Episodes

Writing presents suggest a challenge for ALL students–it doesn’t matter if they have a learning or medical diagnosis that interferes with their ability to function in the classroom. Writing. Is. Hard. In today’s episode, Rachel & Steph do a deep dive into writing and explain why it is often the most challenging part of a child’s day. They (of course!) give a few tips and ideas on how to make it easier. Be sure to listen to next week’s episode, where Rachel & Steph give away even more of their st...

Steph is back to teach us about all her favorite games and apps for reading (decoding). Steph has really earned her nickname as the game guru over the years and in this episode, she tells us her top 5 favorite games and top 5 favorite apps for reading. Be sure to go to learnsmarterpodcast.com to get our freebie list so you can buy some games and apps for your struggling decoders (readers). Steph’s top games and apps Other episodes mentioned: 12: (Reading Series) “My kid isn’t reading.” 17: (Re...

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 weeks episode, Rachel & Steph 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...

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 this episode, Rachel & Steph 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 ...

Rachel & Steph do a deep dive on backpacks in this episode. They talk about why backpacks become a black hole of papers, broken pencils and old food (yuck), what kind of backpacks actually help children NOT lose things, what should be in a backpack (and what shouldn’t) and backpack maps. They also talk about their system for “pruning the backpack” and why it is an essential component of educational therapy. Other Episodes mentioned: Episode 2: (Executive Function Series) How to Calendar Episode ...

What Rachel and Stephanie have to say about school supplies may shock you–they both firmly believe in a “less is more” approach. Students do not need 50 pencils hidden in different parts of their backpack or 20 erasers scattered about. In this episode, Rachel & Steph get extremely specific about what school supplies are needed–and how little students actually need to be successful. Don’t forget to go to www.learnsmarter.com to join our mail list to connect! Sign up below to get our list of schoo...

Today, Rachel & Steph walk you through how to prepare for going back to school. It’s the beginning of August, which means you and your student are holding onto those last vestiges of summer with all your might–or you may have already started school. It also means that you may be feeling the anxiety that the unknown of a new year brings. Today, they talk about partnership with your child’s teacher and calendaring for success. They also do a deep dive on big academic transitions (the leap that occ...

Today, Rachel & Steph walk you through how to prepare for going back to school. It’s the end of July which means you and your student are holding onto those last vestiges of summer with all your might. It also means that you may be feeling the anxiety that the unknown of a new year brings. In this episode, Rachel & Steph talk about how to prevent “academic emergencies” by properly preparing and achievable goal setting. and partnership with your child’s teacher. They talk about calendaring for su...

We want all kids to love reading. In this episode, Stephanie does a deep dive on how she works with students who find reading challenging. She teaches us about how reading is comprised of two main components (fluency and comprehension). She gives a million ideas on how to support struggling early readers and students who struggle with reading in middle school and high school. Steph also provides a ton of resources and ideas that are centered around cultivating a love of stories. ————————————————...

We know how students (and parents) feel about math. We get it and there are also some real reasons why students dislike math. This episode is full of simple and easy to implement suggestions about how to make math more manageable. Rachel gives away a ton of her math secrets. Don’t forget to visit our website www.learnsmarterpodcast.com for the freebie that lists all the suggestions and tips from this episode! Download Rachel’s Math Rules

Rachel & Steph do a deep dive on ADHD and how ADHD and executive functioning are connected. This episode is completely applicable to parents of all students this episode is totally applicable to your child and you will absolutely learn tips, tricks, and strategies on how to partner with your child in reading, writing, and math. They also discuss how executive functioning itself can be strengthened and the best ways to support your student. Other shows mentioned: Episode 02 “How to Calendar” Epis...

For a lot of people, summer is the best time of year. It is a time for fun and vacations. It is also a time to catch up on those things that were avoided during the school year such as cleaning out your closet. Summer is a time to relax, slow down the pace, and build some skills. We are going to discuss what you can do with your child over the summer. We understand that summer can become difficult as you try to plan what to do with your kids. Therefore, we want to dig further into how you can do...

Show Notes One of the most common questions we get is “what happens in a session?” This is very difficult for us to answer because every session is so individualized and so specific to the age, gender, interests, developmental abilities and psychoeducational goals of each student. In this episode, we “sample” what a typical session is like AND we learn from each other! This is a fun one and we hope you enjoy!

We are frequently asked questions regarding the difference between educational therapy and tutoring. This is a hugely important topic for us. We are going to dig into the differences between the two, how the two can work in tandem, and how sometimes tutoring can work against the goals of educational therapy. This is the second post of our educational therapy series. Be sure to go back to blog 06 where we discuss dreaded homework for the first post in our educational therapy series. What is the d...

Homework is definitely something that is hard for a lot of families. We know how much of a burden it can be. We, as educational therapists, have to maintain clear boundaries on homework. We are not homework helpers. We are not homework coaches. We teach skills and strategies. If needed, refer back to blog 00 in order to better understand how education therapy is different from tutoring. We justify the discussion of homework in our world as ET’s because it’s all the other parts of homework that w...

Executive Function (EF) We talk about executive functioning so frequently because it affects everything that a child (or adult) does all day, every day. We have a few disclaimers that we would like you to know when it comes to executive functioning. The first is don’t get overwhelmed. We are going to continue to break down the topic and go further into it later down the road. Our second disclaimer is that this is our list of executive function (EF) traits and how we see our students impacted by ...

The most important part of studying actually occurs before you even start to relearn (or learn) the material. Today, we break down how to create a study plan that is mindful, achievable, and flexible. We will also explore the reasons why a study plan might fail and what to do. This may seem aspirational for some of you. Your students may inform you of about a test the night before; maybe you don’t know until after your child has taken it. Conversely, your child’s teacher may not be giving you n...

One of the more common things we hear from parents is that their student studied “for hours” but still didn’t do well on a quiz, test or exam. Listen to this episode to hear how Rachel & Steph think about studying: they break down what studying should be, how to maximize study time, how there isn’t necessarily a correlation between time spent studying and outcomes and the differences between active (great) and passive (not ideal) studying. Next week, be sure to listen to the companion episode, “...

Calendaring is hated by so many of the students we work with–and it’s the first thing we do with them. It is so critical and so important. If you do not keep track of what is going on in your life, nothing else can get done. Having a calendar is the starting point that greatly reduces anxiety in students because once you are in control of your time, you are in control of your life. You cannot get into a car and start driving unless you know where you are going–it is the same with calendaring. Yo...

It’s a narrative we hear all too often. A parent will call us regarding their child’s learning difficulty and low self-esteem in school–and the parent is unsure of how to help. Parents often feel isolated because there is no sense of community when they are going through these challenges with their learners in the academic setting. One of our main objectives when creating this community was to help and serve these parents and teachers. Wherever you may be on your journey with your different lear...

Learn Smarter: the Educational Therapy Podcast is your go-to resource for the parents and teachers of students with different learning needs. Rachel & Stephanie are two educational therapists who are committed to helping parents and educators find easy, simple and FUN ways of supporting learners. This podcast will be covering how learning impacts the whole child: we’ll talk about everything from executive functioning to games to tricks of the trade. Join us on this journey to support your comple...