1st Driving Excellence LLC
About
"Protecting Your Future" by including more detail and concern for your safety than any other driving school. We teach all aspects of defensive driving, the psychology of driving, and critial non-verbal driver communication skills not found in any book. We firmly believe your education must include freeway and highway differences with complex lighting and street patterns to avoid problems. Over 100 years combined experience: we also require continued education of instructors: all certified through the State of Washington. Serving the greater East Side and Downtown Seattle. www.drivingschoolbellevue.com
Wow! There are SO many things! Experiencing how eagar teens are to learn! Being a part of the 'lightbulb' and seeing tasks go from labor and thinking to part of muscle memory is fantastic! Ging students all the secrets to making processes easier and what to look for to stay safe is really rewarding as an instructor.
Sharing tears of joy with adults who pass their driving test! Knowing these skills will provide a client with new freedom, independance, and confidence to protect their future that will last a lifetime. This is truly a GREAT profession!
Highlights
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Frequently asked questions
What is your typical process for working with a new student?
We customize our lessons for the adult learner, and adhere to Washington State Department of Licensing requirements for both teens and adults. We are the only school that offer adults new to driving a New Driver Orientation Seminar which builds awareness, confidence, and allows you to advance significantly faster in your lessons. We care about you as an individual and provide you the tools and education to protect your future on the road. This is a critical factor in teaching driving. You will learn to make great decisions on your own, not drive as a puppet; alert, aware, anticipate, and react before a problem occurs, thus staying safe.
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
Our owner and Master Examiner have Master's degrees in Education plus all State Certifications with over 15 years of teaching clients from all over the world. Plus, it takes a special personality to be an excellent driving instructor-1)Patience 2)Respect and compassion for Clients 3) Global cultural understanding 4) A good sense of humor 5) A passion for providing the BEST informaion for your success. You will recieve all of those qualities from our staff and instructors.
Our instructors are professionals. We can tell in 10 minutes how much experience you have had and how much more you may need. We want you to get your licence as soon as possible, with all the practice and lessons necessary to protect your future.
Do you have a standard pricing system for your lessons? If so, please share the details here.
We are not a cookie-cutter program. To meet your needs, we have a variety of value packages and lesson formats which we customize to facilitate your learning efficiently and effectively.
Please understand that we can teach three times as much in a 90 minute session as compared to a one hour session. We offer one hour lessons as singles and in sets of 5, but you will learn faster and for less money with a 90 minute per lesson format.
Our office staff and instructors can advise you on your best course of action, and please read the descriptions for the Value Packages on our website, DrivingSchoolBellevue.com.
How did you get started teaching?
In 1964 our owners started tutoring fellow students, not by providing them the answers, but by guiding them to self-discovery. After attaining the Master's Degrees in Adult Education and working in curriculum design, facilitation, and implementation strategies for Forbes 100 companies, including Bell and Howell, 3M company, and Boeing, they returned to their passion for teaching driving. The Washington State certificates of 100 hours of training to become formal driving instructors was attained, and then further indorsements as Master Trainer and Master Examiner. Working with the State mandated Teen program, additional curriculum improvements were made, including traffic observations, knowledge games, and quick response activites to make this your best program choice.
What types of students have you worked with?
After teaching their own children to drive, they knew this fun needed to continue. This winning formula was first applied with college students from foreign countries in 2002 as host parents, then enhanced further and customized to adult professionals arriving here in the Northwest. Our specialty skill set is teaching people even with very limited English skills, and the vast majority of our instructors are fluent in at least one foreign language. Thousands of teens and 10x as many adults, both home grown and from over 80 nations world-wide have earned their driver licenses from 1st Driving Excellence.
Describe a recent event you are fond of.
A client from India purchased a 10 lesson package, as he had never driven a car or even a bicycle. After taking our New Driver Orientation and following the instructions for observation and homework from that class, his lessons progressed quickly. He earned his license after only six lessons, and is saving money by giving the additional lessons to his wife. We are thrilled that so many of our clients qualify for a reimbursement as they learn so well with the New Driver Orientation to "hit the ground running" with their lessons. Over 5,000 clients have taken this class with their value package since July of 2015, and 100% have given us positive feedback on this learning session and how it has advanced their learning-efficient, effective, and FAST.
What advice would you give a student looking to hire a teacher in your area of expertise?
Only take lessons from an approved driving school. NEVER take lessons from an individual . You are putting your life at risk. First, in Washington no "private, independant coach", is legal to teach. Second, they do not have safety brakes, proper insurance, nor the required education. Third, they will have you pay in cash(a red flag), so they are not paying taxes to help keep our roads safe, and pay for fire and police as they should. Finally, teaching people to only learn the skills necessary to pass the driving test is a guarentee for a future accident
All instructors from all schools know the laws inside and out. Knowing the laws does not make a person an outstanding instructor. As a rule, type A personalities are not good teachers.
The difference is how you are treated as a client, and the ability of the instructor to be a good TEACHER/FACILITATOR. Excellent driving teachers are able to teach the same skill in a variety of ways using different terminology the client can understand. If a client is struggling with a task, it is the instructor's responsiblity to reframe the instruction for the individual to learn well. Further, as mentioned above, it takes a special personality to teach driving. It is worth stating again.
1)Patience
2)Respect and compassion for Clients
3) Global cultural understanding
4) A good sense of humor
5) A passion for providing the BEST information for your success, stated in a manner that makes sense to you.
You will recieve all of those qualities from our staff and instructors.
What questions should students think through before talking to teachers about their needs?
Adults-be honest with yourself and others about your experience level. You owe it to yourself to get the best possible instruction to protect your future.
Control of the car is only 30% of good driving. 10% is knowing the rules. 60% is knowing how to apply those rules, what to look for and how to react to stay safe on the road. You need to know all these things before driving a vehicle on your own.