THE PARENTING IQ PODCAST

Understand your child & parent with confidence

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Parenting advice is everywhere. Knowing what fits your child and your family can feel really hard.

The Parenting IQ Podcast helps you make everyday parenting decisions with greater understanding and confidence. Join Dr. Kelly Cagle and her guests for practical conversations that connect research with real family life so you can understand your child, weigh your options, and confidently choose your next step.

Hosted by Dr. Kelly Cagle, a PhD in K-16 education, ADHD researcher, and homeschooling mom of three boys, each episode helps you better understand your child’s needs, so you feel confident teaching life skills, character, and emotional intelligence that go far beyond the textbook and last a lifetime.

Some of the topics we cover include:

  • ADHD-friendly parenting strategies

  • How to motivate your kids without nagging

  • Building confident, connected families

  • Teaching life skills that stick

  • Rethinking academics for real-world success

  • Managing sibling dynamics and home rhythms

  • Biblical wisdom + brain science and so much more

The show is proudly part of The Christian Parenting Podcast Network.

Our mission is to help you understand your child so you can parent with confidence.

The Small Habits That Slowly Destroy a Marriage w/ Lindsey Maestas

In this episode, Dr. Kelly Cagle sits down with Lindsey Maestas to uncover the small, everyday habits that can slowly create distance in a marriage. They discuss how distractions, unmet expectations, resentment, and avoiding hard conversations can weaken connection—and how simple shifts like putting down your phone, taking responsibility for your own patterns, dating your spouse, and keeping Christ at the center can help rebuild intimacy and friendship.

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How to Help Your Child Feel Safe When the World Doesn't w/ Courtney Reissig

When the world feels scary, how do we help our kids feel safe without pretending that hard things won’t happen? In this episode, Dr. Kelly Cagle talks with Courtney Reissig about helping children process fear, navigate difficult questions, and find security in God even when we don’t have all the answers. They share practical ways parents can filter overwhelming information, create healthy boundaries around the news, and point their kids toward hope in a broken world.

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Teaching Kids Body Boundaries Without Scaring Them w/ Sara Ernst

How do we teach kids about body boundaries without making them afraid of the world? In this episode, Dr. Kelly Cagle talks with Sara Ernst about helping children recognize “tricky” behavior, trust when something feels uncomfortable, and confidently use their voice. They share practical ways parents can teach body safety, respect a child’s boundaries, and build skills that will serve them from childhood into their teen years and beyond.

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5 Boundaries You Need If You Have ADHD

In this episode of Parenting IQ, Dr. Kelly Cagle shares five essential boundaries that can help adults and kids with ADHD thrive. She explores how setting intentional guardrails around friendships, commitments, intake, stagnation, and ideas can protect your time, attention, and capacity. You’ll learn why boundaries aren’t about restriction—they’re about creating the structure your ADHD brain needs for greater focus, follow-through, and freedom.

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  • A mind shift between student & learner

  • What every American home desperately needs: Less chaos, more connection

  • Being a healthy mom in an overstimulating world

  • When the world is your school: Learning that happens at home

  • Three character traits every child needs: Competence, creativity, and curiosity

  • Avoiding parental burnout

  • How to fight the current mental health crisis

  • Eight ways people are wired as learners through the 8 Multiple Intelligences theoretical lens

  • Improving home life with an ADHD child: Simple habits that make a big difference

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