Driver education courses focus on specific driving skills and knowledge, but they're no substitute for maturity and experience.

You can give your young driver the benefit of both if you communicate and stay involved in the learning process. Avoid lecturing. Be alert to opportunities for discussion. Ask questions to stimulate self-discovery, and listen to his or her responses.

Discuss what's happening in the driver training course. Review text material with your student to reinforce learning and to refresh your memory. Being involved shows you care about what he or she is learning and you take it seriously. Use every opportunity, including trips in the family car, to reinforce learning.

After your young driver has earned the learner's permit, take frequent practice drives. If you're patient and attentive, your teenager will gain experience and confidence, ask questions and learn from mistakes under your supervision. Continue supervised drives in all kinds of weather and traffic conditions.

Your teenager will make many mistakes in the first few practice sessions. Some of those mistakes may reflect lack of a specific skill, in which case additional practice will help. Others may be the result of attitude: carelessness, inattentiveness or lack of judgment or concern. Focus on such things as concentration, courtesy, judgment and responsibility. Stress that anger, aggressiveness, arrogance and other negative attitudes are leading causes of accidents.