One of the hardest things about being a new mom is deciding when to go back to work. Some moms stay at home for a few years, and some moms go back to work as soon as their maternity leave is up. There‘s no right answer, because it depends on the particular family situation a mom is in. One thing is certain though, moms everywhere want to have a good balance of work and family time, without sacrificing too much for either one.
While a lot of moms love working a regular weekday job, it’s not always the best thing for mothers who need something more flexible. There’s a good chance that some moms who are thinking about returning to work want something that gives them enough freedom to accommodate family time, baseball games, vacations, and work. For them, returning to school to get an education degree may be the answer they are looking for.
If flexibility is something a mom needs, being a teacher may be just the right job. When you’re a teacher, you will largely have the same kind of year-round schedule your child does. Even though Mondays through Fridays are school days, there are many more days off from work in a teacher’s calendar than with an office worker. As a general rule, the days that a teacher has off are largely the same as the days that kids have off, too. Of course, there are some exceptions, like teacher workdays or in service days when teachers go to work but kids don’t go to school.
If your kids are home from school from June until mid-August, you will be, too, except for preparatory days immediately before and after the school year. School holidays won’t be a childcare nightmare anymore, because you’ll be out enjoying time with your family. The added expense of paying for childcare on days off from school will largely be a non-existent worry, because you’ll be at home and in charge.
There are a wide variety of education degrees that you can get, depending on what age children you want to teach. If you want to teach younger children at the pre-K level, you can go to school to get an associate degree in early childhood education in about two years. In many associate degree programs for early childhood education, the state certification process is included in the degree itself.
For teaching at the elementary level or higher, a bachelor’s degree is required. Students who have degrees in subjects like history or English will also need to complete an education certificate to teach those subjects, in addition to the degree requirements for their major. Many people who want to teach get their bachelor’s degree in education that has a concentration. For example, there are education degrees for age groups, subjects, or types of students. It just depends on what you want to do. Your academic advisor can help guide you; you can also look on your state’s department of education website for requirements.
People who want to teach also have lots of opportunities to get money to help them pay for school. There are federal programs that are specifically for education students, like the TEACH grant. The TEACH grant provides funding for college in exchange for four years of teaching at a designated low-income school. The TEACH grant can give aspiring teachers a chance to walk away from college with far less student debt, as well as the opportunity to teach in an environment in which they can create a lasting effect on student’s and their families.
Earning your art education degree may be able to provide you with all of the things you’ve been looking for in a career. As a teacher, you can have significant amounts of time off during the year to be with your children, as well as having a good job that offers a competitive salary. You’ll find that accredited distance learning degree programs offer the flexibility you need to succeed. The best opportunity you may have, though, is to make a difference in the life of a child.
Tags: distance learning, Moodle, language course
