If you’ve ever wondered why your child can spend 40 minutes talking about Minecraft but can’t concentrate for four minutes on homework, this episode explains everything.
I’m joined again by Professor Sam Wass, and if you heard his previous episodes, you’ll know why parents loved them. In today’s conversation, Sam breaks down what concentration actually is from a neuroscience perspective, why young children are wired to be easily distracted, and why some children struggle far more than others in noisy classrooms, during revision, or when faced with a blank page.
We dig into the two types of concentration every child needs, why the frontal cortex develops painfully slowly, how screens hijack attention, and why understanding something is the single biggest predictor of whether a child can focus on it.
If you’re battling procrastination, homework refusal, or a child who “just can’t sit still,” this episode will give you the clarity you’ve been missing
If you want to understand your child’s brain - and finally stop blaming them (or yourself) for something that’s biological, predictable, and fixable - you need to listen to this.
Highlights from this episode:
02:40 - Concentrating through doing
09:20 - Two ways to structure learning tasks
15:46 - My name is Sam and I am a Candy Crush addict
21:53 - Build on interests
27:24 - Stress and concentration
34:39 - Screen time
38:56 - We are prediction machines
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DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.
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