Teach your child the basics of auto mechanics with our comprehensive guide. Even if you don’t have any prior car experience, you’ll be able to provide a top-tier education!
This is not a sponsored post, and we are not affiliated with any of the products recommended here.
Why You Should Teach This Course
Can you explain how your car works? If you’re like most people, the inner workings of your car are mysterious and intimidatingly complex. Nearly all of us have encountered situations where we desperately wished we understood our car a bit better: perhaps it wouldn’t start properly, or it began making strange sounds, or a mechanic identified a possible problem, or the manufacturer issued a recall for a specific part. A vehicle is the most expensive possession most people will ever own, aside from a home – and for many, it’s practically a necessity of daily life. It’s truly a shame that schools don’t make an effort to teach basic automotive engineering to every student.
As homeschoolers, we have an opportunity to correct this error and make car mechanics a standard part of the curriculum. In this guide, we’ll explain how to give your child a thorough introduction to the magnificent engineering that goes into modern automobiles, even if you don’t have any prior knowledge about this subject yourself. In fact, if you don’t already know much about cars, we recommend that you consider following this course alongside your child!
How a Car Works
The first resource we recommend is the website How a Car Works, which is an absolute treasure trove of educational materials. Full access requires a small one-time fee ($25 at the time of writing), but is well worth the price. In total, the How a Car Works project includes:
- More than 14 hours of video lessons (with more announced for future release).
- A beautiful 256-page instructional book (in PDF form).
- A large number of online, text-based articles.
The Video Lessons
The video lessons are the core of the How a Car Works project. They show the detailed process of completely disassembling a single car (specifically, a Mazda MX5). The purpose and functioning of each part is explained as it is removed, so that students complete the course with an understanding of nearly every single nut and bolt in the vehicle. This is an absolutely fantastic way to teach the mechanics of an automobile, and will go a long way towards making your child feel more comfortable with cars.
The videos are well-produced and are presented in a clear, professional, and engaging way. For an idea of what the course looks like, we suggest that you watch the trailer below, or go to the How a Car Works YouTube channel to watch some of the sample videos uploaded there.
The Instructional Book
Upon purchasing access to the video lessons, you’ll also receive a link to a beautifully illustrated 256-page PDF. It includes high-quality diagrams and explanations of numerous systems within a car, while primarily focusing on car maintenance and repair. In this way, it serves as a valuable complement to the video lessons, which largely focus on explaining the normal functioning of a car and don’t cover repair work to the same extent.
We suggest that students should read the first chapter (“Basics”) in its entirety, and then use the remainder of the book as a reference guide.
The Online Articles
Although there is some overlap between these articles and the PDF book, they also cover numerous additional topics, like car aerodynamics, installing modifications, and advanced driving techniques. As with the PDF book, we largely suggest using these articles as reference materials; however, we do recommend that all students read the “Advanced Driving” articles.
Car Mechanic Simulator 2021
Students who watch How a Car Works will greatly benefit from having an opportunity to put their new-found knowledge into practice. Of course, most homeschool families don’t have a spare car available for disassembly/assembly, and even if they did, many students would probably prefer to practice in a lower-pressure context first.
This is where Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 comes in. This video game places players in the role of car mechanics, and asks them to repair and maintain a wide variety of vehicles for their customers. While there’s no question the game simplifies certain things in order to be more accessible, it tends to represent its subject matter in a faithful and accurate way whenever possible. The game is quite popular among real-world mechanics, and we think this fact speaks volumes.
Moreover, because players will see a wide range of different vehicles throughout the game, they’ll develop a clearer idea of the many different ways that the systems explained in How a Car Works are integrated in different car models.
The game doesn’t explain how to perform the various repairs players are tasked with, so we strongly recommend that students watch a decent chunk of the How a Car Works videos before playing the game; otherwise, they probably won’t understand much of what they are supposed to be doing. Whenever they encounter a new type of repair job, we suggest that students first consult the How a Car Works PDF book for information about the correct procedure. In addition to helping guide them towards the necessary steps in-game, it will also help students connect their actions in the game to the instruction they received from How a Car Works.
Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 is a very open-ended game, so there isn’t really a single goal that students need to work towards. We suggest that they should spend at least 10-20 hours in the game.
Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 is available for $24.99 on Steam, but parents who follow our guide to Steam will likely be able to purchase it on sale for much less.
Completing This Course
In summary, to complete this course, students should:
- Watch all of the How a Car Works video lessons.
- Read the “Basics” chapter from the How a Car Works book.
- Read the “Advanced Driving” articles from How a Car Works.
- Play at least 10-20 hours of Car Mechanic Simulator 2021.
The specific order in which students accomplish these tasks isn’t important, except that students shouldn’t start Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 until after they’ve watched a decent amount (roughly half) of the How a Car Works video lessons.
Aside from acquiring access to these resources for your child, none of this requires any preparation work on your part. Just tell them to accomplish these tasks, and monitor progress. If your child has trouble with any of the tasks in Car Mechanic Simulator 2021, you should be able to find a solution with a quick internet search.
