Nail technicians are trained to do many different beauty tasks for their clientele. A nail technician performs manicures and pedicures by cleaning, filing, and polishing. They also apply gel, fiberglass, acrylic nail tips, and decorative nail tips. Some nail technicians also offer other services to help their clients get rid of their stress, such as relaxing hand and/or foot massages. These massages are often done while being soaked and with an application of lotion to help nourish the client's skin.

In the work setting, nail technicians are responsible for keeping the tools and equipment clean to help prevent infection and the spread of germs and diseases. A nail technician is also responsible for keeping the work area sanitized at all times to keep it clean. Most nail technicians work in a salon. However, nail technicians can work in other settings, such as spas, hotels, and resorts.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, all 50 states require that you complete a hairstyling training course at a cosmetology school or hairstylist school prior to working in your profession. Training programs can take several months, and then you must take a licensing exam. You are also required to renew your license at regular intervals.

If you are unsure whether you would make a good hairstylist, consider whether you are creative and have good fashion sense. Think about whether you are detail-oriented and skilled with your hands. You should like working with people and have high standards for customer service. A great hairstylist or hair designer also must punctual for your appointments and able to work on your feet for extended time periods.

Depending on your workplace, you may be answering the phone and keeping track of appointments. Some salon owners might expect you to make an effort to sell beauty products to clients. In any establishment, you will almost certainly be responsible for keeping your own work area clean and your styling tools sanitized.

You could work for a major salon chain on a salary basis, or you may find a niche in a beauty shop that rents stations to stylists. In this situation, you would have your own exclusive clientele. You would arrange your own schedule and take care of collecting payment. Other shops hire stylists as employees and take care of administrative details. In this type of salon you will likely serve a combination of walk-in and scheduled customers.

If you are a skilled hairstylist, you can build an active client base that keeps you very busy. Eventually you could open your own hairstyling salon and help other stylists establish their careers.

Most cosmetologists focus completely on hair care, but they are capable of providing many beauty services for men, women or children because of what they learn in cosmetology school. Your success is usually based on consistency, camaraderie and creativity. Most cosmetologists simply enjoy being around people and can talk to anyone. You may focus completely on hair providing cuts, color, permanent waves and relaxers; or provide skin and nail treatments as well. Most cosmetologists have a specialty such as hair coloring or cutting. They may also wash and style wigs and hair pieces. And some cosmetologists may also sell them. You will use scissors, curlers, clippers, dryers and curling irons to provide your customers with attractive and stylish hair.

As a cosmetologist, you will also be licensed to work with skin and nails, providing scalp treatments, facials and massages. You could give demonstrations and advice on makeup, and work with a variety of special creams and lotions. You could shape eyebrows and remove unwanted facial hair, using tweezers or wax treatments. Cosmetologists can also operate as nail technicians, providing multiple nail treatments including softening and trimming the cuticles, shaping and filing the nails with files and Emery boards, applying nail polish and doing silk wraps, acrylic nails, gel nails and pedicures. 

As a licensed cosmetologist, you are of course required to keep your work area and equipment clean at all times, and depending on where you work, may have other duties, including answering the phone and making appointments. You should be capable of recommending the best treatments and products to customers, including cosmetics and hair brushes. You may run your own business, or assist another business owner with day-to-day management of employees and staff, ordering supplies and keeping records. A cosmetologist license opens the door to multiple career opportunities, and as a cosmetologist you will provide beautification through multiple services.

If you are considering starting a career as a professional makeup artist, it is a good idea to build a makeup kit for yourself so that you can practice on your friends and family. Choose people that will allow you to learn and experiment with the basics and then build up to applying more over-the-top makeup looks. This experience will help you determine what your natural skill level is and if you'd actually enjoy the act of applying makeup to other people. 

Once you've settled on this career path, it's time to select a makeup school or a makeup program at a cosmetology school. Some states require a makeup artist license or cosmetology license to do makeup professionally, whereas others do not. Depending on what state you'll work in, you may only need a certificate of completion and not a full cosmetology license. To get a certificate you need to complete a short course in makeup arts. 

To be a successful makeup artist you need to have artistic sensibility and good fashion sense. A lot of makeup work is done in conjunction with the fashion world and, so, you'll need to be aware of trends and what makeup look will best complement what the client is wearing. In addition, you'll need to possess some business sense and self-discipline. Many makeup artists work for themselves, doing contract work for private clients. The work is usually done on location, meaning that you will have to travel to the clients fashion shoot or private home to do your work. 

To succeed, you must be able to market your skills and constantly network with those in your field to get as much work as possible. After you've mastered your craft, have a professional portfolio of your best work done. This includes professionally-shot pictures that are then printed and placed in a binder. Duplicate your print portfolio online with a description of your rates and services to reach a wider audience.

There are a number of requirements in order to become an esthetician. One must complete a certified esthetics and skin care program in the field, and in order to be eligible for said program, one must first possess a high school diploma or GED. Qualifying programs are usually offered esthetics schools, and also sometimes at cosmetology schools and community colleges, and even some traditional colleges. The cost of an esthetics program varies depending on the state, institution, and desired specialty.
 

After completing an esthetics and skin care program, one must obtain state licensing before beginning work in the field. Most programs culminate with the licensing process, but this is not the case with all programs. Regardless, a state exam must be passed before one can begin to provide services as a licensed esthetician. In addition to the learned skills one must possess, it helps to be personable and sociable as an esthetician, as one's days are spent intimately dealing with clients. Those who like being around people and love helping them look and feel their best will be most suitable for this job field.

