Teacher feels honored to care for children
Published 1:12 pm Friday, May 28, 2010
Rebecca Samuelson said the best thing she remembers from school this year is Easter. Samuelson is a teacher for Liberty Baptist Church’s 2-year-old pre-school class.
The children hunted eggs and had all the fun that goes along with the holiday, she said, and they read a story several times, called “What is Easter?” by Michelle Medlock Adams.
“It talks about how all that stuff is fun, but Easter is about God’s son,” said Samuelson. “The last day of class before Easter weekend, as parents came to pick up their children, we asked the children to tell them what Easter was about. When they said, ‘God’s son!’ very excitedly, that was the ultimate reward.”
Samuelson said she loves reading to the children. Her grandfather read to her in such a way that it brought the story alive and she likes to try to do the same thing.
“I get a little loud and crazy reading a story,” she said. “But they seem to think it’s fun.”
Samuelson said the children like nursery rhymes, Dr. Seuss and rhyming Bible stories. They enjoy fun songs and the Adventure Room, where they learn to use motor skills, doing things like suctioning water with a baster.
“It is an honor to have the opportunity to care for these children,” said Samuelson.
As a mother herself, she knows how hard it is for mothers to leave a child with someone else, so she tries to give the children in her class the same love and care she wants her child to experience.
“When I see them outside of school and they come over and give me a hug or yell, ‘There’s Ms. Becca,’ I love that,” she said. “It makes me feel they are really secure when they are with us, which is what we want.”
Samuelson’s co-teacher for 2-year-olds is Donna Aldrige. Kristie Bradberry is director of Liberty’s Little Lambs Mother’s Day Out ministry. Liberty Baptist Church pastor is Dr. Tim Cox.
Shelba Nivens can be reached by e-mail at ssnivens@bellsouth.net.