Susan Babin, a preschool teacher at Bartlett United Methodist Preschool, has developed a deep appreciation for teaching and caregiving.
Babin, who started off working in the marketing field, first found a love for teaching when she volunteered to teach a Vacation Bible School class shortly after marrying her husband. “I was very nervous about teaching my first class. It was a new thing for me,” she says. “But, it just came so natural so quickly. And I developed such a love for the kids. So I think in that moment, I realized, hey, I actually can do this.”
Despite her newfound appreciation for working with kids, Babin continued her career in marketing until she had to take some time off to care for her first child. “My daughter, Elizabeth, was born with Down syndrome,” she says. “Having her threw me into a world of teaching, because we had to teach her to do the basic things that other children could do. And as we taught her, I developed more of a love for teaching.”
Babin went on to have two more children, and once the youngest went off to kindergarten, Babin decided she’d seriously pursue teaching. “I had kids and needed more kids,” she jokes.
Initially, Babin started off her teaching career at Bartlett United Methodist’s Kid’s Day Out program teaching 2-year-olds, and she continued to do so for 20 years, mixing in stints working with special needs adults and operating a local FasTracKids, a childenrichment program.
Then, shortly after receiving her master’s degree in education from the University of Memphis six years ago, she switched over to the church’s preschool to teach 3-year-olds.
Babin has applied the knowledge she acquired from her child enrichment program to teach her preschool students. “My educational philosophy is, at this age, kids need to be exposed to lots of different things,” she says. “Each child will gather building blocks from those things. Then, later on, when they are reintroduced to those lessons in school, it’s going to come back to them, and they’ll have a better foundationto build on.”
Babin says that one of the building blocks she enjoys introducing her students to is science. “There’s nothing more exciting than an Alka-Seltzer rocket, a volcano in a cup, or clouds in a jar. All those things are just amazing,” she says, adding, “We definitely believe in play as learning. There’s nothing better you can do really, because play is their number-one tool for learning.”
Babin believes learning is a two-way street. “I have learned that you never know everything and that there’s always more to learn, not just for children, but also for adults,” she says. “Every child’s a little puzzle, and it’s fascinating to me to figure out how each student learns best.”
After this year, Babin will be taking a break from teaching full-time to care for her oldest daughter and her father-in-law, but she leaves with something special. “I love that I walk away every day feeling like I have made a contribution to the world,” she says. “I never feel like there’s a day when I’m with the children or teaching that I have not made a difference somehow, someway.”
Babin will continue to fulfill her purpose by substitute teaching for the preschool and working part-time at Bellevue Baptist’s Shepherd’s Haven program with adults who have
special needs.
“I’ll miss my students very much,” she says, “but I’m Facebook friends with a lot of their parents, so I’ll still get to watch them grow up.”
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