Playroom
Newsletter video composit, 1993

(Link to recent Newsletter)

Although my primary

work has been in the field

of early childhood education,

it has lead me to explore

the creative and artistic

uses of the computer.

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One of the things I do for the families in my program is to write a newsletter. Color printers have allowed me to incorporate photos and other art, which in turn, offered me the opportunity to hone my skills with photo editing. In one of my early newsletters I had a picture of ten children working in our playroom (above). I had set up my video camera and let it run for a few minutes. At any one time there were no more than four or five children around the table. I spliced in another shot that included a more panoramic view of the room and this was the result. It was my work on this picture that lead me to photo restoration. A friend learned of my editing skills and asked if I would be interested in working on a damaged picture of her great grandmother. Click Restoration to see her picture.

Although my original interest in using a computer was primarily to keep my business records, I found an immediate attraction to the graphic potential. I began with making simple pictures for the children that I added to a "dot to dot" game. I also sharpened and added color to my logo. My newsletter has provided me numerous
ComputerCorner
opportunities for both editing photos as well as creating illustrations and graphics. One example is the graphic to the left that I created as a column header for an ongoing column entitled "Computer Corner" (updates on the children's use of the computer and new programs). Even this graphic has changed. As I have upgraded my equipment I also have had that reflected in computer and monitor image as well.



. . . My Formal Background

Scroll and Quill

Even as an undergraduate at CAL I utilized my artistic side. My senior thesis was a video tape that I wrote and produced. (This was when all the machines were reel to reel: no BATA, no VHS, etc.) Two years later, I breiefly taught a creative drama class for preschoolers, making use of video again. But I digress . . .

I have been involved in education for more than 25 years, earning my elementary credential through the University of California at Berkeley, in 1973. From 1974 through 1981, I was a head teacher with the Berkeley Head Start Program. There I specialized in early childhood education and was awarded the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential. In 1981 I began my own early childhood program in the Elmwood section of Berkeley. A few years later I moved to the Rockridge area of Oakland and maintained my business until August of 1996. In the process, I have raised two marvelous children of my own - and I am proud of both of these young men. Recently I married a wonderful woman, Patti, and relocated to Petaluma. Shining Star Preschool and Child Care Program began in 1996 and is still going strong.

Animated Shining Star Banner
To learn more about Shining Star, click here.

Over the years I have led local, regional and national workshops in many areas of early childhood education and in operating a business. I am a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. I also have been certified as an American Red Cross instructor for first aid and I am certified in infant and child CPR.



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The photographs, images and other digital works
contained herein are the sole property of Bob Prichard.
© 1996 - copyright Bob Prichard, ArtisticLicense
Photography, Digital Editing and Photo Restoration