Learn Smarter Podcast

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET are excited to share this much requested episode about independent games that learners can play. Steph, the resident Game Guru, shares some of her favorite games and why they strengthen skills in an independent, fun, engaging way that mitigates learner resistance. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast   Ho...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome Integrative Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Sara Langley. She talks about what integrative psychiatric nurse practitioners do, how nutrition works in tandem with medication, and why it’s beneficial to look at the whole picture of a learner. She also makes some simple recommendations that are easy to implement and can have a tremendo...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET are thrilled to welcome Anya Kamenetz to the podcast to discuss her book, The Stolen Year: How COVID Changed Children’s Lives, and Where We Go Now.  This is an incredibly rich discussion about how remote learning was a force multiplier for inequity, what it revealed about our values in the United States, and so much more.    Support u...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome parent educator, coach, former elementary school administrator and former special education teacher, Sari Goodman. She talks about the importance of empathy, being a resource for parents who don’t know what to do and need help, and how critical a village is. We talk about how important it is to demystify educational jargon and some...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome LCSW Debbie Murad. She shares how digital addiction is akin to other addictions and the consequences. She shares the differences between heavy screen use and digital addiction. She discusses risk factors and discusses how relationship issues are often evident in digital addiction. She shares suggestions for reestablishing connectio...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET talk about one of the hidden and often overlooked elements of educational therapy–bandwidth. Bandwidth is the mental energy one has to devote to a task and understanding bandwidth in relation to school, learning and studenting is critical in the educational therapy process. In this episode, Rachel and Stephanie explore the impact of bandwi...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET, welcome Emily Kircher-Morris and Amanda Morin on the podcast to discuss their new book, Neurodiversity Affirming Schools: Transforming Practices so All Students Feel Accepted & Supported. During this wide-ranging conversation, they discuss collaboration, neurodiversity affirming schools, and neurodiversity vs neurodivergent. They also...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss summer slide. They talk about all the opportunities for growth over the summer and share their own summer experiences. They chat about why it’s important for most learners to continue educational therapy over the summer. Of course, they also share some tips on how to maintain skills and avoid a summer slide. Support us on Patreon:...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss negative self-talk. They discuss what it is, why it happens and, most importantly, what to do about it.   Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast   How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website Steph’s My Ed Therapist website  @learnsmarterpodcast ,...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET are back to discuss their favorite topic: calendaring! Today they dig into ALL THE THINGS adults need on their calendars. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website Steph’s My Ed Therapist website  @learnsmarterpodcast , @ka...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss how executive functioning skills impact social skills. They share how it impacts friendships, relationships, and conversations. They chat about how emotional regulation and opportunity cost is a significant factor for learners who struggle with executive functioning skills. They discuss how weaker executive functioning skills impac...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET get asked all the time about how to get learners to read more. In this episode they dig into some big ideas about reading.  Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast   How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website Steph’s My Ed Therapist website  @learnsmarterpodc...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss how progress works in educational therapy. Some learners click immediately with the process which thrills the student, the parents, and educational therapists alike. However, sometimes this doesn’t happen and slow progress can be one of the more frustrating aspects of educational therapy for educational therapists, for parents, and...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss how to help learners research quicker, faster and more effectively through getting specific, structured and neutral. They also give ideas about how to use AI to move learners through research faster. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast   How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss the idea of assuming competence. They define the idea and talk about some challenges to be mindful of when assuming competence. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website Steph’s My Ed Therapist website  @learnsmarte...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET, welcome Alex, Rachel’s former client at Kapp Educational Therapy Group. Alex is a 2nd year college learner who began working with Rachel during his 1st year of college. In this episode they talked about the transformation that occurred during his work with Rachel including how valuable rules were, his comfortability around technology, and...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET complete their 4-part series about accommodations. In episode 347, they chatted about what accommodations are, why they’re important, and common misconceptions about them. Then in episode 348, they discussed why some accommodations don’t work as intended (despite the best of intentions). In last week’s episode, episode 349, they discussed...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET continue their 4-part series about accommodations. In episode 347, they chatted about what accommodations are, why they’re important, and common misconceptions about them. Last week, in episode 348, they discussed why some accommodations don’t work as intended (despite the best of intentions). In today and next week’s episodes, Rachel and...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET, continue their 4-part series about accommodations. Last week they chatted about what accommodations are, why they’re important, and common misconceptions about them. Today they dig into why some accommodations don’t work as intended (despite the best of intentions). In the subsequent two episodes, Rachel and Steph will dig into their favo...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss accommodations in this episode. They discuss what they are, why they’re important, and common misconceptions about them. They dig into what makes accommodations different from modifications and different goals of accommodations for different ages and stages. Other episodes mentioned: Ep 318: An Adult Autism Diagnosis with Elizabeth...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss body doubling in today’s episode. They chat about what it is and why it’s effective and discuss various examples of body doubling. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website Steph’s My Ed Therapist website  @learnsma...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET, welcome Ali, James’ mom to the podcast. James was featured in episode 343 and today Ali talks about her experience as James navigated academic challenges in high school. She talks about how James’ relationship with Stephanie and his journey through ed therapy transformed their family life. She also shares how it took the pressure off her...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET dig into a business practice that changed the trajectory of their businesses. They dig into how they knew when a change needed to be made, their reluctance to make a change and why they’re ultimately thrilled that they did. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast   How to connect with us: Join our e-mail lis...

Smarties, we decided not to release a new episode today. Instead, we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the devastating fires here in Los Angeles and share our thoughts and support with you. Stay tuned for additional resources and tips on talking to your kids about difficult topics and supporting them emotionally during uncertain times. Our hearts are with everyone affected by the fires. Pleas...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome Steph’s clients James to the podcast. He talks about his initial reluctance and his high level of coachability. He shares about how his improvement in sleep has been transformative and how he learned to make calculated & strategic decisions about efforting. He also talks about how he learned to study meaningfully, his embracing...