Puter time

Well computer time at our house started out as a major privilege. I mean liliana had to complete serious chores in order to earn the time she got on the computer. Once she was on she was in control of where she wanted to be. As we set up her own desktop with only certain sites (we are up to 10 sites now) she decided if she wanted to visit all of them or just one. In the beginning, I hardly even interacted with her while she was having computer time. As with all new and exciting things after time she wasn't as excited about earning computer time. Now I don't make such a big deal about having to earn the right to use it, I usually just say, "alright, before computer time (it tends to take place right after dinner, during that hour between eating and getting ready for bed) we have to tidy up your room and finish our dinner"...We typically help her complete her task and I tend to hover around the general computer area now. I still let her direct herself as to what she wants to 'play' but will offer suggestions if she starts getting bored or frustrated with something.
As I have also just looked at the Freeware and added some sites to liliana's desktop she was just playing tonight and if something is new to her she ask me loads of questions. She is also in the 'I want to show you something" stage...It is hard for me. I really like her being able to navigate a site or exercise by herself (part of that is selfish, even though I am still nearby, I enjoy her not asking me questions or even paying attention to what I am doing so that I can have a few minutes of thoughts) .If she is not sure how to do something (since she is still learning to read I have to initially show her where the important buttons are to click) than I will sit with her and guide her.
As I was looking at the Freeware site I also wondered about how much time she should spend on the computer. on the one hand, it is great information all for the taking. On the other hand I really don't want her in front of any type of screen for that long in a given day. So as of now she spends about 30 mins on the computer tops a day. I can see her using it for longer as she is older, like an hour. I can also see myself allowing her to earn more time (up to 30 mins) to do things like email/blogs/or whatever else that she would want to do that is not pertinent to her education but that is still skill building and harmless.
Like tonight in the course of 20 mins we did abit of typing (learning where things are on the keyboard), some tuxPaint, some counting (math) 'games' from two different sites, she spent about 10 mins on her new favorite site poisson Rouge. I do not have to set a timer yet, she usually pulls herself off (gets fidgety and ready to move on to the next thing) within 15-20mins.
Anyway this is what we do for now. We will revise as needed.
I should also add this all applies to a normal, good, healthy day...If I am sick or what have you than I would rather she have more computer time (with all of this educational stuff) than watch a movie or drive me crazy. So life is imperfect and hopefully our children forgive us for not always being a straight arrow