Why Schools Value A Stay At Home Mom Going Back to Work As A Teacher

If you are a stay at home mom, you know that your "job description" covers a lot more than caregiver. You can add Uber Driver, party planner, personal assistant, therapist, nurse, doctor, chef, waiter, housekeeper, plumber, dog walker, accountant, athletic trainer, photographer, bodyguard, referee and judge (as well as jury!) among the many roles you play.

How Much You Are Worth

Salary.com figured out in a 2016 report that a stay at home mom would earn $143,102 a year for the roles she performs. That figure included a base salary of $48,509 and an overtime pay of $94,593 -- think of all those holidays, sick days, weekends and late nights spent on the clock!

As rewarding as staying home to take care of your children is, there comes a time when some stay at home moms want to return to work, especially as their children become older and are in school full time. 

Fortunately for a stay at home mom going back to work, there is a natural career choice that they already have experienced for...the role of teacher. From the first day as a stay at home mom, you are your child's primary teacher from learning how to sit up, walk, tie shoes to learning their ABC's and how to read to how to teaching social behaviors such as how to apologize or handle conflict. 

The experts at Monster.com say that if you are "quick-minded, creative and enjoy being around children", then becoming a teacher is one of the best jobs for you. 

Schools Are Looking For You

While time spent away from working full time can create the dreaded "resume gap" that must be explained in job interviews with big companies, stay at home moms will find school districts willing recipients of their applications as they are looking for candidates with your emphasis on focusing on what's best for kids. After all, that is why you stayed home with your children.

School principals know that you are a candidate that can be caring, creative, resourceful, and take charge and cope when you are often the only adult in the room. The good news is that -- no matter how long it has been since you got your college degree -- you can complete an alternative teacher certification program that will put you quickly in line to become a teacher. You can read our recent article to determine the best alternative teaching certification program in Texas for you.

The even better news in Texas is that the growing student population means that school districts are in need of teachers and willing to pay for it. In Houston, the media annual public school teacher salary is $55,828 with a range between $48, 740 and $64,455. Not quite the six figure salary we quoted above, but then again, these are actual dollars you get to put in your bank account.

Benefits of Becoming A Teacher

The perks of transitioning from a stay at home mom to a teacher are obvious:

• You already have proven you love children and working with them by your choice to stay home with your own.
• It's all about the schedule, especially if you teach in the same school or school district as your own children, as you will be able to see them off to school and be home when they arrive home. You will also share holidays, summers, and snow days off together. It's hard to underestimate this benefit -- just ask families with two working parents as they try to juggle their children's schedules each summer between camps, sitters and time without adult supervision.

A stay at home mom going back to work as a teacher is also good for the schools. You can take into the classroom the following experience from working with you own children:

• Empathy - They say having a child changes your life, and it is hard to imagine what life was like before you had children. For sure, you learn to develop empathy for what kids may be going through daily and also empathy for their parents, since you are in their shoes.
• Flexibility - You won't freak out when that carefully crafted lesson plan goes astray, as you have had many a play date, outing or vacation with your own children that never went as planned. 
• Patience - You had it as a stay at home mom, and you will need it as a teacher. Any parent, who has patiently watched a 3-year-old try to be a big kid and carry their own sloshing cereal bowl to the kitchen sink, understands this. 
• Positive Impact - It's why you stayed at home, to make a positive impact in your children's lives, and it's why you will want to teach...to make a positive impact in children's lives.

We trust you will agree with what Stevie Wonder said: "Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love and fearlessness."