Family

Teaching Driver Education at Home

Whether your child is in public school, private school, or homeschooled, most schools no longer offer driver's education, so parent-taught driver's education is the new normal.  We began using Aceable in August 2018 prior to our middle daughter's 15th birthday and really liked the program.  She has done really well driving.

We began again in December for our youngest daughter.  Not only does it teach the material students need to learn to pass the test and be prepared for driving, it has a phone app to help parents know what should be taught in what order as students begin their actual driving practice.

The items include:

• After passing Lesson 1 and the test, she received a certificate showing she was ready for her learner's permit.
• All the items we needed to take with us for her to receive her learner's permit were clearly listed so we had everything ready in a folder to take with us.
• Reading the owner's manual and knowing where all the indicators are and what the various knobs and buttons do.
• Knowing how to check the car for safety and road worthiness before driving
• Stages of driving, like parking in a parking lot, driving down the street, etc.

If your 15-year-old (or almost 15-year-old) is ready to start driver's education, click this link for 25% off of Aceable.  (This is an affiliate link, so I will receive a little something for referring you if you sign up, but it won't cost you anything extra - actually, you get 25% off their price of any product. 😊 )

One added item:  When I began driving, we lived in a small town and even when we got on the highways, the maximum speed limit was 55 miles per hour.  Now, it is not uncommon to see speed limit signs of 65 to 85 miles per hour in Texas.  When there is no option to get where we are going other than to be on a state highway with posted speeds of 65-75 mph, it can get really scary when people are impatient with drivers who are driving the speed their reaction time allows.  We bought this set of car magnets for our middle daughter and will be putting them on the car today after getting our youngest daughter's driver's permit.  This is not an affiliate link, we just really liked them - and the price, only $7.99 + tax and free shipping for Amazon Prime members.

 First Snow in Years

    Today is the first snow we've had in years - and it's BEAUTIFUL!  Not only that, there is SO MUCH of it!

    Living in Central Texas, having several inches of snow is a rarity.  We went out and played for a little bit this morning, came in, ate breakfast, and before we could go out again, in less than an hour, there was even more snow.  So much snow that you couldn't see our footprints, where my husband's truck had been, or his tire tracks.

Snow angel

Birds in the Snow

Snow Depth of a Footprint

    

    The girls took their goat out to play in the snow for the first time.  It was adorable watching him play with the girls.

Goat Running to His "Mama"

    Unfortunately, for some it is not all wonderful.  Tree lines are all over the county.  Not only has this caused power outages, it has caused water outages where both personal and utility water departments rely on electricity to power water wells.  

    How are you prepared for emergency conditions?  See the Emergency Preparedness Page for recommendations to help you prepare.