Podcast: Carlota Nelson, Director of ‘Brain Matters,’ Details the Essential Factors in Early Childhood Development that Help Every Child Thrive

This week we talk to Carlota Nelson, director of the new documentary “Brain Matters,” which was funded by the Genesis Foundation. She traveled the world to interview scientists, psychologists, and other early childhood development experts to distill down the essential factors that go into helping young children thrive. The result is a 72-minute documentary that is an excellent primer on the science and practice of early childhood development for parents, caregivers, or anyone who works with children.

Nelson and her crew even stopped here in Sarasota, where they interviewed Ellen Galinsky, chief science officer for The Bezos Family Foundation and creator of Mind in the Making; Beth Duda, director of the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading; and Kathryn Shea, president and CEO of The Florida Center for Early Childhood.

You can see the documentary on iTunes, Google or Amazon, but Nelson also has plans to make it available for groups to screen at community events, an option that should be available in September. Details will be available at brainmattersfilm.com.

You can also read an interview we did with Carlota Nelson about “Brain Matters.”

This story comes from Aspirations Journalism, an initiative of The Patterson Foundation and Sarasota Herald-Tribune to inform, inspire, and engage the community to take action on issues related to Age-Friendly Sarasota, Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, National Council on Aging and the Suncoast Nursing Action Coalition.