Reading with the TV on - yes or no?

[ItsABeautifulDay25]

My DS is 7. His reading is ok, teacher is happy he’s at expected level. But obviously we still try and practice his reading most days. I try and vary reading practice, he’s not that keen on it so I keep trying to find a time and environment that will suit.

Anyway, tonight he was adamant that he needed something to listen to whilst he read, ie could we keep the TV on whilst he read, or have Alexa read a story, because he finds it easier to concentrate with something to listen to.

I felt that you can’t listen to one thing and concentrate on reading another, and insisted we turn the TV off. I probably have left the TV on in the past if his younger brother was in the room, so can’t say I’ve been consistent in this. Anyway, the TV stayed off, there were tears and some calming down was needed. He read a couple of pages under duress.

My question is - was I wrong to insist on silence to practice his reading? Is having some background noise a thing that I don’t understand?

You are right to expect that there will not be other distractions whilst you and he read together. You need to be able to hear his pronunciation clearly. He needs to concentrate.

Maybe offer instrumental music as a compromise? Do persevere - reading is like sport: the more you practise, the more you improve.

He's just trying it on. But at a different time, you might like to ask him why he wants the music on whilst he reads.

Is there generally noise of some sort on in the house? I'm wondering if it seems too quiet and too focused on him while he's reading?
When my eldest was learning to read I spent ages telling her to sit still to read as I thought she needed to be still to focus. I was wrong she actually focuses better when she's moving. It got much less stressful when I accepted this.

He may have been just trying to carry on watching TV but there may be something else in it.

I think you should keep an open mind. Personally I hate having the TV/music on when trying to do anything else, but I know lots of people who like to have music or sport on in the background while working. As pp suggested maybe try music with no words next time, and definitely try to talk to him about it.

I’d not die on this hill. At this age I think you just need to focus on getting them to enjoy reading. Forcing some kind of quiet, still environment makes it sounds as though the reading is a chore, it sucks the fun out of it. I’m mid thirties and a voracious reader, always have been and I often listen to music etc while I’m reading. I like it

This. More important to get them to enjoy reading in any way you can to start with, I think. You want it to be a relaxed enjoyable thing, not something that becomes a source of tension. AndI suppose when you think about it, they don't read in silence at school, there's background noise from other children.That said, I wouldn't have loud TV/music etc, but a bit of background is fine I'd have thought.

Sometimes I like to listen to instrumental music while I read, it can help with concentration, anything with words would be distracting especially tv! Look up piano for concentration or similar things on Spotify - it might help if he is uncomfortable with silence.

Also as a few people pointed out enjoying reading is really crucial, find something he loves - graphic novels, comics, fantasy - what is his passion? My nephew always loved comedy, comics and graphic novels and is now a very strong reader. At that age he loved the “You’re a bad man Mr Gum” series, the Storey Treehouse series, Dogman series and more traditional stuff like the Harry Potters and Narnia books.

I would never have the TV on as background noise, no matter what he's doing.

I would let him have some music on in the background though and see if it helps. There's no harm in trying. Let him test his hypothesis, discuss the results together. Maybe try different types of background noise and see. It might be a fun way to get him reading if you try a different background noise each night (e.g. jungle noises, rain, classical music, rock, nursery rhymes, radio, sports commentary, the shipping forecast etc). Make a chart...do an experiment together.

At times, i prefer background noise, eg Tv, when reading, then at other times if im really studying the texts, then i want silence, as its distracting