Computer lesson

I really debated this moment for a while. I realized that in taking this next step in teaching Erik to start learning the computer I may truly be shooting myself in the foot, but in the end I obviously took the risk. So far so good.

I didnt know if I was ready to expose him to this for a variety of reasons, him wanting it all the time, he is only 3 and thus there is no need for a computer in his life, etc. But if I am going to let him sit in front of a screen I would like it to be interactive sometimes so I went for it on a cold icky day when we were staying inside all day.

 The first obstacle to overcome was the laptop's mouse and his urge to touch the screen like an ipad

 We headed over to the Sesame Street website and tried out a few of their games.

 He was liking this dinosaur digging one, he got the concept of the mouse pretty well but had trouble with the little detail of lifting the finger off and clicking without moving the cursor.

And out comes that tongue that makes it appearance when he is really focused on something.

He hasn't asked me continuously to play on the computer nor has he thrown a fit when I ask him to get off so we are still good. I know this may lead to obstacle down the road but really I want to be the one that he starts learning and exlporing the computer with. He already knows the ipad well and we have had to sit and chat with him about you tube and how he cant just touch every video that looks good because the internet can be dangerous, so here we are. I remember my mom saying that she hosted things at our house when we were teens and growing up because it was a way for her to observe and keep us safe from a distance because she knew just what was happening if it was at our house. So I took that as my motto, I want him to explore and learn with me not with someone else.

I kept the session short-about 20 minutes and stopped while he was still having fun. It was perfect. The next time we did it, he was having fun and I think 20 minutes is about good for him. He has a hard time sitting still for an activity for long so it was good. He wasnt bored at that point but he wasnt completely entrenched anymore either. I think we will save this fun for those days when we are shut in or are super bored but I am glad to have made the leap.