Well... it's one of the basics we learned on pedagogy classes.
I could search for the books cited by the authors. I have no idea if these are approved by the catholic church, and I don't place much confidence in what they do or do not approve of.
After all, we're speaking of an institution which brutally dealt with more than a few progressive scientists.
In any case, before I provide the citations,
I'll also add that during the time when faith and the church were the strongest,
the rights of children were on their lowest. The family values back before the 19th century included that a child would be given to another family, for training as a serf.
There was nothing even remotely similar to what we today perceive as family.
No motherly care as we see today.
It's understandable, because in those times, the average lifespan was no more than 30-something, most people were ignorant, illiterate ( thanks to the church holding a monopoly on education ), thus, most people were perpetually on the personal development stadium of today's early teens... etc. etc. Not blaming that on the church though
