The Three (Okay, Four) Paths Every Parent Ends Up Confused About

 The Three (Okay, Four) Paths Every Parent Ends Up Confused About

Some days I feel like modern parenting is basically a giant guessing game called “Choose the right schooling system before you lose your sanity.”

Traditional school, online school, unschooling, homeschooling — four different doors, and each one comes with its own manual, warning label, and fan club.

Let’s start with the most familiar one — traditional school.

You wake up at ungodly hours, pack lunch boxes that return home untouched, pay fees that make you question your life choices, and hope your child somehow learns something while navigating teachers, peers, and rules that make prisons look flexible.

For some kids, school works beautifully. They thrive on the structure, enjoy the routine, love being around other kids, and come home full of stories.

But for others, the system feels like a slow drain — too many hours, too little individuality. Eight hours of sitting, listening, complying… and then still needing private tuitions afterward. You start wondering if school is teaching them or just keeping them occupied.

Then we have online schooling — the unexpected star of the pandemic season.

A strange hybrid that gives structure without the commute, teachers without the classroom chaos, and assignments without the classroom politics. But the downside? Screens. So many screens. Kids zoning out, parents hovering in the background, Wi-Fi dying at the exact wrong moment. And of course, the constant battle of “Can you sit straight?” while your child is busy discovering 13 new ways to tilt their webcam.

Online school works for some kids — usually the ones who learn independently and like a quieter environment.

But if your child is not a self-learner?

Get ready, because you will be learning the same chapter twice a day and explaining it again until you both forget why you even started.

And then there’s unschooling, the rebel of the education universe.

No fixed curriculum, no forced chapters, no “Finish this by Tuesday or you fail.” It’s the belief that kids learn naturally through life, interest, exploration, conversations, experiences, and curiosity. It sounds wild at first… until you watch kids absorb things they love with insane focus. When a child is genuinely interested, they’ll learn faster than any textbook can push them.

The catch?

It takes trust.

A lot of trust.

Because the world around you will keep asking “But syllabus kya hai?” and you’ll be tempted to say, “Same syllabus as life, aunty.”

And finally — homeschooling, the option I landed on last, but one I wish I had discovered first.

I didn’t choose homeschooling because I wanted to be a Pinterest mom with perfectly printed worksheets. I chose it because nothing else seemed to understand my child. And once we began, I realised something important — homeschooling is not just studying at home. It’s understanding your child at a deeper level.

Some kids don’t need tutors. They pick up things naturally — 3D modelling, general knowledge, random facts, concepts that even adults miss. When interest exists, learning happens on its own.

But when it comes to academics? Many kids, like mine, find them irrelevant, boring, or pointless. That’s when a private tutor helps — not because the child is “dumb,” but because one-on-one attention can create interest, clarity, and better understanding.

And yes, tutors are expensive, because it’s personalised teaching, tailored explanations, patient answers, and genuine involvement.

Writing is another struggle. My son tells me, “In real life I never see you writing anything.” And honestly? He’s right. But exams still exist, and for 10th and 12th boards, you have to write for three hours. So that skill has to be built — slowly, consistently, without killing their spirit.

And then there are subjects like financial literacy, languages for communication, real-life skills — all of which I can introduce gradually, without rushing or overwhelming him.

Homeschooling isn’t the stress-free paradise Instagram makes it look like — but compared to the emotional, mental, schedule-based, and financial stress of traditional or online schooling, it is the path where I’ve found the most peace.

And where my child has found the most breathing space.

In the end, every path has pros and cons. No system is perfect.

But the best choice is the one where your child doesn’t just survive — they actually live, grow, and remain themselves