Children's school performance is often associated with parenting practices, implying a direct link between parents' behavior, child development, and academic success. Through the case of an Indian forest-dwelling community, I offer an alternative view of child development, learning, and teaching, which prioritizes social skills above--and as a precondition of--academic/practical ones. I discuss the implications of such view to the evaluation of parenting, and more broadly, of formal education for marginalized indigenous communities.