TRAINING YOUR KID ROAD SKILLS EARLY

Parents get to decide what to teach their kids, and more importantly at which age. Although outside playing time for kids has decreased in the last decade, fortunately, kids still want to ride bikes, 4 wheelers, and cars. So, in this article we have gathered important attributes for every parent to consider regarding what and when to train your children proper road skills, to keep them safe on the road.

At an Early Age, many kids start learning how to drive bicycles. For kids, accomplishing such a skill is very important, and makes them feel free. There is no right age to teach them, but balance bikes found in the market are designed to suit a 2 year old kid. This means that is something many kids are able to accomplish at this young age, but you as a parent can decide when your kid is ready. A balance bike acts as a shortcut in the bicycle training route, as kids learn how to balance themselves on two wheels without any supporting wheels.

With kids 8 years and older, they are more often interested in realistic toys. How can you blame them, when the new kid 4 wheeler ATVs are getting cooler. Their smaller in size, they have different features like an automatic transmission, electric or gas operated, cool designs and many more safety features than older models. Although teaching your kid to drive an ATV might be a hard decision to make, but with the right gears and rules, kids can enjoy the ride safely.

As they become teenagers, they are looking forward to driving cars. For teenagers, learning to drive is a real step towards independence. Looking at those stages, makes us realize as parents, that we might need to teach our kids the right road skills early on.

How to Train Your Kids?

Start Early
No matter what your kids are driving, training them good road skills at an early age can benefit their decision making and future behavior behind the wheel. Start as early as the age of 10 to send your kid to a highly qualified instructor. The lessons they provide kids at this age will be of great help, even if they are not going to start driving a car anytime soon and are sticking with their 4-wheeler ATV.

Stay Updated with the Rules
Parents do have a significant role in training their children. Thus, it is crucial that parents themselves are updated with new regulations and road safety rules, because they change over the years based on different factors and current accident rates.

Co-work with an Instructor
For your kid to get the best out of driving lessons, you need as a parent to be engaged. Sign your child up to train with a driving instructor. When the time is right, ask about your kid’s progress and weak points. Which will help you in choosing focal points you can coach your kid on back at home.

Schedule
Teaching your kids how to drive is time consuming, so as to not fall behind on your kid’s progress, it is advised to set a schedule to drive with your child. It is also advised that both of you treat driving as a serious matter, as it truly is. No matter what they will be driving, do not compromise on schedule times or any other rules.

Plan routes
It is healthy for kids at all time to understand where they are heading with anything they are doing. Beginners can get overwhelmed with all the attention they need to have while driving. Thus, it is better to start planning with your kid where you will be heading.

So next time you plan with your child on a driving schedule, it is a good idea to add a route plan. Pick streets that are low in traffic, go for a short ride, and avoid any tricky sections. That’s because kids can get tired and lose concentration if the trip gets to be too exhausting for them.

Show and Tell
On driving tests, there are many “show me/tell me” questions, which will show you how much your kid understands about car safety and maintenance checks. It is a good idea to usually carry out those questions about cars or buggies, even if your kid is not driving yet.

Positive Mood
Driving is all about self-confidence, so whether it is you or the instructor teaching your child, make sure you both praise your kids whenever they do well, rather than shaming their incorrect driving techniques.

Progress
Take time to review with your child on their driving progress, by doing this you can see how well they are doing and what needs to be worked on. Let them be engaged in the process so they can improve faster and build more confidence to drive safely and pass the test.

You are in Control
Teenagers are going through hard times already. Especially, with peer pressure that are always hunting their decisions and actions. So, teach your kids how to be open minded and talk about how some kids choose to drive differently or aggressively as a way of showing off around friends and how that can affect their safety. Weighing out what matters, will make your kids be in control of their actions.

Road Safety Tips

Road safety tips are very important to kids at any age. Kids who play outdoors more often are aware of this at an early age. The road safety ABC is the easiest way to make sure your kids will never forget them, here’s how it goes:

A – is for AWARENESS
B – is for BEHAVIOUR
C – is for CHOICE

Awareness, that traffic is dangerous and can hurt people, whether you are in a vehicle or a pedestrian. Behaviors, are the rules each one of us should follow to stay safe on the road. Choice, which only kids above 10 years old will make sense of, is how to make the right choices based on the different options at hand and the assessment of the situation you’re in.

For kids, learning to drive is a real step towards independence as mentioned before. Thus, with these tips on road skills your kids can stay safe on the road no matter what they are driving. It is a great learning experience that they are bound to carry with them into adulthood and allows them to become responsible and careful people that are considerate of their own safety, as well as the safety of others.