Hellobee Boards

Have you kept up with any sort of professional development while you were at home? Maybe a free online course or something? That might be something to include about how you've been "staying current" in the field, even if it's a bit exaggerated. You could even say how being the perfect combination of an experienced classroom teacher and lessons learned while staying home would make you a great, caring para professional. That's how I would spin it. Good luck!

I don't know about teaching specifically, but your resume format should generally consist of a list of formal schooling followed by a list of prior paid employment/unpaid work with descriptions of the type of work you did. All of it in reverse chronological order. You could format it by skill/function, but I think those types of resumes are tricky to pull off and possibly confusing. It's probably best to stick to the standard model.

I wouldn't say "stay at home" ever--not on your resume and not in an interview. (You're not supposed to use "static" words on a resume anyhow, so start by nixing this one!) I think it's perfectly fine to say you took a few years off to focus on parenting small children, and that's exactly how I would describe a 3-year stint.

I would also be prepared to explain what sorts of things you did with your child(ren) during that time and how it prepared you to work with other people's children, perhaps by giving you an opportunity for sustained observation of young children and how they grow and learn, greater empathy for parents, practical experience with discipline--these are just some possibilities, pick ones that are relevant to you and the position you're applying for, of course.

@threeplusme: I cannot recommend highly enough that you get a few people really good at English and grammar to proofread your resume for you. I usually pitch resumes that are grammatically incorrect. It's hard to proofread your own stuff when you're in that deep.