Learn Smarter Podcast

Plan for the best, expect the worst. In educational therapy, Rachel & Steph teach “academic insurance policies” and build in redundancies so student’s know how to rebound when a plan doesn’t work out the way it was supposed to. Rachel & Steph share 5 of their favorite backup plans. Having a backup plan for backup plans (or knowing how to rebound when a plan fails) is really critical to the...

In this episode, Rachel & Steph talk about the one thing they wish all learners would stop doing: LATE WORK. Rachel & Steph talk about why late work happens, why it’s such a problem. They explain all the different steps that a student has to go through to counteract/solve a late assignment. This is one of the first things Rachel & Steph work on in educational therapy (it’s part of the...

Rachel & Steph welcome Meg Cunningham to the podcast to have a discussion about how to begin cultivating independence in her 6th-grade middle school student. They explore how tricky the middle school transition is for parents and dig into how Meg and her husband can start helping their son to start organizing his time. They also delve into a discussion about whether or not an incident or acade...

Struggling learners are very emotionally vulnerable. Rachel & Steph dive into the mindset of struggling learners and examine the differences between a growth mindset and fixed mindset. Mindset is critical to student success and they discuss how educational therapy transforms the mindset of their learners. Join our e-mail list Join our FB Group Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website St...

Rachel & Steph bring you SMART goals today! Listen in to learn why it’s important to set SMART goals and how to do it. Also, Steph coaches Rachel about an issue with one of her clients. At the end, Rachel ends up shifting what the SMART goal acronym means to help make it even easier for you, your learner and your families to establish them. Alarmed Kapp Educational Therapy Group is hiring! My...

Today, Rachel and Steph introduce to you the 3 phases that our clients experience when they work with us. This episode explains how educational therapy works in the real world. Educational therapy is a long-term play. This framework highlights the ABC’s of the Educational Therapy journey. The “A” phase is Assessment. The “B” phase is Building and the “C” phase is Competency. Today we’ll dig into t...

Welcome to our new series! Rachel & Steph are delighted to welcome Christine Walsh as their very first guest of Learn Smarter: the Educational Therapy podcast. Listen to how they coach Christine to some big “ah-ha” moments. They discuss Christine’s role as the executive functioning brain of her two adult children and help her create an action plan to guide them towards independence and autonom...

Happy New Year! Rachel & Steph do a deep dive on ADHD and how ADHD and executive functioning are connected. This episode is completely applicable to parents of all students this episode is totally applicable to your child and you will absolutely learn tips, tricks, and strategies on how to partner with your child in reading, writing, and math. They also discuss how executive functioning itself...

Happy Holidays, Smarties! It is so critical to understand executive functioning because EVERYTHING that has to do with “doing” life is impacted by executive functioning. There are many different definitions of executive functioning (EF) and in this episode, Rachel & Steph discuss what executive functioning is in the context of educational therapy. They highlight 7 domains of executive function...

Winter Break is coming! Listen to this episode to hear: How important it is to relax and WHY How to practice and hone skills in a way that your child will think is fun How to get ready to start 2019 Both Kapp Educational Therapy Group (Rachel) and My Ed Therapist (Steph) are hiring! To be considered to join Rachel’s team, click here . To be considered to join Steph’s team, click here . Minimize Wi...

Ever wonder what apps and games we love in session? Well, you all asked us so here you go! Rachel does her best to keep up with Steph’s game/app “guru-ness” and both women share their favorite games and apps of 2018! Both Kapp Educational Therapy Group (Rachel) and My Ed Therapist (Steph) are hiring! To be considered to join Rachel’s team, click here . To be considered to join Steph’s team, click...

Both Kapp Educational Therapy Group (Rachel) and My Ed Therapist (Steph) are hiring! To be considered to join Rachel’s team, click here . To be considered to join Steph’s team, click here . In this episode, Rachel & Steph dig into one of the more frustrating aspects of educational therapy–as soon as you start to make progress in one area, another one area of focus emerges. In this episod...

