an approved curriculum (like they can stop me from using it, they'll just require our son to take the written & driving tests). Its a curriculum to teach the child AND the parents. Cost is a bit high, $229. Yet we have 3 kids and we can use it for them also when the time comes, comes down to $76.33 per kid. Added bonuses with teaching our son ourselves... (Information copied from Driver's Ed in a Box Indiana area.)

• Our son applies for permit at 16 and is allowed by the state to get their license at 16 and 6 months. This slight delay in licensing can make a big difference in maturity (less wrecks).
• The first section of the classroom gives the teens the information required to pass the written test.
• The Videos, Audio CDs, Parent Companion and Classroom sections all work seamlessly together. These tools give both parent and teen the goals and communication skills for each lesson to be a pleasurable experience.
• At the end of each phase of training you move on to the next phase when both parent and teen agree they are ready.
  The phases are:
• Parking Lot
• Neighborhood
• Light Traffic
• Freeway
• Rural
• Heavy Traffic
• You do all this on your own schedule during the permit period.
• The result is both Teen and Parent are comfortable and confident in the teens driving ability.

I might be a tad bit weird, but I'm looking forward to teaching my son to drive. Especially after he gets his driver's license. He can go to the store to get those things I need to pick up like milk, bread, butter....