Driving from a box

Under Minnesota Law, full time homeschooled children can take the classroom driver's education at home with approved an approved curriculum. We chose to use Driver's ed in a box. It does what it needs to do--at least it wasn't filled with meaningless hours of gore mandated with other classes. As my daughter said to me, the gore only scares the people who are already aware of the importance of safety. Teenagers that think they are invincible and laugh at the gore on television will not benefit from it.



My daughter should have had her license long ago. She could have had her permit at 15, her license at 16 under regular law, but as a farm employee--she could have had it earlier. Though insurance costs were a factor anyway. I worry about really young driver's--even ultra responsible ones. I failed to file the paperwork when she was eligible. She has her learner's permit now and is working on getting her license--she will still get it before her birthday. This picture was taken when she first took the wheel early in May...well first time on the road legally anyway. She has moved my car in my yard if anyone cares to know.


I spared her the public posting of other photos near the end. For all the excitement and reminding she did, I think the end of the drive home really did distress her. She was extremely relieved when I drove over the local expressway--relieving her of the congested area until we got to a country road where we weren't being run over by passing traffic. We have since driven back to Rochester and the Twin Cities both, but she did great. I think it will still be a while before she is truly comfortable because I have noticed that I almost have to force her to drive when we are going anywhere near the metro area. I guess I am safe in my chauffeur position for a little while longer.

Move over Nascar!

I heard of an opportunity for children to drive race cars from a homeschool posting, right after I posted a note on a blog, Pizza and Potatoes, that it wasn't my thing. (That's what I get for being so sure...) I had the moment of hesitation, but it passed quickly enough--it was an opportunity to try something definitely outside our normal comfort zone. Nascar may not be my thing, but letting my kids try new things is right up my alley. Apparently kids drive the pint sized cars all the time and my kids didn't hesitate.

The race was through the Minnesota Quarter Midget Racing Association; they have an annual try it day in Elko, Minnesota--a small town south of the Minneapolis-St.Paul Metropolitan area and about an hour northwest from us. It cost $25 for each child to register for the event that was scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. A $3 discount was applied if people registered online prior to race day. I has signed the kids up the week before and we had planned on going on Saturday so that both my husband and I could go. We planned on going during the afternoon session so we would both be done with work. As luck would have it, it rained. I had to cover graduation the next day so, I had to bite the bullet and miss something my kids were doing. It is usually my hubby that misses out, so it turned out to be a special day for them. His only order was to take lots and lots of pictures.


They first had to take a small class on driving basics, safety, and some racetrack language. They registered in one trailer and went to another for a fifteen minute class. The hard part came when the class was over and the kids had to stand, and stand, and stand in line for their turn.



After a while, they got to suit up. My daughter was at the upper age cutoff so she barely fit into the kid suits, but it worked. They also got gloves and helmets. Then they were all set...for more waiting.



They each waited for the right sized car, then for the track to clear. They got to drive ten laps around the pint sized track. It was over far faster than they would realize, but they really had a good time. The boys asked about racing, but the cars cost thousands each--I was grateful they understood. It still made for a good time.


Each child got a certificate when they were done. My hubby got pictures and video...always a good thing. Unfortunately, my brand new hard drive camcorder was broken when it was knocked over by the wind. I will have to find someone to fix it soon. I hope they can do it again next year and that I can go with them!