California requires teens to log at least 50 hours of supervised driving, including 10 at night, before the drive test. The hours count most when each drive has one goal, follows the instructor's notes from the last lesson, and moves from quiet streets to highways in a planned order. Below is a 26-week plan our instructors would give a Chico family, built on the DMV's own skill levels and on roads you already drive.

What the DMV actually requires

50 hours, 10 at night. These are in addition to the 6 hours of professional training, not part of them.
Who can supervise: a parent, a guardian, a California-licensed driver 25 or older, or a licensed driving instructor. The handbook says the supervising driver must sit close enough to take control of the car.
When it can start: only after behind-the-wheel training begins and the instructor validates the permit.
How it is certified: a parent or guardian signs the permit to confirm the 50 hours were completed.

The DMV publishes a free Supervised Driving Log. Using it is optional, but it does something useful: it sorts driving skills into four levels and says each level should be mastered before the next. That is the backbone of the plan below.

The DMV's four skill levels

Level	Skills on the DMV log
Level I	Starting and stopping, left and right turns, backing up, lane choice and control, looking ahead in traffic
Level II	Intersections, keeping space around the car, lane changes, practicing in traffic
Level III	Parallel parking, parking on hills, U-turns
Level IV	Freeway driving, night driving, special problems and emergencies

A 26-week plan on Chico-area roads

Six months is about 26 weeks. The plan below adds up to 50 hours with 10 at night. Treat the weeks as a guide, not a deadline: if lane changes are still shaky in week 9, stay with Level II. Pick the roads closest to you.

Weeks	Focus	Where to practice	Hours (night)
1–3	Level I: smooth starts and stops, turns, backing in a straight line	An empty lot, then quiet residential streets near Bidwell Park, in Thermalito, or around Durham's town center	6 (0)
4–8	Level II: intersections, space cushion, first lane changes	The Esplanade and East Avenue in Chico, Oroville Dam Boulevard, Solano Street in Corning, downtown Gridley	10 (2)
9–14	Level II–III: busy streets, pedestrians and cyclists, parallel parking	Downtown Chico and around CSU Chico, Paradise's town center and its roundabouts, Orland's grid of four-way stops	10 (2)
15–20	Level IV: highway merging and exits, two-lane rural roads	Highway 99 and Highway 32, Highway 70 in Oroville, I-5 near Orland and Corning, the Skyway, the Midway	12 (3)
21–26	Night, weather and test rehearsal	Familiar routes after dark, county roads with rail crossings around Gridley and Biggs, streets near the DMV office you plan to use	12 (3)

Two hours a week sounds small, and that is the point. Three or four short drives a week keep attention high. One long Sunday drive tends to turn into an hour of good driving and an hour of tired habits.

How the professional lessons fit in

At Stallion, the 6 hours are three private 2-hour lessons, at least two days apart. Each one ends with written notes for the family: what went well, what to practice, and the focus for next time. Use those notes as the agenda for the following week.

After lesson 1 (controls, residential streets, turns and stops): you are in weeks 1–3. Practice exactly what the notes list, on the same kind of quiet streets.
After lesson 2 (traffic, lane changes, intersections, right-of-way): weeks 4–14. Lane changes on the Esplanade or East Avenue, with the same four-step routine the instructor used.
After lesson 3 (highway merging, hazard scanning, a mock drive test): weeks 15–26. The mock test notes show which items to rehearse before the real one.

How to coach from the passenger seat

Instructors and parents have the same job in that seat: keep the car safe and keep the learner thinking. A few habits from our lessons work just as well at home.

Give directions early and the same way every time. "At the next light, we will turn right" gives your teen time to check mirrors and signal. Last-second directions create last-second driving.
Use one routine for every lane change: mirror, signal, shoulder, go. Say it the same way each time until your teen says it before you do.
Ask for commentary. Have your teen say out loud what they see and what they plan to do: "Cyclist on the right, I will wait before turning." You will hear what they notice and what they miss.
Teach the eyes. The DMV handbook says to scan at least 10 seconds ahead and to keep a three-second following distance. We train 12 to 15 seconds ahead, so stops are planned, not sudden.
Save the debrief for the parking spot. Correct only what is urgent while driving. Talk about the rest once the car is parked.

The DMV's own test-prep sheet gives similar advice: practice as if it were the test, have the supervising driver calmly point out mistakes, and try to fix last time's errors on the next drive.

Night hours that teach something

Ten night hours on the same lit loop teach very little. Spread them across different conditions:

Dark rural roads. The handbook says to use high beams on open country roads and dark streets, and to dim them for oncoming drivers. County roads outside Durham, Orland and Gridley are good places to practice switching.
Rain. Low beams, wipers and defroster on. The handbook says that if you cannot see farther than 100 feet, it is not safe to drive faster than 30 mph.
Fog or smoke. Low beams, never only parking or fog lights. The handbook's first advice is to postpone the trip if you can.
Rail crossings. Around Gridley and Biggs, practice the rule: look, listen, slow down, and never stop on the tracks. The limit is 15 mph within 100 feet of a crossing when you cannot see 400 feet both ways, unless gates, signals or a flagger control it.

Where families usually get stuck

Every drive is the school run. The same route for 50 hours builds one route, not a driver. Change at least one road each week.
Backing gets skipped. The DMV test includes backing in a straight line along a curb. Practice it in every few drives.
Highways come too early. If lane changes on East Avenue still need reminders, Highway 99 can wait. Merging is a lane change at higher speed.
The night hours pile up at the end. Plan one or two night drives a month from the start.
The parent's foot hunts for a brake that isn't there. That is normal. If you feel the urge often, step back to quieter roads for a week. Our guide for nervous teen drivers has more on staying calm in that seat.

Keep a simple log

For each drive, write the date, the skills practiced, day or night minutes, skills that need more work, and your initials. The DMV log uses short codes, like LC for lane changes and BUC for backing up the car, which keeps the log quick to fill in. The log also gives you a record to bring to your teen's next lesson, so the instructor can see where practice went.

The DMV's Parent-Teen Driving Contract is worth a look too. It puts in writing the house rules for after the license: passengers, seat belts, calling home and who pays for fuel.

For a road-by-road sequence in town, see Chico roads every new driver should practice. For the professional lessons, see teen behind-the-wheel training or how we teach.

Quick answers

How many supervised hours does a California teen need? At least 50, with 10 of them at night.

Do the 6 professional hours count toward the 50? No. The DMV's log says supervised practice is in addition to driver training.

Who can supervise practice? A parent, a guardian, a California-licensed driver 25 or older, or a licensed driving instructor.

Is the DMV log required? No, it is optional. A parent or guardian still signs the permit to certify the 50 hours.

How much practice per week is enough? About two hours a week over six months reaches 50 hours. Short, frequent drives work better than long ones.

Sources

Check the source. Requirements can change. Confirm current rules on the California DMV website before you apply.

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The 50 Practice Hours: A Week-by-Week Plan for Chico Parents