There is no quick fix. There is no silver bullet. There is no “magic pill” that will suddenly change everything for your child. Instant solutions simply don’t exist. This is why we, as educational therapists, work towards establishing positive, attainable and realistic goals–and why we always stress to tackle one goal at a time. We dig into all this in this episode and discuss medication for...

We get the same questions all the time from new parents calling us to begin the process of educational therapy. In this episode, we answer all your frequently asked questions about educational therapy including: How long it takes What is a typical session like Insurance Ages of students we work with and our prior experiences How educational therapy is different from tutoring How to figure out if y...

Rachel and Steph do a deep dive on motivation. Hear why they don’t believe any student is ever “lazy” and what language they use instead. Also, they talk about why motivation suddenly stops for students who struggle in school. Then they dissect the differences between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and the parallels between growth and fixed mindset that they’ve observed. Of course, they give y...

Today, Rachel & Steph demystify memory. They talk all about short term, working (the most important for school) and long term memory.  We talk about how school is truly set up to reward those with good memory, challenges those with weaker memory and the strong link between memory and learning. Of COURSE, you’ll get to hear some of their favorite strategies as well.  Educated Other episodes men...

Understanding your learners learning profile is essential when making decisions about what school to attend or helping cultivate a relationship of understanding with your child’s teacher. The natural styles and affinities of different learners directly impact the type of instruction, strategies, tips, and tricks we give to a student. In this episode, Rachel & Steph only talk about 3 different...

All human beings–no matter who you are or your learning style or profile–struggle with time. We all feel like we don’t have enough time. In this episode, Rachel & Steph talk about task initiation (which is their fancy way of saying “getting started” with a task), time management and the importance of accountability. Some of what they say may surprise you (including why instituting...

In this episode, Rachel & Steph are super excited to reveal their POP approach in this episode. They remind you of the importance of respecting all aspects of executive functioning and in this episode, they detail ways it is important to respect the POP (prioritizing, organizing and planning). They reveal the many different ways student can improve their prioritizing, organizing and planning s...

As educational therapists, Rachel & Steph also work with highly gifted students, who have a very specific academic experience and journey. The often rely on their intellect and don’t “need” to learn academic coping skills–until they suddenly do! Rachel & Steph also discuss the close connection of self-esteem and grades for highly gifted students and the specific challenges that arise...

Adding to their conversation from last week, Rachel & Steph continue their deep dive into writing strategies. In this episode, they chat about how spelling, syntax, and grammar are secondary concerns to the larger task of communicating ideas. They also talked about the importance of being prepared for writing and how to take action while reading the book (be sure to listen to Episodes 17 and 1...

Being able to express yourself in the written word is critical–in the “real world”, students need to know how to properly write an e-mail or quickly and politely express themselves on paper. As school progresses, the complexities of writing become increasingly demanding and burdensome. Today, Rachel & Steph give you some of their favorite strategies including graphic organizers, the valu...

Writing presents suggest a challenge for ALL students–it doesn’t matter if they have a learning or medical diagnosis that interferes with their ability to function in the classroom. Writing. Is. Hard. In today’s episode, Rachel & Steph do a deep dive into writing and explain why it is often the most challenging part of a child’s day. They (of course!) give a few tips and ideas on how to...

Steph is back to teach us about all her favorite games and apps for reading (decoding). Steph has really earned her nickname as the game guru over the years and in this episode, she tells us her top 5 favorite games and top 5 favorite apps for reading. Be sure to go to learnsmarterpodcast.com to get our freebie list so you can buy some games and apps for your struggling decoders (readers). Steph&#...

Reading comprehension is critical–even if your student is the most fluid out loud reader…are they really understanding what they’re reading? Reading comprehension weaknesses can be sneaky because it can be difficult to identify. In last weeks episode, Rachel & Steph dug in to why students can pretend they understand what they’re reading (when they don’t) and give you some of their...