Learn With Less

Growing up with multiple languages Raising bilingual children has become a hot topic over the last few decades. We are starting to understand more about the brain benefits of being bilingual or multilingual, but what does it actually look like to raise a multilingual family? On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, Ayelet sits down with Erez Podoly and Andrea Scaiewicz, who are the parents...

Positive parenting, positive discipline, and infants and toddlers We know there is no “correct” way to parent, but how do various parenting styles impact our child’s brain development? If there are ways to inherently boost self-regulation skills in a toddler or support a young child’s executive functioning skills, how can we integrate those habits or strategies into our everyday interactions with...

Open-Ended Art Activities For Infants and Toddlers Creative development ideas for families: pairing child-directed art activities with book appreciation never felt so easy. On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, Ayelet sits down with Julia Linsteadt, one half of the brains behind  KidArtLit , whose goal is to make it easy for families to ignite creativity and a love of reading in the...

What is executive functioning? On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, Ayelet sits down with Renee Peña Lopez, a special education and early childhood educator, to discuss how executive functioning is related to foundational learning and play in early childhood. We got the scoop about how to make play more purposeful to support this important part of brain development in infants, toddlers,...

How to Survive & thrive in the first year of motherhood: one mother’s celebration story On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, Ayelet sits down with Rachel Kammeyer, a speech-language pathologist, long-time listener of the Learn With Less podcast, regular attendee of Learn With Less® “parent & me” classes, and mother to William, who has just celebrated his first birthd...

How Babies Learn And Develop – Resources For Parents and Caregivers on Infant and Toddler Learning On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, Ayelet sits down with Brooke Henson, a long-time listener of the Learn With Less podcast, and mother to Everly who’s now 13-months old at the time of this recording. Ayelet says, “I’ve had the good fortune of getting to know Brooke over the last year, a...

It’s not uncommon to have relationship problems after having a baby – having a baby can put strain on any relationship! On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, Ayelet sits down with Julia Wenegrat, a licensed marriage and family therapist. We spoke about Julia’s journey into her work with families, the ways in which her experience as a mother of two young children has changed her practice...

They say infants and toddlers learn through movement, but  why  is movement so important for infants and toddlers? On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, Ayelet sits down with Wendi McKenna, a pediatric physical therapist, family coach, and founder of the website  Move, Play, Grow . Ayelet and Wendi’s discussion centers around the fact that young children learn through movement....

We all know the importance of self-care for new moms… we need realistic solutions! On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, Ayelet speaks with Shannon Shearn, a health and wellness coach and personal trainer. Shannon is passionate about helping women (especially moms) regain control of their wellness, and prioritize their health and happiness. Shannon is the owner of  Savage Wellness ,...

Are you looking for resources about autism spectrum disorders in the early years? In this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, Ayelet speaks with pediatric physical therapist, Leslie Hayden about her experience as both a professional working with children with autism spectrum disorders, as well as a parent of a child with an autism spectrum disorder. Ayelet and Leslie discuss Leslie’s pers...

If you’re looking for tools to help navigate the “parenting” portion of parenting infants and toddlers, look to the Language of Listening On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, Ayelet speaks with author Tracy Cutchlow about one of the most difficult and important areas of raising young children: when our little ones are driving us crazy, how do we keep it together ourselves to raise a “go...

Every child has different sensory needs – but what happens when those needs aren’t being met? In this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, Ayelet sits down again with speech-language pathologist Carrie Clark – this time to talk about a more personal topic: her home life, and her experience raising a toddler with sensory processing disorder. Carrie and Ayelet discuss Carrie’s personal exper...

How do we connect with each other meaningfully? In this celebratory 50th episode of the Learn With Less podcast AND the two year anniversary of the Learn With Less, Ayelet reflects upon the origins of why she created  Learn With Less , why she sees the role of community playing so centrally in the resources created here, and what you can do to be part of that community! She shares one thing w...

