Lara Onaba
“I am now able to be confident in who I am, outside of my titles.”
Degree in English Literature and American Sign Language. Serial entrepreneur. Author. Marketing Guru.
Lara now describes herself as a Facilitator of interest based achievements. Director of Fun. Unschooling mom. She is unschooling in peace.
We covered so much in this interview. In her no-nonsense style Lara breaks down how her life purpose has changed. For herself and for her family.
Academics Equals Success
What I enjoyed from this interview is the perspective that Lara comes with. They are a Canadian family with strong African roots. Lara’s father is Nigerian, mother is Canadian, but she was raised in Nigeria until the age of 12. Lara’s husband, Mark, is from Uganda. In Lara’s family academics equals success. To not choose an academic path and then to unschool her children, Lara took a huge step away from their norm. We talked about how she faces this criticism. We also discussed how cultural background shapes our ideas around education and success. What happens when you stop assigning prestige to the letters after your name?
Unschooling In Peace
Lara talked about the direct factors that led them to unschooling. How her “parenting plan” missed the strong attachment bond that comes into play. The needs she saw in her son as he grew and her concern that school could not support him. In this episode Lara describes an unschooling conference that they attended. The results that they saw from other unschoolers at this conference made things so clear. These are the results they want for their own family! A close relationship with their children. The ability to communicate clearly. Empowerment. The chance to pursue your interests and passions. The belief that young people are capable of making reasonable decisions.
“I need to learn in that moment, how do I parent my children and parent myself?”
The unschooling journey has not only been a journey in education but also in parenting. Lara candidly shares how she is undoing things from her past as she goes. Old beliefs around parenting, authority and communication. This stands out because her style of parenting here in Canada contrasts so much with the way she grew up in Nigeria. She uses this quote: “the most important question I ask myself as a parent is this~ How can I best help my children to be fully themselves and happy with who they are in the world, however they show up.”
She told me ” I need to learn in that moment, how do I parent my children and parent myself?”
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this interview. What did you take away from it? Do you have any similar experiences to share?
Lara’s advice to parents in the end is to use the power of a network. Find your tribe. Surround yourself with like-minded people. If you would like to be part of Lara’s network you can find her through Facebook at Unschooling in Peace.
You can also reach out to me directly through the contact page or my email robyn@imhomeschooling.com
