Listening to LOUD music while doing math??

[michaeljenn]

My 15yo son likes to listen to LOUD music while doing his math. I don't see how he can concentrate on Algebra and listen to that music at the same time! UGH!! So, I made him turn it off. Am I being harsh here?

 

What do you think??

[Tenaj]

My teens say it helps block out the random noises that occur in our house with the little kids. I see by your signature that you have lots of littles, too! My oldest says that he feels like if he hears noises (screams, fussiness) upstairs (he does most of his schoolwork in the basement) that he should come up and see if I need help. The music helps drown that out so he can concentrate. He has a specific playlist on his itouch that he uses for math - I think it's songs that he doesn't particularly like so he's not tempted to sing along (LOL). Maybe that's the reason? As long as I don't see it taking him a LONG time to do his math, or the quality of the work falls off, I let him go. I remember as a highschooler doing math homework in front of the TV (what were my parents thinking?!?). Music has got to better than TV :)

[Tidbits of Learning]

Some people do better with background noise and the silence drives them batty. My dd is like this. Everyone else couldn't think though while her music was playing. With it silenced though, she sat forever and took forever with her math.

Now she listens to her ipod with ear buds and everyone is happy. If it were me and the music didn't cause his work to suffer, then I would let him listen as long as I didn't have to as well.

[GoVanGogh]

I wonder the same thing...

DS is only 8.5 years old, but he can. not. focus. without music!

In fact, he is in his room right now, listening to music while doing math. I see a remarkable difference in speed and accuracy when he is listening to music to when he isn't.

Thankfully, at this point, the music isn't too loud. He does like his music loud, but still within reason. (Well, said the mom that does listen to louder music. ;))

[nmoira]

 

What do you think??

Was his work actually suffering?

[kittysmom]

If his work isn't suffering, it doesn't seem like a problem to me! If it's the noise that's bothering you, maybe he could try an iPod?

[toddandleah]

My son (7) has been asking to listen to music when he's working on math, and I haven't gone with it yet. Do you think it makes a difference if it's music (song-singing vs. classical) or books-on-tape? I heard him listening to Narnia while working subtraction facts. I'm up-in-the-air on it. I don't see how he can possibly focus when someone is talking. But we may be wired differently.

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

My 9th grade son has listened to music while doing his school work (especially math) for a very long time. He listens to classical and bagpipe music (his favorite music) so I have no idea if lyrics would make a difference. I would think a book being read would be detrimental because you have to listen more attentively but I can't prove that. Anyway, my ds says it helps him concentrate and he get excellent grades in math (and excellent math scores on his SAT's) so I let him listen and he uses a Walkman (is that still the right word for it, LOL) so he can listed to music CD's without disturbing anyone else.

 

ETA that my 10th grade son wants total silence when he does his work. Any noise (from younger siblings to TV) bother him when he's trying to do his school work.

[mom2denj]

:iagree:My kids so the same. They seem to do well, so it works for us.

My teens say it helps block out the random noises that occur in our house with the little kids. I see by your signature that you have lots of littles, too! My oldest says that he feels like if he hears noises (screams, fussiness) upstairs (he does most of his schoolwork in the basement) that he should come up and see if I need help. The music helps drown that out so he can concentrate. He has a specific playlist on his itouch that he uses for math - I think it's songs that he doesn't particularly like so he's not tempted to sing along (LOL). Maybe that's the reason? As long as I don't see it taking him a LONG time to do his math, or the quality of the work falls off, I let him go. I remember as a highschooler doing math homework in front of the TV (what were my parents thinking?!?). Music has got to better than TV :)

[Caia]

My oldest son cannot seem to get anything done in a timely manner unless he is listening to music (usually loud music) and he seems to retain things better that way.

 

On a side note - one of my good friends in high school always listened to music and sang along with the song out loud while reading her literature homework. She was a straight A student!

[LaissezFaire]

My husband STILL listens to loud music while studying. Finally I questioned him on it and he explained that when there is a specific thing he is trying to recall and he can remember the song he was listening to at the time and the fact comes back to him. I think some people need it to block distracting sounds and some need it for recall.

[JMDRAD]

I had to listen to music when I was doing high school math. It seriously helped me to concentrate. I found it almost impossible to do math homework in class.

[cylau]

When I was growing up, I liked to study in a noisy environment. I didn't do too well if it was complete silence.

 

This is interesting, because now ds8 cannot concentrate when he does math. Maybe I should play some music see how he does.

[Joyofsixreboot]

My dd listened to LOUD music,plays a DVD and did calculus. My other kids listen or watch something too. Drives me nuts but they are good students so I let them go.

[ClassicalTwins]

I listened to music all through school when I was young and still today. Ipods and Itunes are heaven sent! My boys like to have music on while they do work too...

[FO4UR]

I would judge by the quality of his work.:iagree:

 

It might be an interesting experiment to give him an assignment to compete WITH music and another WITHOUT. Time how long it takes....and judge how beneficial the music is based on yours and his evaluation of the experiment.

 

I had a specific piece of music I listened to while writing every single college paper, and I did not write as well or as fast w/o it. It's like it "entertained" a part of my brain so I could focus on the words and thoughts. There is definitely something to it, for some people.

[m0mmaBuck]

When I was in Physical Therapy school, I always listened to loud music while studying, even when it came to Neurophysiology and other complicated subjects. It helped me to block out all of the other distractions. I say as long as he is doing quality work, let him rock out!

[BatmansWife]

I had always thought that you shouldn't listen to music or watch tv while doing school work (I just thought that was a no-no). But, when my oldest dd took one year of online schooling (8th grade) we were at the orientation listening to the principal. He said he did years of online schooling and the only way he could accomplish it was to listen to music at the same time. He said if you need to listen to music to do your school work, than that's fine. I remember at the time that kind of blew me away. So, I thought....well, I guess it's ok. LOL!

 

My son feels he needs to listen to music while doing math also. I know there is something related to the brain with this. I've recently read that with dyslexics, if you send music into their left ear (which goes to the right side of the brain) and give them their phonics/spelling words in their right ear (going to the left side of the brain), it helps them read/spell better. The right side of the brain is happily occupied by the music while the left side is getting their phonics lesson. The right side doesn't try to "help" (which gets them in trouble....because they need the left side for phonics not the right side). If music is just played in the room it doesn't help them because both ears hear it and both sides of the brain hear it. So, I would assume that if you have child without dyslexia problems, playing music in the room (or in both ears) is just fine.

[swimmermom3]

My 15yo son likes to listen to LOUD music while doing his math. I don't see how he can concentrate on Algebra and listen to that music at the same time! UGH!! So, I made him turn it off. Am I being harsh here?

 

What do you think??

 

My 15 yo ds does the same thing. We do math together at the kitchen table with his choice of music-classic rock. I have to admit that he does much better with it than I do, but it seems to be a bonding moment for him if I sit there and work on Geometry while he does Algebra. His scores are excellent and I always seem to come up with a new music suggestion for him so he is happy. I occasionally need an Excedrine after our session.:tongue_smilie: