DC learner’s permit knowledge test failure

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son has failed the knowledge test 3 times now. In general he is not a good test taker. What did your kids do to prepare? He says he has been doing the practice tests online and passes but I don't think he has done a comprehensive read of the manual. I think this is where he needs to focus...read it over and over.

I had our teen do the 30 Hours of drivers ed classes first and that made the drivers permit test very easy.

They go over the material on blocks of relevance and offer daily mini tests. They also discuss modern approach to teaching teens is emphasizing driving safely and not taking foolish risks rather than remembering many random rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So tell him to read it over and over. And if you're paying for him to take the test, stop. Let him pay to take it.

Christ almighty, people. Not everything has to have a punitive lesson. Not paying for his test is absurd. I'm sure he doesn't WANT to fail.

And yet, he clearly doesn't WANT to pass enough to study more/differently than he has been.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He shouldn't be driving if he can't even pass on the first try. Maybe wait until he's older and try again. The knowledge test is equal to common sense. Failing 3 times says a lot about your son.

Not OP. You're a horrible human being to say this about another person, especially a minor.
I have been driving since the 80s & I couldn't tell you how many feet to start signaling, or what a Dutch reach is, or how many pounds a child should be to not be in a car seat.
Guess what? I've never once been in an accident.
It's not all common sense.

DP, the other poster should have been kinder, but he/she is right. Nothing in the DC (or VA/MD) driving manual is complicated or anything beyond basic safety information. If you don’t know how many feet to start signaling, how long it takes to brake in regular/wet/snowy conditions, what traffic signs mean, or other basic information contained in the manual I would suggest that you brush up on it. BTW the Dutch reach just refers to using the hand across your body from the door to open the car door so you are turning your body to check behind you for incoming traffic. We have a serious automobile safety issue across this country, and a major reason for this is because people act like because they passed a basic safety test when they were 16 they are “good drivers.” We should be making people test every 2-5 years, and I think we all would be very alarmed at the number of people who don’t even understand basic safety information.

To the OP: your teen has failed the knowledge test three times. I’m not going to blame you or him, but it might be time to put this on the back burner for a year or two and outline a strategy for studying the manual. What works best for him in school? What tools are most helpful for him? Does he succeed with flash cards? Repetition? Practical example? There are tons of options, and ways to make it more interactive. You now have a year to outline a plan, which should be plenty of time to develop and implement a strategy that will put him in a better position to succeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you are not doing the practice tests with him? Do them together. Discuss and point out ways he can remember things.

Disagree. if the kid can't study for, take and pass the test without Mommy's help then he's not ready to be driving anyway.

Awful person alert.

Uhhhh you know he can literally kill somebody driving, right?

You don’t have a dyslexic child, do you?

I would feel terrible if I enabled a kid who was showing signs of inability to get a driver's license and s/he killed somebody or got themselves killed. No A for effort here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So tell him to read it over and over. And if you're paying for him to take the test, stop. Let him pay to take it.

Christ almighty, people. Not everything has to have a punitive lesson. Not paying for his test is absurd. I'm sure he doesn't WANT to fail.

And yet, he clearly doesn't WANT to pass enough to study more/differently than he has been.

Maybe he doesn't know how.
Maybe he isn't learning the material well.
Maybe he is a bad test taker.

There are several other options behond "he doesn't WANT" to pass.

Give the kid a god damn break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know any kid who failed the permit test. It's not hard.
And frankly, if your kid can't pass the permit test, he should not be on the road.

Lots of kids fail the permit test. I can think of at least 6 off the top of my head.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So tell him to read it over and over. And if you're paying for him to take the test, stop. Let him pay to take it.

Christ almighty, people. Not everything has to have a punitive lesson. Not paying for his test is absurd. I'm sure he doesn't WANT to fail.

And yet, he clearly doesn't WANT to pass enough to study more/differently than he has been.

Maybe he doesn't know how.
Maybe he isn't learning the material well.
Maybe he is a bad test taker.

There are several other options behond "he doesn't WANT" to pass.

Give the kid a god damn break.

No

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son has failed the knowledge test 3 times now. In general he is not a good test taker. What did your kids do to prepare? He says he has been doing the practice tests online and passes but I don't think he has done a comprehensive read of the manual. I think this is where he needs to focus...read it over and over.

Son failed first time then came home and did the online practice quizzes and actually read the book. Passes easily second time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So tell him to read it over and over. And if you're paying for him to take the test, stop. Let him pay to take it.

Christ almighty, people. Not everything has to have a punitive lesson. Not paying for his test is absurd. I'm sure he doesn't WANT to fail.

And yet, he clearly doesn't WANT to pass enough to study more/differently than he has been.

Maybe he doesn't know how.
Maybe he isn't learning the material well.
Maybe he is a bad test taker.

There are several other options behond "he doesn't WANT" to pass.

Give the kid a god damn break.

DP. Give the kid a break and don’t drag him back there again. Like all things kids do things when they are ready—potty train, feed themselves, read, drive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He shouldn't be driving if he can't even pass on the first try. Maybe wait until he's older and try again. The knowledge test is equal to common sense. Failing 3 times says a lot about your son.

