The Whole Parent Podcast
Welcome to 'The Whole Parent Podcast,' where we dive deep into evidence-based parenting strategies, blending cutting-edge psychology with real-world experience. Each episode offers insightful discussions, expert interviews, and practical tips to empower you and your family through the joys and challenges of raising children. Join us as we explore not just the highs of parenting, but navigate the complexities and embrace the journey together.
Episodes
If your mornings feel like a daily emotional avalanche, lost shoes, floppy limbs, scratchy socks, MELTDOWNS, you’re not alone. In this episode, Jon goes back to the original Whole Parent format and answers real listener questions about morning routines, meltdowns, and the brain science behind why kids fall apart at the exact same time every day.
Instead of asking “What am I doing wrong?”, we flip the script:
What if the problem...
It all started with a gold star. A single shining sticker on a kindergarten chart that—without me realizing it—began rewiring my understanding of love, worth, and motivation. In this episode of The Whole Parent Podcast, we dive into the hidden cost of praise—why “good job” might be doing more harm than good, and how something as innocent as a sticker chart can turn play into performance.
Drawing on groundbreaking research from psych...
A grainy home video from 1993 opens a door many parents avoid: the thin line where love and control blur. From that single forced smile, we follow the thread into cognitive dissonance, exploring why we promise ourselves we won’t yell and still end up yelling, and why small justifications feel so necessary when our identity as a “good parent” is on the line. Leon Festinger’s doomsday research gives language to our everyday contradic...
This is one of my shorter mini-episodes where I read this weeks Substack article.
We answer here the simple and yet extremely common question "What are we supposed to do when our kid hits us or someone else?"
If you would like to support my work consider subscribing on Substack for $5 per month.
It is the best way to support my work and keep the podcast episodes coming!
Stories aren’t just how we pass time—they’re how we pass on what it means to be human. We sit down with librarian and children’s literature expert Betsy Bird to unpack why reading aloud is more than a bedtime ritual. It’s brain food during the fastest phase of neural growth; a daily practice that builds language, attention, and the social skill that holds every relationship together: empathy.
We dive into research showing ...
My oldest son couldn’t read at seven. And me? I was writing a parenting book for a major publisher. Being asked to speak to thousands of parents. Teaching emotional development, brain-based learning, and motivation. The irony wasn’t lost on me.
In this episode, I tells the vulnerable and surprising story of how we stopped trying to teach how to read, and started teaching why to read instead. What happened next wasn’t magic. It was s...
Key Links:
📖 Get My Book: Punishment-Free Parenting: The Brain-Based Way to Raise Kids Without Raising Your Voice – Available Now
📖 Get Alfie Kohn's Books: Unconditional Parenting and Punished By Rewards
📝 Join My Email List for exclusive insights, parenting tips, and updates – Sign Up Here
Episode Description:
What if the very thing we’ve been striving for as parents—obedience—wasn’t actually a virtue? What if, inst...
IT'S HERE!
Get Punishment-Free Parenting on Audiobook
Why does it feel like one partner carries the weight of managing the home and kids while the other thinks everything is equal? If you've ever felt exhausted by the invisible labor of parenting—or if you've ever felt like nothing you do measures up to your partner’s expectations—this episode is for you.
In this episode of The Whole Parent Podcast, I sit down with Ev...
Get your own copy of the audiobook HERE
What do we do when we mess up as parents?
In this Episode of the Whole Parent Podcast, I read a long section from the Chapter on Repair from my brand new book Punishment-Free Parenting: The Brain-Based Way to Raise Kids Without Raising Your Voice.
Every parent has moments they wish they could take back. Maybe it’s the sharp tone, the overreaction, or the moment f...
Resources Mentioned:
Punishment Free-Parenting
The Way of Play
Emotional Regulation Game Guide
Traditional Parenting Fails for ADHD Kids.
Growing up with ADHD this is the episode I wish my parents had...
In this episode, I’m sharing why traditional, compliance-based parenting doesn’t work for kids with ADHD and what we can do instead. I sat down with Dr. Josh Wyner and Dr. Tina Payne Bryson...
Help me out!
My book Punishment-Free Parenting: The Brain-Based Way to Raise Kids Without Raising Your Voice comes out in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS! Preorder now so you can get it first!
Have you ever felt like talking to your kids is like speaking an entirely different language? You tell them to put on their shoes, and suddenly it’s like you’ve asked them to climb a mountain. Believe me, I’ve been there. In this episode, ...
Help me out...
My book is behind on pre-sales and I'm trying to make up a lot of ground before release on January 28th, 2025. If you love the podcast, please consider preordering—it’s the best way to support me right now. If you don't typically read parenting books, I also have the audiobook version! Thank you so much!
Preorder the Book
Description
This week on The Whole Parent...
Want to get ME a Christmas Present?
My book is behind on pre-sales and I'm trying to make up a lot of ground before release on January 28th, 2025. If you love the podcast, please consider preordering—it’s the best way to support me right now. If you don't typically read parenting books, I also have the audiobook version! Thank you so much!
Preorder the Book
Merry Christmas... sort...
I need your help!
My book is behind on pre-sales and I'm trying to make up a lot of ground before release on January 28th, 2025. If you love the podcast, please consider preordering—it’s the best way to support me right now. If you don't typically read parenting books, I also have the audiobook version! Thank you so much!
Preorder the Book
It’s the ultimate parenting conundrum: Do ...
I need your help!
My book is behind on pre-sales and I'm trying to make up a lot of ground before release on January 28th, 2025. If you love the podcast, please consider preordering—it’s the best way to support me right now. If you don't typically read parenting books, I also have the audiobook version! Thank you so much!
Preorder the Book
Episode Description:
In this epi...
Now Available for Preorder....
Punishment-Free Parenting: The Brain-Based Way to Raise Kids Without Raising Your Voice
To reserve your copy click the link below:
Preorder Hardcover
Preorder Audiobook
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Show Notes:
Have you ever lashed out at your child and wondered "Where did that come from? Why am I so triggered?"
Spoiler for this episode, it's your childhoo...
Preorder my new book: Punishment-Free Parenting: The Brain-Based Way to Raise Kids Without Raising Your Voice
Get the Autonomy Guide HERE
Episode Title: How To Get Your Toddler to LISTEN!
Episode Number: #29
Host: Jon @wholeparent
Timestamps:
- 0:00 - Introduction and Setting the Scene
- 0:38 - The Frustration of Kids who WON'T LISTEN!
- 2:40 - Why Toddlers Have Selective Hearing
- 7:17 - Understanding Toddler Develop...
Struggling with bedtime battles? Discover an incredible bedtime hack that transforms chaos into connection, making bedtime one of the best parts of your day.
Episode Number: #28
Description: In this episode of the Whole Parent Podcast, Jon delves into the challenges of bedtime routines and reveals a transformative hack to turn bedtime battles into moments of deep connection with your child. He discusses the reasons behind k...
Episode Number: #27
Description: In this guest episode of the Whole Parent Podcast, Jon welcomes KJ from Big Life Journal. They discuss the transformative power of reparenting, the difference between gentle and conscious parenting, and the resources available to support parents on their journey. KJ shares her personal experiences transitioning from authoritarian parenting to gentle parenting, offers her top reparenting tip, and expl...
Episode Number: #26
Take the quiz to find our if your kid is Highly Sensitive
Description: In this episode of the Whole Parent Podcast, Jon delves into the concept of collaborative consequences, explaining why this method is a powerful tool for effective parenting, especially for highly sensitive children. As a strong advocate for the abolition of punishment in parenting, discusses how to differentiate between punishment an...
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