Dolto, l’art d’être parents

Françoise Dolto transformed our view of children and called educational practice into question through an insistence on mutual respect, listening and the early learning of limits... She was convinced that trying to educate parents represented the best way to more successfully educating children. But over time, her methods have been subjected to wide-ranging criticism. Some have accused her of permitting a lax approach, of turning children into little princes or even tyrants, of placing the blame on parents... Yet nothing could be further from the truth, and this book proves as much with a presentation of her generous and lucid ideas. The main problems encountered in families, for which she has found innovative solutions are covered: What place should the child be given within a family? How should their wishes and suffering be addressed? Should you say everything? How can you achieve authority without authoritarianism? How to progressively move towards autonomy? Specific answers are provided for the topics of punishments, sleep, the parents’ bed, the child’s room, the place at the table, authority, nudity, school... This work will help numerous parents, often drowning in a sea of manuals produced by “experts” and programmes dedicated to education. Françoise Dolto clarified that there are no secret recipes, but that she was convinced that education that respected one and all could give rise to a more humane and harmonious world.