Not OP. You're a horrible human being to say this about another person, especially a minor.
I have been driving since the 80s & I couldn't tell you how many feet to start signaling, or what a Dutch reach is, or how many pounds a child should be to not be in a car seat.
Guess what? I've never once been in an accident.
It's not all common sense.

DP, the other poster should have been kinder, but he/she is right. Nothing in the DC (or VA/MD) driving manual is complicated or anything beyond basic safety information. If you don’t know how many feet to start signaling, how long it takes to brake in regular/wet/snowy conditions, what traffic signs mean, or other basic information contained in the manual I would suggest that you brush up on it. BTW the Dutch reach just refers to using the hand across your body from the door to open the car door so you are turning your body to check behind you for incoming traffic. We have a serious automobile safety issue across this country, and a major reason for this is because people act like because they passed a basic safety test when they were 16 they are “good drivers.” We should be making people test every 2-5 years, and I think we all would be very alarmed at the number of people who don’t even understand basic safety information.

To the OP: your teen has failed the knowledge test three times. I’m not going to blame you or him, but it might be time to put this on the back burner for a year or two and outline a strategy for studying the manual. What works best for him in school? What tools are most helpful for him? Does he succeed with flash cards? Repetition? Practical example? There are tons of options, and ways to make it more interactive. You now have a year to outline a plan, which should be plenty of time to develop and implement a strategy that will put him in a better position to succeed.

Yes parent. How important is this? It’s clearly not the right time. Are you stressing child out about this? Judging him? Rolling eyes? Saying how you passed the first try? Move on. Return to it when dc asks to do this again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He has to read the manual...the practice tests aren't enough. I printed out the manual for my daughter, and I think that made it easier for her to study from. Good luck!

+1 The online tests only cover a small amount of material, and are meant for practicing the format of the test. He has to read the manual. DD failed the first time because she only took the online tests. Before the 2nd test I printed out the manual and she made flash cards. She passed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He's not even trying except if he failed by one question. Go over it with him.

Out of curiosity, without studying my 14 year old, almost passed but missed it by 1-2 questions. The test isn't that hard.

Supposedly the DC and MD tests are harder than the VA test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid failed too! He did the practice tests on the DMV website & it wasn't at all what was on the real test. The lady at the counter was super encouraging and told him to study the manual ... especially anything with numbers.

+1

My DD is a strong student but failed first attempt. Only did the practice tests on the website and it doesn't cover everything. This is great advice (numbers) and Dutch reach! Please ignore all these other hateful people. DD is a responsible driver now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid failed too! He did the practice tests on the DMV website & it wasn't at all what was on the real test. The lady at the counter was super encouraging and told him to study the manual ... especially anything with numbers.

+1

My DD is a strong student but failed first attempt. Only did the practice tests on the website and it doesn't cover everything. This is great advice (numbers) and Dutch reach! Please ignore all these other hateful people. DD is a responsible driver now

Did you read that OP's kid failed not once, but THREE times? Big difference.
I get that every once in a while a kid gets a test that has an unusual number of oddball questions, but when a kid fails *three* times, that's on the kid (and by extension, the parent). Don't blame the test.
Also, as parent, if my kid failed the test twice, I would not have encouraged a third test without some serious review and alternate approaches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He shouldn't be driving if he can't even pass on the first try. Maybe wait until he's older and try again. The knowledge test is equal to common sense. Failing 3 times says a lot about your son.

Not OP. You're a horrible human being to say this about another person, especially a minor.
I have been driving since the 80s & I couldn't tell you how many feet to start signaling, or what a Dutch reach is, or how many pounds a child should be to not be in a car seat.
Guess what? I've never once been in an accident.
It's not all common sense.

DP, the other poster should have been kinder, but he/she is right. Nothing in the DC (or VA/MD) driving manual is complicated or anything beyond basic safety information. If you don’t know how many feet to start signaling, how long it takes to brake in regular/wet/snowy conditions, what traffic signs mean, or other basic information contained in the manual I would suggest that you brush up on it. BTW the Dutch reach just refers to using the hand across your body from the door to open the car door so you are turning your body to check behind you for incoming traffic. We have a serious automobile safety issue across this country, and a major reason for this is because people act like because they passed a basic safety test when they were 16 they are “good drivers.” We should be making people test every 2-5 years, and I think we all would be very alarmed at the number of people who don’t even understand basic safety information.

To the OP: your teen has failed the knowledge test three times. I’m not going to blame you or him, but it might be time to put this on the back burner for a year or two and outline a strategy for studying the manual. What works best for him in school? What tools are most helpful for him? Does he succeed with flash cards? Repetition? Practical example? There are tons of options, and ways to make it more interactive. You now have a year to outline a plan, which should be plenty of time to develop and implement a strategy that will put him in a better position to succeed.

Give me a break. I don’t remember the exact number of feet I am supposed to park from the fire hydrant or how many feet I am supposed to stop behind a stop sign, but use common sense and also have never been in an accident.

My kid passed on the first try but I actually barely passed when I took it. They asked about road signs that I have literally never once seen in real life.

It is still weird because the DC DMV has a quizzlet app so you can just keep using the app and eventually you memorize the answers. The test then asks 95% of the questions from that quizzlet which is way more than enough to pass.