Do you have music playing during school/life? If so, what?

[Tranquility7]

I'm considering keeping some instrumental background music going during the day... wondering if maybe it would have a calming influence on my noisy kiddos?  Or is that just wishful thinking, lol?  Maybe piano music (my favorite), or a classical radio station (as long as it is calm)? 

 

Anyone else tried this?  What was the effect, if any?  Did it cause trouble (e.g., people disagreeing on what music)?

[regentrude]

No. I love working while music is playing, can do calculations and everything - but really hate teaching and talking when there is background music.

My DS works with headphones and listens to music.

[momacacia]

Mozart effect CDs would be nice. I can see music running in the kitchen area while we school in living room would be nice. We couldn't hear it in school room, but the littlers would enjoy it when they wandered in other areas of house. And it might make the teacher happier too. :)

[WinsomeCreek]

When the kids are all doing independent work at the table we generally have music playing. We use pandora, which means we have tons of stations for any assortment of moods. Personally, I could live without the Romanian dub step and Gummi Bar stations. But I'm a sucker for Christmas music so yay for the change of seasons! Usually it is classical, classical guitar, guaraldi style jazz. I find that it makes the kids quieter and less probe to engage each other. There have been occasional disagreements over choosing music, but surprisingly few.

[Cosmos]

We sometimes put on classical radio. (I actually stream it from across the country, because I can't get our local station very clearly and I have a history with the far-away station. I always have to remind myself where they are when they break in with the time, news, and weather. No, not a snowstorm for us, thank goodness!)

 

Music with lyrics makes it hard for ds to concentrate, but a little background music is pleasant and sometimes helpful for focusing.

[MomatHWTK]

I have a Pandora account and have it set to my preferences- a mix of classical and Christian. 

[Roadrunner]

No way. My kids would break out into singing.

[Χά�ων]

Yes, DS does better with background noise

[AK_Mom4]

Always. The only time I turn it off is when DD12 is practicing an instrument.

 

Rock, alternative, jazz, classical, musicals, really old big band......

 

On my Pandora stations I have Disney Movies, Wicked, and All Daughtry All the Time.

 

I just love Daughtry. Really.

[ThatHomeschoolDad]

No way. My kids would break out into singing.

Same. DD would say "I know that" too much. Choir and horn take up an hour to 90, so we both have songs stuck in our heads all day.

[Paige]

We almost always do. I have a bunch of CDs that cycle through our player non-stop. It's kind of mellow music but not classical and it's played on a fairly low volume. I have several Justin Roberts CD-my favorites are the Why Not Sea Monsters ones. Those are Christian, so maybe not for everyone, but his other music is good too. It's "kid music" but I like it just because I like it, not because it's for kids. Then we have one called Many Hands which was a Haiti relief CD, and I like Paolo Conte, so that gets in the mix for me. I just ordered a CD of hymns because I feel that my kids don't know the music in church well enough to participate, so that'll be in our rotation too.

 

I like Pandora for me, but for school and my kids, it was more distracting than the same CDs over and over. I think they are so used to it that they tune it out and know what to expect. With Pandora, we never knew what to expect and it was distracting- each song was like, "Ooh, a bunny!" With no music, we all get more irritable and the day drags on.

[Shannon in MO]

Our 5 year old just started suzuki violin so we have been listening to that first thing in the morning - and it does have a wonderful calming affect!  I noticed when we turn on some NPR station w/ classical music everyone in the house seems calmer, too :0)

Shannon

[Freckles]

yes, Pandora with my favorites from the seventies. Dan Folgelberg, James Taylor, The Carpenters, Bee Gee's 

The only time I turn it off is when she is testing. I keep it pretty low, so it isn't a distraction.

 

Except now, it's time for Christmas music

. :party:

[Delirium]

Non vocal Jazz.

[prairiegirl]

My ds would love to have music on in the background while he is doing school but it gives me a headache so we have it on occasionally.  When we do, we put on the classical radio station.

[Lizzie in Ma]

Yes, quite often.

Youngest loves classical, Renaissance period music is her favorite.

Eldest listens to tons of stuff I find distracting, so she has to wear headphones.

Love Yo Yo Ma, George Winston, Vince Guaraldi, Cecylia Arzewski , anything by the Boston Pops and BSO.

 

[srs]

My husband and I are classical musicians, so we put on the public radio station during classical hours while we are in the van. The kids will usually ask for the music if I forget. I like it while driving only because I actively listen and would be a distraction if it was during schoolwork. This way I call it music appreciation and we talk about in while we're on the road.

[Luckymama]

Nope. She'll listen with headphones sometimes while writing.

[FriedClams]

Pandora One!!! David Nevue, Fernando Ortega, Andrew Peterson, mark Knofler, U2.... It can get random around here!!

[brookspr]

I use the radio feature in iTunes to play meditative music or instrumental.  I play it quietly in the background as long as the kids aren't using the computer for something.  

[Lanny]

Sometimes, when she is studying, DD will have Classical music playing on her PC. She is studying as I write this, and at the moment, there is dead silence in our home office.  There is a connection, between Math and Music.

[lllll]

..

[brehon]

Yes, all the time.  We listen to the local public classical radio station.  It's nice because the station only plays classical music (you can stream the station, too; www.kmfa.org if you're interested) and no news break-in.  Where I live has 2 public radio stations - the classical station and the station NPR is heard on. 

 

The kids have grown up listening to classical music and there are no arguments about who gets to choose what music and for how long. 

[nmoira]

Not during school, but otherwise we usually steam music from Google (All Access, plus my uploaded music) or Pandora.

 

I love being able to immediately play something referred to in school or pleasure books. DD the Younger and I finished out the night yesterday with Gershwin after Summertime was referenced in her bedtime book. :)

[Dory]

musical only until after the schoolwork is done and then we can play music with singing.I find I need it to function. For my oldest sometimes we have to shut it off if he needs to focus more.

[Orthodox6]

Over here we vary among classical online radio stations, Celtic online stations, Orthodox Christian music online stations, and CDs of the preceding types.  Zydeco, klezmer and Scott Joplin are for non-school hours because they are far too rousing.  (as can be some of the Celtic music, for that matter!)

[Lori D.]

I am very visual, and very NOT auditory, so *I* can't have music going with school because it drains all my concentration trying to either focus on the music or filter it out. Sadly, I appear to be an "all-or-nothing" person brain-power-wise, and it has become more pronounced, the older I get. :(

 

When they hit high school, DSs liked to listen with headphones while working. They listened to a WIDE variety of music types on their i-pods or Pandora.

[redsquirrel]

I have always played classical music in the house during school and other times. For years it was our local NPR station (yes, we are members) but with the advent of digital I have reached out to the world. I often stream on my phone during school. I have a fantastic NPR music app that lets me access public radio stations across the country. They can be looked at by genre so sometimes now it is jazz or celtic music. I also stream BBC radio 3 for great classical music, or BBC radio 4 for interesting documentaries or interview shows.

 

I also have pandora or Itunes radio, but they have annoying commercials. I don't like commercials in my personal space. If I really want to minimize talk or advertizing then it is BBC3 or NPR streaming. 

 

DS1 is pretty much always listening to Bowie on headphones while he does his work, lol.

 

[Wabi Sabi]

Not usually. If one child is working independently then I'm typically actively teaching a lesson to the other child. *I* cannot deal with trying to talk over competing sound.