Learn With Less

How Sara Discovered The Confidence To Serve Families Holistically In Her Community and Beyond In this episode of the Learn With Less® podcast, Ayelet sits down with special educator, music educator, parent educator, speech therapist, and Learn With Less® facilitator, Sara Moreno of Mi Casa Abierta. Sara has been instrumental in the community and growth of the Learn With Less® Facilitator Training...

How do we heal from trauma? How do we become trauma informed practitioners? This episode of the Learn With Less® podcast was recorded as a live, virtual event featuring a very special guest, psychotherapist and trauma-informed transformational coach, Michelle Hardeman-Guptill, and was aimed at both parents/caregivers as well as professionals working with infant/toddler families. We discussed: Mich...

Defining your Values as a Parent or a Professional Serving Families Perinatally or in Early Childhood Can Guide Your Work & Lighten The Load Today’s episode is just an intimate conversation between you and I wanted to share a bit about what guides our work here at Learn With Less®, and how we make decisions about the resources we share, the people we bring on to join us on this platform,...

It’s Simple, Really: all you need to remember is how to play, talk, sing, or move In this episode of the Learn With Less® podcast, Ayelet brings back a chat with two women who helped shape the journey of the entire Learn With Less® infant and toddler curriculum. Manuela and Gwen, two mothers living in London, became parents at the same time as (and along with) Ayelet. Together, they created...

Lessons Learned About Identity, Ableism, and Systemic Health Disparities When It Comes to Birth On this episode of the Learn With Less® podcast, we sat down with Val Pitaluga, of JoyCo Therapy, and Accessible Vacations. Val is a multi-passionate mom, wife, speech-language pathologist, and business owner. Her personal experiences as an immigrant and English language learner fuel both her profession...

She wanted to empower new parents with tools to understand how they can support their young children Today, I’d like to share the story of one of my clients, Rachel Kammeyer. We’ve heard from Rachel on the Learn With Less® podcast in a few past episodes, in which she shared her own experiences with Learn With Less® resources from her perspective as a parent. In this episode, however, she’s b...

How do I know if my child is really a picky eater? On this episode of the Learn With Less® podcast, Ayelet sat down with speech-language pathologist Melanie Potock, who describes herself as “a mom who once had a picky eater.” She’s experienced first-hand the stress that parents feel when they are worried about their child’s nutritional health.   Fast forward to today, and you’ll f...

What is early intervention… and why is it important? On this episode of the Learn With Less® podcast, Ayelet spoke with Crystal Sanford, M.Ed., M.A., CCC-SLP, a pediatric speech-language pathologist, parent educator, advocate, mother of a child with special needs, and owner of Sanford Autism Consulting. Her work focuses on providing a place where other Autism and special needs moms can find...

What does an Early Intervention Speech-Language Pathologist Do, Anyway? On this episode of the Learn With Less® podcast, Ayelet sat down with Grace Bernales, a pediatric SLP based in Los Angeles, and owner of Graceful Expression, providing in-home speech/feeding therapy. Grace works with the early intervention population (birth to three) and elementary-aged children, and provides helpful informati...

She Needed the Tools to Be Successful In Empowering Families to Support Their Young Children Today, I’d like to share the story of one of my clients, Laurel Smith, of More Than Words Therapy. Laurel is a pediatric speech-language pathologist with a masters in public health, and is based in the Bahamas. When we met, she told me she had an interest in gaining knowledge and skills in parent education...

What Can Parents Do to Encourage Infant and Toddler Language Development? On this episode of the Learn With Less® podcast, we sat down with Cari Ebert, of Cari Ebert Seminars. Cari is a speech-language pathologist, parent, consultant, author, product developer, and nationally recognized speaker in the areas of Apraxia, Autism, and early intervention (and routines-based intervention) who has dedica...

How Do We Define Conscious or Gentle Parenting? And Who is it For? On this episode of the Learn With Less® podcast, we sat down with Brandi Jordan, founder of the Cradle Company, a pregnancy and postpartum resource center. Brandi’s work as a consultant, a parenting group leader, and in-home practitioner has led her to develop a unique philosophy of gentle parenting techniques that are a prag...

