Learn Smarter Podcast

 Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome Julia Rogers, founder of En Route Consulting, which specializes in personalized gap year planning. She shares how gap years have been around a long time even if people weren’t labeling it specifically that. She shares the different types of learners who benefit from gap years (this may surprise you!) Julia talks about how colleges react to the gap year and the difference between structured opportunities versus self-designed opportunities and how this depends on the executive functioning and independence level of the student. She also shares how the gap year experience should help learners figure out what is going to light them up and how it’s meant to be explorational and experiential and not about picking a track and why that’s so important.   Connect with Julia: www.enroutegapyear.com  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, @kappedtherapy, @myedtherapist

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome back Anxiety Expert and OCD Child Therapist Natasha Daniels to the podcast. Today they dig into how anxiety and OCD impacts learning and school. Natasha shares how OCD can be missed in school or misinterpreted as a learning disorder and shares what teachers need to know about OCD. She further discusses what teachers can look out for in learners with OCD, and she shares what the impact of reassurance is on anxiety versus OCD. She also shares the unique benefits of a 504 and how to figure out which accommodations would work best for your learner.  Connect with Natasha Daniels 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, @kappedtherapy, @myedtherapist Other episodes mentioned: Ep 251: Understanding OCD and Anxiety with Natasha Daniels (Part 1)

Reading comprehension is critical–even if your student is the most fluid out loud reader…are they really understanding what they’re reading? Reading comprehension weaknesses can be sneaky because it can be difficult to identify. In last week’s episode, Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET dug in to why students can pretend they understand what they’re reading (when they don’t) and give you some of their favorite reading comprehension strategies. This week, they’ll share the rest of the strategies and the key takeaways they want to make sure you know.  Other episodes mentioned: Ep: 12 My Kid Isn’t Reading Ep 17 Our Top 10 Reading Comprehension Strategies (Part 1)   Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast 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

Reading comprehension is critical–even if your student is the most fluid out loud reader…are they really understanding what they’re reading? Reading comprehension weaknesses can be sneaky because they can be difficult to identify. In this re-air of episode 17,  Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET  dig in to why students can pretend they understand what they’re reading (when they don’t) and give you some of their favorite reading comprehension strategies. Next week, they’ll share the rest of the strategies and the key takeaways they want to make sure you know.  Other episodes mentioned: Ep: 12 My Kid Isn’t Reading Ep 18: Our Top 10 Reading Comprehension Strategies (Part 2)   Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast 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

 Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET, are joined again by Dr. Ellen Braaten, the author of Bright Kids Who Couldn’t Care Less. She shares the signs of an unmotivated child and discusses “hiding failures.” Dr. Braaten highlights the importance of knowing what gives us pleasure in order to help us get motivated. She discusses the impact that processing speed has on motivation and “not caring.” She further shares her thoughts on college and how we need different paths beyond college.    Don’t forget to join us on Patreon to hear the extended conversation, where we learn what Dr. Braaten says is the most IMPORTANT part of goal setting.   Bright Kids Who Couldn’t Care Less   Other episodes mentioned:  Ep 165: Re-Air: Slow Processing Speed with Dr. Ellen Braaten (Author Series) Ep 166: How Time Perception Impacts Learners with Dr. Ellen Braaten (Author Series) Ep 167: How Processing Speed Impacts Social Skills with Dr. Ellen Braaten (Author Series) Ep 168: Processing Speed vs. Sluggish Cognitive Tempo with Dr. Ellen Braaten (Author Series) Ep 252: “Bright Kids Who Couldn’t Care Less” with Dr. Ellen Braaten Part 1 (Author Series)   Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast   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

 Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET, welcome back Dr. Ellen Braaten to discuss the origin story of her new book, Bright Kids Who Couldn’t Care Less. Dr. Braaten shares her thoughts on how motivation works and how motivation is not generated the same way each time. She shares how parents need to look at their own expectations and look at their child and reconcile the two. She discusses aptitude, pleasure, and practice and how the definition of aptitude needs to be expanded beyond more than reading, math, and spelling. She further discusses how “there isn’t a treatment for laziness” and her thoughts on how “lazy” is a symptom of something and a time to listen. She also talks about how “laziness” can mask something that’s hard, shameful or a result of a lack of confidence and introduces the word “mailaizy.”   Bright Kids Who Couldn’t Care Less   Other episodes mentioned:  Ep 165: Re-Air: Slow Processing Speed with Dr. Ellen Braaten (Author Series) Ep 166: How Time Perception Impacts Learners with Dr. Ellen Braaten (Author Series) Ep 167: How Processing Speed Impacts Social Skills with Dr. Ellen Braaten (Author Series) Ep 168: Processing Speed vs. Sluggish Cognitive Tempo with Dr. Ellen Braaten (Author Series)   Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast   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  

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome Anxiety Expert and OCD Child Therapist Natasha Daniels to the podcast. They chat about how people misunderstand OCD and what the true definition of OCD is. Natasha digs into the different types of OCD and how they play into each other. She shares about how personification of OCD and how it can help. They dig into a conversation about the difference between perfectionism and OCD and their overlap. She shares her thoughts on anxiety and how to talk about it with kids. She further digs into anxiety and OCD and gives concrete examples of OCD red flags. Connect with Natasha Daniels Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast 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

 Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET deep dive into note-taking in this re-air of episode 47. They chat about why it is so difficult, the various types of notes that teachers require and several of their favorite strategies. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast 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

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome back Nikki, who initially joined us back in 2019 when she was 15 years old. She was Steph’s client at My Ed Therapist and is now a sophomore in college. Nikki shares what it was like to listen to her 2019 episode and updates us on what’s changed and what’s the same. She talks about how her development of time has changed as she’s entered into adulthood. Nikki also shares how she’s learning not to overwhelm herself, how her values have changed, how daunting the college process was and her thoughts looking back. She shares more about her anxiety journey, how goals have changed and how she’s blossoming into a new Nikki. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast 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 episodes mentioned: Ep 57: How to Create Free Time while Maintaining Grades and Minimizing Anxiety with Nikki 

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET discuss why systems for time, physical space, and digital space are essential for high functioning learners. They discuss why simplicity is a virtue, how systems impact the quality of life for learners, and how systems create a roadmap for schooling success. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast 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