What is early literacy? How do we provide experiences that promote early literacy in our tiny humans? In this episode, Ayelet sits down with former birth-to-three early interventionist and parenting blogger, Kayla O’Neill of  Parenting Expert To Mom,  where she shares strategies to encourage learning in daily routines. Kayla and Ayelet discuss the term “early literacy,” what kinds o...

Apply the Montessori philosophy in your home In this episode, Ayelet sits down with Montessori Parenting Mentor and Home Consultant Jeanne-Marie Paynel. Jeanne-Marie is founder and CEO of  Voila Montessori.   She guides expectant parents and caregivers of young children on how to prepare their homes for their young children to thrive during the first years of life. Jeanne-Marie and Ayele...

What does it mean to “play with purpose?” Pediatric speech-language pathologist Emily Cohen shares her best tips! In this episode, Ayelet sits down with pediatric speech-language pathologist and blogger, Emily Cohen. Through her blog series, “ Playing with Purpose ,” Emily helps parents explore how to convert play and everyday routines into activities that are both fun and beneficial for thei...

My Favorite Simple Ways to connect and Play With Infants and Toddlers How to Support Infant and Toddler Development In this episode, a live video recording with friends of Learn With Less, Ayelet chats about some simple ways to connect and play with infants and toddlers, songs to sing during caregiving and play routines, and play materials you can use (hint: you already have these in your home!!!)...

What do our senses have to do with early development? I spoke with a pediatric occupational therapist who breaks it down. In this episode, Ayelet sits down with pediatric occupational therapist, parenting coach, educator, and author Jill Loftus. Jill is focused on enabling and empowering children and families, and is also the founder of  Honest Occupational Therapy.   Jill and Ayele...

Why does music support early development? I spoke with a music therapist to confirm what we already know! In this episode, Ayelet sits down with board-certified music therapist and developmental therapist, Meryl Brown, of Developing Melodies.” Meryl is a music therapist  with a “neurologic” music therapy specialty. Meryl and Ayelet discuss: What “neurologic music therapy” is The ways music ca...

How becoming a mother influenced this professional’s approach to working with parents In this episode, Ayelet sits down with Andrea Boerigter of the website “ The Speech Mom .” Like Ayelet, Andee is a pediatric speech-language pathologist and mother of two young children. Andee specializes in the areas of feeding and language development, and is the owner of “Bloombox.” Andee descr...

Making use of everyday routines and objects in your environment to play with my baby In this episode, Ayelet sits down with Lia Kurtin of the website “Speech & Language At Home.” Lia Kurtin is a pediatric speech-language pathologist. She has been working with kids from birth through high school for nearly 20 years. Lia is currently providing assessment, treatment and parent education in t...

Curious about simple ways to promote communication in your infant or toddler? In this episode, we speak with Carrie Clark, a pediatric speech-language pathologist and the creator of the website, “Speech and Language Kids.” Carrie offers 5 simple strategies families can implement into their everyday lives to promote communication in young children. These include use of: Sign Language, sho...

Want great strategies for tummy time? In this episode, our guest focuses on the rationale behind tummy time, some extremely useful tips to help your infant tolerate longer periods, and useful information to help you as parent/caregiver feel successful! Make sure you listen in for her Top 3 Tips for Tummy Time ! Rachel clarifies and demystifies with a warm, compassionate tone, and you’re sure to co...

What’s it like to go from one child to two? On this episode of Learn With Less, Ayelet ruminates on the first week home with a newborn, the second time around. Baby’s first days of life are amazing, but the first few weeks with a newborn are the hardest – even when you’ve done it before! Great resources we mentioned in this podcast episode (in order they were mentioned): Learn With Less: Music For...

There are holiday songs we all know, but those chintzy Christmas songs we all hear in department stores are certainly not the only holiday songs we can sing. Whatever traditions and holidays your family celebrates, we’ve put together some of our favorite holiday songs to sing with family. We want to wish you a very happy holiday season.  This special episode is dedicated to the music and...