Learn Smarter Podcast

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET are back to chat about commitment overwhelm. Families often say things like “We’re too busy right now” or “Let’s wait until next semester.” But sometimes those words aren’t about scheduling — they’re about commitment overwhelm and that heavy feeling that starting something new, even something helpful, might just be too much to handle. In t...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET celebrate 400 episodes of Learn Smarter ! In this special milestone episode, they reflect on what they’ve learned over the years—from their learners, their guests, their listeners, and each other. Rachel and Steph share their biggest takeaways about growth, executive functioning, and the parenting journey, and they look back on some of the...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome back Dr. Karen Wilson, a pediatric neuropsychologist, founder of ChildNexus, and podcaster of Diverse Thinking, Different Learning . She teaches Rachel and Steph about early indicators that could impact learners. She shares how the early signs are used as information and early signs should be observed in relationship to their peers...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET talk about the lost art of boredom and why it’s so essential for developing executive functioning skills. It’s well documented that kids, learners, and adults are really overscheduled and overstructured (and we really do not like and have a problem tolerating being bored). Rachel and Steph explore what boredom actually does for the brain,...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss how tricky the decision to start educational therapy when parents receive mixed feedback from the other adults in their learner’s life. They chat about why a lack of consensus can easily emerge and the questions you can ask yourself to help you determine if you should start educational therapy.    Support us on Patreon: https://www...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET Dr. Jessica Broitman and Dr. Jack Davis for part 2 of their conversation about Non-verbal Learning Disorders (Developmental Visual Spatial Disorder). They share what to do once you know that your learner has NVLD. They talk about the importance of passion, giving your learner permission to talk about whatever their learner is upset about w...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome Dr. Jessica Broitman a psychoanalyst, child psychologist, and researcher and Dr. Jack Davis,  school psychologist and neuropsychologist for this conversation about non-verbal learning disorders. They share the history of NVLD and discuss the process of renaming NVLD to be classified as Developmental Visual Spatial Disorder. They al...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET dive into all the ways learners unintentionally overcomplicate their foundational systems. From color-coding everything to creating elaborate planners they never use, Rachel and Steph unpack how learners often make organization and productivity harder than they need to be. They discuss why this happens and what parents and educators can do...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET talk about one of the most common concerns they hear from parents: “My learner doesn’t want extra work.” In this episode, they explore what’s really behind learner resistance and how to tell when a learner is truly ready for support. They share how resistance is often a form of self-protection, not defiance. Rachel and Steph break down pra...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET explore what’s really happening when support starts to feel like nagging. They discuss why it happens, how it affects both parents and learners, and share practical ways to shift from constant reminders to strategies that build independence and strengthen connection. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast   How...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome back Dr. Ellen Braaten, clinical psychologist and professor, to discuss her latest publication Motivation Mindset Workbook . In this super fun interview, Dr. Braaten talks about motivation as a skillset, how it’s a part of executive functioning and how executive functioning and motivation are two sides of the same coin. She shares...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET dig into the differences, similarities, and overlap between procrastination and perfectionism. They dig into the motivations of both and discuss how to decipher what’s going on and some strategies of what to do next. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast   How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s K...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss how there is no perfect time of year to start educational therapy support. They discuss the benefit of “just getting started” and all the emotional benefits of beginning to address learner challenges. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast   How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educ...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss the hot topic of executive functioning skills in sports. They talk about the benefit of sports in general and how executive functioning skills are strengthened as a result of sports. They also chat about some potential pitfalls of executive functioning skills and sports.  Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterp...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss how hard and stressful it can be for parents of learners in educational therapy to figure out what the next best school for the child is. They are often asked, “Should I tell the school what’s going on with my kid?” and “What questions should we ask?” In this episode, Rachel and Stephanie go over things to think about and questions...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss a few important strategies that a lot of learners employ: study buddies and body doubling. In this episode, Rachel and Steph discuss the virtues (and pitfalls) of body doubling and study buddies.   Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast   How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educati...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss how important educational therapy is when learners have a busy schedule. As educational therapists, Rachel and Steph are constantly supporting busy learners who want to accomplish and engage with all the things–and look at educational therapy as a “waste” of their very valuable time. In this episode, Rachel and Steph dig into how v...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss metacognition, which is the idea of “thinking about thinking”. The ability to reflect back and compassionately examine one’s own thinking is an important skill developed in educational therapy. Rachel and Steph talk through how to develop this with learners.  Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast   How...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET share a behind the scenes episode on Steph’s executive functioning experience (nightmare?) of moving homes. She shares the challenges, overwhelm, and curveballs that occurred during her recent move and how it has helped her empathize with executive functioning skills challenges. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpo...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET reair episode 50 of Learn Smarter: the Educational Therapy podcast to remember their guest, Dr. Thomas Brown.  To contribute to his memorial fund, click here.  To read his obituary, click here.   Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast   How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational Thera...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss a major parent, learner, and educational therapist frustration today–which is why strategies don’t stick. In this episode they dig into the plethora of reasons why strategies don’t stick or rather become “generalized skills”.  Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast   How to connect with us: Join our e-ma...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome back Diane Dempster, co-founder of Impact Parents . She discusses the different flavors of parent roles in the educational therapy process (“you handle it,” “micromanager,” and “in-betweeners”). She shares about the importance of creating a relationship with parents and personalizing the relationship. She also shares a tool, AC-E (...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss the complex nature of disclosing diagnoses to learners. They discuss parents’ fear of disclosing diagnoses versus the reality of what it actually means to share diagnostic information.  Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast How to connect with us: Join our e-mail list Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy G...

In this re-air of episode 186,  Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET explore the concept of the “all or nothing brain” and how it impacts learning, school, and daily life. Rachel and Steph break down what it means, how it commonly shows up, and why recognizing this pattern is so important. Through real-world examples, they highlight the ways an all-or-nothing mindset can infl...

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome Dr. Brennan Chandler, Assistant Professor at Georgia State University, for the second half of their conversation. Dr. Chandler shares what works: effective instruction and support can lead to skilled, confident readers. He discusses his role of breaking down the research and talks about the benefit of targeted, direct, explicit ins...