Every state’s laws are different; I’m not a lawyer, and cannot give legal advice for California, let alone for other states. I’m not going to mention in this article, except incidentally when relevant, what California’s laws are. Each family needs to research their state’s laws, and do so when it becomes necessary - laws change with some frequency with regard to the process, age thresholds, and restrictions on teen drivers, so doing this research 5 or 10 years in advance may not be very useful. Since our young adult children are the ones who will need to know the laws to pass a written test (I assume), having them do the research would be appropriate (though parents need to know it, too), and you can call it a "Driver’s Education" course.

When do you, the parents, want your children to start the process? As soon as your state’s laws permit? At some higher age that you select? At some higher age when they decide they want to learn? When they have a job and both need to drive and can afford the expenses? When they need to drive to attend college? Plan for this in advance rather than making the decision when your child is a day younger than the minimum age to start the process and is pressing you to take them to the Department of Motor Vehicles office on the following day. Be sure you work with your insurance agent to make any necessary insurance changes. You also need to anticipate the future purchase and maintenance of an additional car and who will be financially responsible therefor.

What did we do? Well before our eldest attained the legal minimum age for obtaining a learner’s permit, we decided our children wouldn’t drive before they were 18. We also decided that they would have to be responsible for their expenses - insurance, gas, car purchase, maintenance. How did our decisions work out?

Not learning to drive as soon as legally permissible suited our eldest just fine. In fact, she was still reluctant when she did start learning to drive, right around her 20th birthday. She was so intimidated by the thought of driving and by the size of our mini-vans, that we decided to have her take lessons with a regular driving school (using their car). After a couple of months, she had progressed to the point of just needing practice to gain confidence, and decided to do that ourselves. Because of a 6 month training course with YWAM, an extended visit with friends in Washington, and living with her grandmother for about 9 months, this practice and the process of getting a driver’s license was on hold for a couple of years. After she and Grandma moved in with us, the driving practice resumed, and she had a better idea of how useful it would be to her to be able to drive. This has meant my going places with her - errands, appointments, shopping - with her driving. We use my "normal" sized car, not the family mini-van. She just recently passed the driving test California requires for first licenses.

Our "middle" child, on the other hand, was eager to learn to drive. Almost as soon as he turned 15, he started urging us to let him get a learner’s permit as soon as he reached the minimum age, 15 1/2. We persisted with not letting him drive until he was older, even after he got a job when he was 16 1/2. For well over a year, he drove his bike, rollerbladed, or we drove him to and from work. About 2 1/2 months before he turned 18 we let him take the written test (he’d been studying the law on his own for a couple of years) and get his learner’s permit. We handled the process of learning to drive differently than with his sister. We live across the street from a school district office parking lot. On a Saturday (when the lot was empty) I took my vehicle (then a mini-van) to the lot, and had him drive around the lot slowly to learn the mechanical process of driving and to learn how the vehicle responded to what he did. After 20 or 30 minutes of this, he drove around our neighborhood for a while on low traffic streets. We repeated this for several days, starting in that parking lot to help him remember how the vehicle responded. Once he was doing well in our neighborhood, we progressed to busier streets, to expressways, and to freeways. For several weeks he drove with me to and from church, Scouts, stores, and his job to gain experience. He celebrated his 18th birthday by taking and passing the driving test. We shared my vehicle for a while, until he decided to buy a used car. He paid for it with money he had earned and saved from his job, and pays for the insurance, gas, and maintenance (some of which he does himself, using a manual he bought). We have relaxed some with the ongoing expenses, as he attends college with a full schedule, which limits the hours he can work at his job and his income. In other words, his education is his job, and we are supporting him in that.

Our youngest isn’t yet 17 (at the time this was written). She hasn’t said anything about wanting to drive. I asked her about it, and she said she hadn’t given it much thought.

As with much in homeschooling, parents have flexibility in handling driver’s training - when and how you go about it. We learned, after the fact, that delaying the process until our children were 18 simplified matters for us and meant fewer restrictions for them. On the other hand, had our son driven earlier, it would have been more convenient for us at times (can you say, "Chauffeur?"). Driving schools cost money, but we decided it was needful, due to our daughter’s concerns. My Dad learned how to drive with a Model T in his Dad’s orchard; my son learned in a school district parking lot. It all works.