Learn Smarter Podcast

On today’s episode, we welcome Jenny Crandall in Idaho! Jenny shares her family’s story as they navigate her son’s Carson’s struggle with school and ultimate decision to homeschool. She talks about the benefits of having flexibility in Carson’s schedule and taking the pressure off while she remediates Carson’s challenges herself. We also coach her on how to think small to get big wins. How to conn...

Happy podcastaversary, Smarties! Cory Zacker, who is a longtime Smartie, interviews Rachel & Steph today to mark their first year of podcasting anniversary. Rachel & Steph pull back the curtain on the origins of Learn Smarter and how it gets produced each week and what has happened to them, professionally and personally, as a result of the podcast. Most important, though, Rachel & Step...

Today, we welcome a graduate of Rachel’s from Kapp Educational Therapy Group, Alex. Alex worked with Rachel for a little less than 2 years and you’re about to be wildly impressed by Alex’s own explanation of his academic journey and the skills and strategies he still uses. Alex discusses the goal-setting process, explains how school and home life are different after educational therapy. He’s also...

We love Dr. Deanie over here at Learn Smarter Podcast! Today, Dr. Deanie shares her insights into how anxiety impacts the learners that Rachel & Steph work with. One of Dr. Deanie’s superpowers is to take complex issues and simplify them so we can understand how best to help our learners help their anxiety. Connect with Deanie: Dr. Deanie’s Website @DrDeanie on Instagram How to connect w...

Today, Rachel & Steph welcome Pam Olivieri, master teacher, and writing expert. Pam shares her personal and parenting journey with us (and we think you’ll all be fascinated to hear what she recently discovered) and shares her top tips for differentiated writing instruction. She also shares a mnemonic that we love! How to connect with us: Join our FB Group Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Edu...

Rachel & Steph are THRILLED to welcome ADHD expert Dr. Thomas Brown to the podcast today. Dr. Brown teaches all of us how he defines ADHD, shares several stories that help all of us to understand ADHD and how it works and how we all struggle with executive functioning at different moments. He further highlights that ADHD is NOT a struggle of willpower but rather a disorder of motivation. Brown...

Learners are constantly calibrating in educational therapy. We try sometimes, we see if it works and we adjust from there. Today, Rachel & Steph talk about why backsliding happens, how normal and functionally important it is to the educational therapy process and how to move forward. How to connect with us: Join our FB Group Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website...

What an exciting day at Learn Smarter Podcast! Today, you’ll get to meet Milkshake Girl’s mom! She joins us to discuss the academic journey of her daughter, Erin (aka Milkshake Girl). Baby steps are important for this family and having another adult (Steph) to partner with has been transformative for Kathryn. How to connect with us: Join our FB Group Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational...

In this episode, Rachel & Steph deep dive into note-taking. They chat about why it is so difficult, the various types of notes that teachers require and several of their favorite strategies. How to connect with us: Join our FB Group Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website Steph’s My Ed Therapist website @learnsmarterpodcast , @kappedtherapy , @myedtherapist Other e...

Today you’ll meet Ari Sokolov, who is a former client of Rachel’s in Kapp Educational Therapy Group. Ari shares her educational journey today and you’ll be incredibly impressed by her admirable growth mindset. She’s impressive, articulate, generous and VERY tech savvy. She shares some of her tech genius, as well, when she highlights her favorite ways to integrate technology and learning. Here&#821...

Word problems are HATED by a lot of the students we serve in educational therapy. Today, our resident math guru, Rachel, teaches all of us why word problems create such resistance in our learners. She also guides us on how to approach and solve word problems mindfully and intentionally. www. Math-aids.com How to connect with us: Join our FB Group Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational Ther...

During this on air coaching call, Rachel & Steph coach Evelize on how to navigate and cultivate the relationship she has with her son’s school. School partnership is critical to the success of learners and can be tricky and emotional. We also give Evelize some very specific, tangible reading comprehension strategies. How to connect with us: Join our FB Group Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp...

Rachel & Steph help shape the conversation about spelling. Spelling is hard and it’s also a weakness that parents readily notice. In this episode Rachel & Steph discuss why spelling is so hard for some learners and delve into a discussion about what matters the most when it comes to learning. Join our FB Group Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website Steph’s My...

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...