Coronavirus Quarantine: The Best Time To Teach Auto Mechanic Skills To Your Kids
The coronavirus quarantine has led to the closure of schools. Kids are staying at home with their parents until the government makes further announcements. But while parents are involved in researching the best home lesson plans, kids are making Tik Tok videos. Parents could prevent social media addiction during this vacation period by teaching a few automotive repair skills to their kids instead while also spending quality time with them.
The Harsh Reality
It’s easy to laugh and point at the automotive knowledge generational gap. Still, most millennials and next-generation kids are incapable of driving a manual transmission vehicle or even installing a spare tire. This information is not available on their Tik Tok and other similar social media platforms. Or, in fact, it is but they simply don’t look for it. Most kids never search for automotive repair solutions until they have gotten into trouble, and then, it will be too late. Real-life handy automotive repair skills are still bestowed on their kids by parents. It’s time to pass on the torch to the next generation and teach them something about how cars work and how to fix them.
Where To Start
If you agree with us and are ready to bestow your skills, then it would be best to start with something natural and necessary, rather than teaching your kids about building an engine from scratch or troubleshooting evap system problems. One of the best places to start would be to make them learn about tire changing. Not only will it be useful if they ever get a flat tire on the road but removing a tire is also the first step when changing brakes or suspension and steering components.
Many parents jack up the car and then try to teach their kids about loosening the lug nuts. You shouldn’t do this because, at some real point in their life, they might need to do the entire process on their own. Also, they might try to counter your statements by saying that they will search it on YouTube or might even call AAA. But you need to inform them that it won’t be the time to learn how to do it once they are stranded on the side of the road. And even if they did make a call to AAA, it’s not rare to wait over an hour for the tow truck to come. It’s a lot better to just be able to rely only on yourself and fix the damn flat already!
Learning The Basics
Keep up with your garage schooling by telling your kids about the adequate method to jump-start your car and check the fluid levels. The next thing should be how to inspect brake pads and replace them. While you are at it, tell them about oil changing. But don’t give the knowledge all at once. Divide them into different days and be patient with your kids.
Also, once you have given them the knowledge, then give them a chance to test their knowledge as well as make mistakes. Tell them about the correct method and things that they could have done differently to avoid the situation.
Get a Repair Manual
Besides guiding your children about resolving mechanical outbreaks or car situations you could provide them with a repair manual. It will guide them about replacing the timing belt & distributor, swapping out the transmission, etc. Your kids might even find the schematics of the vehicle exciting and make it want to learn more about it. Obviously timing work and electrical troubleshooting might be a bit much for them at this moment. But once kids start to be interested in something, it will be a lot easier to keep on teaching them and pushing their skills even further.
Don’t Push Them Too Hard
At times, your kids might be happy doing a particular vehicle repair, but there will be times of pushback. Teenagers might even get bothered by repairing their own cars and they might think that it would be best to take it to the repair station whenever it broke down. Making them understand that doing so would be more expensive than doing it on your own might help here.
Additionally, your kids might even start loving working on the car after their first satisfying accomplishment. Many adults feel satisfied by doing the necessary maintenance chores and still have a desire to learn and do more on their vehicles.
Teaching More Than Mechanics
While you are educating them, tell them the importance of using quality tools and replacement parts. Guide them that buying cheap tools from a nearby supermarket or discount place is not the best practice for repairing a vehicle. It might do more harm than good. Guide them that using the best parts or tools will make it last longer and usually carries a warranty period with a replacement option.
Quality Time First!
During their extended long vacation due to the COVID-19 outbreak, some kids might feel that they are stuck with their parents and can’t meet their friends. On the other hand, parents have the opposite feeling. They have got a chance to bond with their children, and what’s more interesting than learning about automobile repair skills? It will allow parents to bond with their children and give them directions for solving problems and following instructions.
At the same time, children will develop skills at their young age, and it will be handy for them when their car breaks down, or the tire gets punctured while they are on their adventures. Your kids might even start enjoying working out the schematics and also perform routine maintenance on their cars. At the end of the training, you can even go ahead and teach them about driving manual transmission cars.
Article source: CARINDIGO.COM