Many children find homework assignments to be boring or even difficult. They would much rather do something fun instead. That is why they want to extend the fun part of the day well into the part that is dedicated to school work. One way they try to do it is by getting their parents to let them listen to music while doing homework. The question now is whether we should allow them to have it their way.
Most children should not listen to music while doing homework. Music can be very distracting and can easily pull the child’s concentration away from the main task. Research shows that background music affects our working memory and music with vocals makes it harder to focus.
If you are interested in learning more about the effects of listening to music while doing homework, I invite you to read further as I have done a bit more research on this topic and you might find it quite helpful.
The Pros of Listening to Music While Working on School Assignments
That’s right. Music does have its place when it comes to school and learning.
It has been proven that music can help us get into a better mood. And not just that. It can help us get excited and become more energized.
This is something that you can take advantage of.
How?
Well, most children don’t like homework. When they have to start working on it, they usually resist it, whine about it and try to postpone the work for as long as possible.
It all makes sense since homework requires them to use their brain and work hard on something that might be quite difficult for them. Just Think about mathematics and how much brain power it requires you to do certain calculations.
It’s tiring and our kids know this.
It’s simply no fun.
So, what can we do to help our children become more excited about doing the homework?
One thing we can do is to allow them to listen to the music that they like prior to doing the homework.
Let them enjoy a few songs and watch how their mood changes.
The key here is to let your child listen to music that gets them in a better mood.
It’s very likely that this will have a positive effect on how your child approaches the homework.
As a result, your child will very likely do the homework faster and with less resistance.
Why is this so?
Well, I believe that when we’re in good mood, we are willing to try a little bit harder and we’re willing to stick with challenging tasks that we would otherwise rather avoid.
These thoughts have actually been confirmed in research that was conducted in the 1990s when the British band Blur was at its height of popularity. The researchers found out that children who listened to the band Blur did better on the test and the reasoning behind it was that the kids enjoyed the music and were therefore in a better mood.
Another great example of how music affects our performance can be seen in sports, more specifically, it can be seen in athletics.
If you have ever watched 100m or 200m sprints, then you’ve probably noticed that many athletes wear headphones before the run.
They are listening to the music that they find stimulating and gets them in the mood that allows them to perform in the best possible way.
However, they take their headphones off before they do their main job.
One reason is obviously that running with headphones on isn’t as effective as running without them.
The second reason is that the headphones and the music become a distraction once they have to perform at the top level.
That’s when they have to be perfectly focused on hearing the start signal and then getting out of the blocks and across the finish line as quickly as possible.
Their job is to perform at the highest level so they probably know what they are doing.
We can learn from that.
If the music helps the athletes perform better because it gets them in the right mood, then it’s very likely that the right kind of music can also help your child get in the right mood to do the homework with more focus and in less time.
Just make sure that your child stops listening to the music before starting the homework.
Now in the next segment, I’ll explain why children shouldn’t listen to music during school work.
The Cons of Listening to Music While Working on School Assignments
The problem with listening to music while doing homework or while studying is that it can be quite distracting.
Our brains are not meant to be multitasking.
Every time there is more than one activity that we are working on, our brains need to constantly switch between them.
Every time the switch happens, it takes a certain time to get back to where we were before with that task. So, it’s always a small step back and little by little these small steps make a huge difference.
This means that it not only takes away precious time but it also takes away some of the energy that would be better spent on focusing on one task at a time.
Obviously, we don’t want our kids to be multitasking.
Even though it seems that background music cannot be that distracting it actually can be.
Research shows that when there’s music in the background, and especially music with vocals, our working memory gets worse. Consequently, reading comprehension decreases and this, in turn, affects how well we perform.
So, if you don’t want your child to be spending an excessive amount of time doing homework, you might want to turn off the music at that time.
No child should spend an excessive amount of time behind a desk. In order to properly develop into healthy adults, children need to be physically active and play with other kids to develop social skills they will need to become confident individuals.
Therefore, it is best if you do not allow your child to listen to the background music while doing after-school assignments.
When is it OK to Let Your Child Listen to Music While Doing Homework?
Even though music can be quite distracting, it can still be better to have some background music on in situations where you cannot guarantee peace and quiet.
If you live in an apartment with loud neighbors or you have other kids who can be loud, then putting some background music on can help tune out these other noises.
Music without vocals and with a constant rhythm and tempo can be far better than random screaming that is guaranteed to pull your child’s focus away from the school work.
And you know how difficult it is to regain focus and get back to where you were before.
If you have to block out the background noise, consider music without vocals, that has a steady rhythm and isn’t too loud.
If you’re not sure where to find music without vocals, head on to YouTube where you’ll be able to find many different productive music soundtracks. Just make sure to play it just loud enough to block out the distractions and soft enough to not be distracting by itself. And before you introduce the music to your child, try it out yourself and make sure it’s suitable.
A proper environment is crucial if you want your child to stay focused while doing homework and other school work. That’s why I have written an article where I share with you, how to create a perfect place for your child to study.