What are the different types of play? On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, we sat down with Lina Richards, an early childhood educator and family support worker. Lina mentors caregivers serving infants and toddlers as well as providing play experiences for children and their families who have been approved for supportive services via Early Steps. She is the proud mother of twin girls an...

She wanted to expand her scope and create more parent coaching, parent training, and parent education opportunities in her community Over the last few weeks, I’ve been sharing a lot with you about the value and benefits of leading caregiver / baby “parent & me” style family enrichment classes or workshops. As educators or therapists who serve infant and toddler families or wh...

Supporting The Family As A Unit As an educator or a therapist of any kind, you know that parents and caregivers need to feel confident that they can support and connect with their new baby or toddler. As a professional working with families, the single most important thing that allows you to do your job effectively… is to support that CONNECTION between parent and child. You know that all pa...

On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, we were joined by Mercedes Thomas, of Advanced Practice Wellness . We chatted about: Mercedes’ personal and professional background, and how she came to do the work she’s doing today What to ACTUALLY expect as a parent, what kinds of topics to collect wisdom about (to prepare for that beginning phase), and  how  to prepare for that Why it...

On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, we were joined by Sonnet Simmons, Veronica Morales Frieling, and Bryana Kappa. Sonnet and Veronica are hosts of the “ Not Your Mother’s Podcast .” and co-creators of the parenting online course “ Raising Children You Like ” with Bryana Kappa.  We chatted about: Each of our guests’ backgrounds and how they came...

On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, we were joined by LaDawn White, an Early Childhood Educator and Family Childcare Director. LaDawn is the owner of Labor of Love Childcare , a preschool prep, family childcare program that services families with children aged birth to three years old. We chatted about: LaDawn’s background and how she came to do the work she’s doing today W...

Building Empathy and Capacity for Families with Young Children With Medical Needs On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, Ayelet sits down with Parijat Deshpande, of parijatdeshpande.com. Parijat is a leading high-risk pregnancy expert, mind-body health specialist, trauma professional, speaker and author who teaches women how to deactivate their stress response before, during and after a h...

Navigating Postpartum Care Can Be Tricky… In this episode of Learn With Less, Ayelet sat down with  Arianna Taboada , a maternal health consultant for businesses and entrepreneurs. Arianna holds a Masters of Social Work and Master of Science in Maternal & Child Health, and was introduced to the maternal health field as a public health professional working with new mothers in some of...

She envisioned more for herself – beyond the classroom Over the last few weeks, I’ve been sharing a lot with you about the value and benefits of leading caregiver / baby “mommy & me” style family enrichment classes or workshops. We use the term “caregiver & me” classes to describe our programming, as it describes a more inclusive version of “mommy...

Why are early interventionists and developmental therapists implementing “routines-based intervention” with families, and how can ALL families benefit from this approach? On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, Ayelet is joined by Stacey Landberg, M.S., CCC-SLP of speechtheraping.com. Stacey is a pediatric speech-language pathologist and regular presenter on topics related...

What is “hands-on” learning for babies and toddlers, and why is it so important? An Early Childhood Development Specialist tells all. On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, Ayelet is joined by Jeana Kinne, M.A., of jdeducational.com. Jeana is an Early Childhood Development Specialist with over 15 years experience working with children birth to six years. Her work experience ha...

Surviving the NICU with micro-preemies… with a toddler (and partner!) at home: What this pediatric occupational therapist and mother did to support her babies On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, we’re joined by Jennifer Russell of the Instagram handle @otmomdiaries. Jen is a pediatric occupational therapist by training, and at the time of this recording, on maternity leave with h...

What is Co-Regulation and How Can I Improve My Baby or Toddler’s Self-Regulation Skills? In this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, Ayelet is joined by Sarah Reppenhagen, a licensed occupational therapist who has worked in a variety of pediatric settings, including Early Intervention, outpatient clinics, and inpatient hospitals.  Sarah’s passion lies in supporting young child...