I'd like to start a family but I'm not sure if that can be done while actively teaching? How many months or years would I likely need to take off in order to make sure a new addition would have enough of my attention?

Why couldn’t you! There are many working moms

If you have a supportive partner or family members who can help you with childcare, you may be able to get by with taking a few months off from work. But if you're flying solo you may want to consider taking a year or more off

I didn't even start teaching until my youngest was in 1st grade.
Best starts my children ever had; in my opinion.
Birth - 5 the full undivided attention of a teacher and they attended a Pre-K 1/2 day right before Kindergarten along with additional social activities so that they were not socially behind or only accustomed to adult socialization.
Honestly, it's a personal decision and a weighing of the pros and cons along with discussion with your partner over what is possible given the individual situation.

I took 6 months off and then had to put my child in daycare. It worked out fine though. Everyone will do what's best for them. Some stay out a year and some come back soon after.

It is hard. Everyone’s situation is different. As an early childhood educator, I strongly believe it would be ideal to take the first 5 years and really give your child an excellent foundation filled with loving care and strong emotional bonding. However, we live in a world where that is often not financially feasible. As long as your child will Be in loving care with someone who really pays attention to them and helps you raise them with your families’ values in place, everything will work out. Good luck with starting your family!

Whatever works for you and your family will be fine. Sometimes moms can take out disability policies prior to planning pregnancies which helps with out of work time. Other moms might switch to teaching slightly less hours.

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I think this is something we can't answer for you. My son was born mid-April, so I took off the rest of the school year and then had the summer with him before putting him in daycare. It worked out well, and I enjoyed my time with him, but was very ready to go back to work by that point. On the other hand, I have friends in similar situations and they made the choice to become stay-at-home-parents because that was what worked best for them.

I have other friends who took a year off and went back, some who took five years and went back. It's going to be different for everyone.

I took off a few years. Nice if your husband's salary is sufficient. I wouldn't trade that time with my son for any amount of money. Those first 3 years are crucial to the child's development. You can always go back to teaching unless the grade and school you are in is your dream placement. Then maybe you could work something out with your principal.

I took the leave that I was allowed (forced use of sick days plus maternity leave (c-sections for all three) which was paid at part time disability. My husband is also a teacher, so I had to go back to work since his income wasn’t enough for me not to work. I will say that with having three kids 3 and under—-this pretty much meant that for a long time, my paycheck was handed straight over to daycare. It sucked! But I needed to keep my job and taking all that time off would have meant that my job would have gone bye-bye. I wasn’t willing to take that risk. My kiddos did great with daycare and it was all over in the blink of an eye. I don’t feel like I lost precious time with them…it really made me appreciate every moment I did spend with them and didn’t take a moment for granted.

Depends on the policy of your district. Back when I was a teacher and had a kid for the first time, I believe I took off 3 months and then my mom watched the baby during the day.

I don’t know. After eight weeks for each child I had to go back to work! Unfortunately staying home was not an option for me. If you can do it, congratulations!!