Early Excellence Podcast The Secret Lives of Young Learners with Professor Sam Wass
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Sep 12, 2025 Join Professor Sam Wass, a child psychologist and neuroscientist from The University of East London, as he reveals the captivating world of young learners. He discusses how children's unique concentration is influenced by emotional states and how meditation can enhance adult-child interactions. Sam delves into the intricate relationship between brain development and education, highlighting the importance of creating distraction-free environments for optimal learning. Discover innovative approaches to foster concentration, especially for children at risk of ADHD and autism.
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Children See More Than Adults
- Young children notice far more of the environment than adults because they lack adults' selective filtering.
- That freshness gives children learning strengths adults often miss.
Use Calm States To Notice Children
- Practice open-awareness techniques like mindfulness to regain a child's natural ability to notice surroundings.
- Supportive adults should cultivate calm states to better follow and respond to children's interests.
Noise Breaks Young Brains' Filters
- Children struggle with the cocktail-party effect and filtering competing speech streams.
- Early years classrooms often replicate noisy multi-stream audio environments that challenge young brains.
