Music During Independent Work

[mrsrandolph]

What are your thoughts on your kids listening to music while doing their work? My kids listen to their own playlists. I'd prefer classical, if anything. I find it distracting, personally. How can you fully concentrate on something you are reading with music that has words?

[faroutback]

We enjoy music a lot, too. I remember doing my homework and listening and I also know now that I don't remember much of what I did but I sure know my music lyrics. We encountered this just this past year with older ds wanting to listen while working. After the first few times I noticed it took him a little longer to complete what he was working on and that he couldn't tell me quite as much afterwards. So after that we didn't do the personal music while he worked. He balked and said it wasn't distracting but I remember thinking that way, too, when I did it. A few weeks before he started wanting to listen to his own music we had begun lessons and hadn't noticed we had left the radio on (it was classical music that was playing on NPR) but what I noticed was that the boys were quieter and not aggravating/interrupting one another as much as usual, they were focusing and working. We didn't always leave it on and sometimes the boys would ask to turn it off because it distracting them and I noticed this usually happened if they were tired or working on something that was more complicated. So you could always try it and see how and if it affects them.

[LynnH]

We have both types of learners here. My daughter and husband need complete quiet to concentrate and find music distracting if they are doing anything that requires a lot of focus. My son and I can listen to music while working and we both prefer it at times. I allow him to listen with his headphones in while he is working on certain subjects. When he is reading he can't, but if he is doing something in a workbook he can. He is very good at realizing what subjects are music subjects and which ones aren't. As he's gotten older I allow him to figure those things out and if I see his work isn't quite up to par I might ask him to re-evaluate whether music is hindering him or not, but I've never had to do that I don't think. He has decided on his own that music was distracting him during certain subjects and stopped listening to it.

[Carrie]

This is a great question and is one we have grappled with too over many years of homeschooling! We give our boys alot more autonomy in this area once they get to high school. Prior to the student reaching the high school years, my husband and I have decided that music is distracting to the rest of us who are nearby, often slows the student down, makes the student less able to harken to the teacher's voice, and also often affects the child's work negatively causing them to lose attention to detail and rush through their work to get to the music. So, prior to high school we have our boys dock their ipods during school hours.

Once they get to the early years of high school, we let them listen to music during inspirational type subjects. When they get to the later years of high school, we don't monitor it and let them choose what they think is best as to when they listen to music and when they do not. They are required to wear ear buds/headphones when listening.

Blessings,
Carrie