The Montessori House logo, which is an illustration of a house with children working with Montessori materials, and includes the name of the school
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The Montessori House of St. Johns

Raising Reciprocity

Podcast

Raising Reciprocity is a podcast, a community, and a resource where parenting is seen as a form of activism. We explore today’s challenging topics through the lens of parenting and educating our youth with the knowledge that we are all interconnected. The aim is to lift the individual to be their best self who then shows up for the community to work for the betterment of all.

During the 2021–2022 school year, The Montessori House’s founding director and former primary guide, Megan Eskander, and then-lead toddler guide, Kate Mullican, hosted the program. Each week, Megan and Kate examined how we prepare ourselves, the adult caregivers, to work with children who need our love, yes, but also information about navigating this culture’s messaging around technology, racism, sexuality, spirituality, our relationship to the natural world, and much more.

The mission for Raising Reciprocity is to support adults raising young children by:

  • Creating dialogue around intentional parenting

  • Sharing information about human development so that we can work in conjunction with nature’s design  

  • Discussing strategies to support you through conversations around today’s many overwhelming issues

  • Building a community of caregivers that are bad-ass

  • Igniting a call to activism in your caregiving as a contribution to the future we would like to see

Baby lying on sleeping mat on floor, awake.

Episode 10: Preparing the Bedroom

How does the set up of the spaces within your home support your child’s growth toward functional independence and allow them to participate in the care of these environments? How can the spaces be a reflection of your family’s values and meet the needs of everyone who shares space there? How can the organization of the space and the systems to care for them create flow in the day-in-day-out activities of your family members?
Two toddlers in bathroom examining a toilet.

Episode 9: Preparing the Bathroom

Raising Reciprocity’s 9th episode is part of our "Preparing Your Home" series. Join Megan and Kate as they share strategies for how to prepare your bathroom to support the independence and development of your child.
Two elementary-aged boys reading in a family room. On lies on a couch, the other is in a chair.

Episode 8: Preparing the Family Room

Raising Reciprocity’s 8th episode is part of our "Preparing the Home" series! Join Megan and Kate as they share strategies to preparing your home’s family room so that it meets the needs of everyone in your household!
A family of four looking at a book together. There are Kwanzaa candles in the foreground.

Episode 7: Handling the Holidays

Wishing you all a happy winter break! Check out Raising Reciprocity’s 7th episode, "Handling the Holidays", for tips on how to have an easeful holiday season with your little ones.
A preschool-aged child looking up at a parent who prepares food. There are tomatoes in the foreground.

Episode 6: Learning to Wait

Infants need adults to respond right away, yet have you ever thought about teaching the skill of learning to patiently wait to toddlers and children? And at what age would one start that? And how would you even start to do that with somebody who is one year old? In this episode we will discuss a few strategies you can use with your children to help them learn to wait. Can you imagine the benefits of your kids having this skill?
A mother sits on a couch next to her preschool-aged child, who is crying with their head down.

Episode 5: Supporting Emotions

Raising Reciprocity’s 5th episode—Supporting Emotions. Megan and Kate discuss two key strategies to help your child (and yourself) manage big emotions.
A preschool-aged boy sits on a bench trying to put his shoe on.

Episode 4: Preparing the Entryway

Megan and Kate share practical tips for preparing the entryways at home and school that support smooth transitions when coming and going. Yep, we’re talking less yelling! Less last minute scrambling! And a more settled feeling that comes from heading into your work or school day knowing you have what you need with you!
A preschool-aged girl in the woods points to something in the distance.

Episode 3: Isn't it Wonderful?

In this episode, Megan and Kate share a go-to phrase that each has used in their own parenting and educating that opened a door for learning many wonderful ways to be in the world! Children make observations and share them, often bluntly! Learn this phrase and have it at the ready to start breaking down stereotypes and biases!
Four elementary-aged children with backpacks on and holding hands run toward a school.

Episode 2: Back to School!

With back-to-school season upon us, let’s explore how you feel. It’s a time of transitions, seasonally, and in routines, with schools opening their doors. Where do you find yourself on the scale between anxiety and excitement for the various aspects to come, and what are you doing to prepare yourself?
Megan and Kate posing next to a large model of the pink tower.

Episode 1: An Introduction

Welcome to Raising Reciprocity! Join Megan Eskander and Kate Mullican in this introductory episode to hear a bit about your hosts and their plans for this show.

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