The median salary for a licensed esthetician is $28,730. However, the salary one can expect to make varies widely depending on the state, type of business and level of services provided. Most often, and esthetician will work in a spa or a salon, but there are also job opportunities for luxury resorts or destination hot spots, and even many traditional doctors’ offices and clinics are offering the services of estheticians with a higher level of training.

A barber typically provides hair care service for men, but a barber does not have to be exclusive to male clients only. Other services a barber performs for their clients are scalp treatments and hot shaving services, such as trimming and shaving beards. Some barbers offer shampoo and hairstyling as well. If a barber is licensed for other cosmetology work, they may offer other services such as nail care. Outside of their clientele work, a barber keeps the shop or work area clean and neat, making sure all cut hair is swept up from the floor and all work supplies are neatly arranged between clients.

Most barbers work in a salon or beauty shop. However, barbers can work in various types of settings. Other settings barbers can be employed at are spas, hotels, and resorts. These barbers usually make an hourly wage plus tips. Other barbers are self-employed to have a more flexible schedule, make commission, and to be their own boss. Unfortunately, self-employed barbers are not offered health insurance or other benefits like through the possibility of working for someone else. They must purchase private insurance if health insurance is desired and foot their own benefits, such as vacations.

These days you can do nearly anything online. You can shop, watch TV, listen to music and manage your investments. You can make phone calls and hold video conferences. You can plan out home improvements and purchase materials. You can even get a college degree! There is a wide range of options for online education, but as with any online pursuit, caution is necessary.

Online education has it’s benefits. It can be cheaper than normal college tuition and fees. Some courses are even free, like those from Stanford. It’s open to anyone, no matter their age, race or geographical location. You can earn nearly any degree you could want online, complete with coursework and documentation. The only thing you can’t get is hands-on experience.

Use Caution

The one thing you absolutely must watch out for when looking into online degrees and courses is the institution presenting them. It’s easy to find websites and online ‘colleges’ that claim to offer a complete education online. Many of them will even print off a diploma and send it to you. The trouble is, what good is a diploma from David’s College of IT and Stuff?

If your online courses are not presented by an accredited university, they don’t offer you much benefit. While they may still offer excellent content and information, they won’t count as a course taken at a real institution. With education, the credibility of the source is of high importance — even more so when it comes to online education. If your online degree wasn’t earned through an accredited university, it’s hardly worth the paper it’s printed on.

Require Verification events

How can you verify that your online college is legitimate and accredited? There are a number of ways. First and foremost, you can check with the United States Department of Education. They keep records of universities that are accredited, and can tell you if the one you select is on the list. The Council for Higher Education is another similar resource. They can tell you if your online institution is legitimate or not. There’s also the Diploma Mill Police. They have reports and track over 300 known diploma scams.

A verified and accredited institution can offer the same valuable education found at many physical universities. They can also work well for an adult looking to branch out to a new career field without leaving their current job to attend classes. That kind of convenience comes at a price. Many people will hear “online education” and grow skeptical. To that end, it’s a good idea to be aware of the subject and know that your institution is accredited.

While an online education has benefits, there’s always the case where hands on experience is preferred.  However, as the prevalence of online education grows, online degrees could become just as widely accepted as standard diplomas from traditional institutions. Use caution and your degree could serve you well.

When kids are in preschool and kindergarten, teachers knock themselves out to provide for a variety of different learning styles.  Every early childhood education teacher knows that children learn through their eyes as well as their ears, their hands, their bodies and their intellects. Children with diagnoses such as Asperger syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD and so forth are more likely to be visual learners, since their ability to sit still, listen and process verbal information is limited or impaired.

Once kids are in grade school, though, the visual and hands-on teaching tools disappear.  Instead of highly colored picture books, bright posters, and cheerful image-based worksheets, kids are presented with words, words and more words.  This is really pretty strange, since no one outgrows their learning style – and kids who were visual learners at age three will still be visual learners at age 8, 11, and 15!

Words — written and spoken — are a great way to communicate with some kids.  But visual learners take in most of their information through their eyes.  As visual learners grow up, they may find it increasingly difficult to learn through lectures and reading.  As adults, visual learners may go into fields that bank on their ability to understand and work with visual information: draftsmanship, graphic design, and so forth.

• Remember those old National Geographic magazines, loaded with fabulous images, that you stored in your attic?  Pull them out, and let your visual learners page through.  What better way to discover the wider world without the cost of actually traveling to Africa?
• Teachers and parents can help visual learners out by providing supplementary visual teaching tools, even to older students.   These can range from videos to Power Point presentations to picture books, photo albums, diagrams, blueprints and slide shows.
• Virtual schools and supplementary online classes are now being built around interactive, visual teaching tools.  If a child learns best through visual interactivity, an online textbook or course may be an ideal option.
• Informal education settings such as art museums and science museums are set up to teach kids visually.  Activities that build on visual learning, such as orienteering or model building, may be great ways to build skills and confidence.

For more on visual learning, explore:

Education.com has a whole series of article on visual learning, including tips on creating teaching tools and helping visual learners to succeed.

Time4Learning is an online virtual “school” that offers highly visual, interactive classes for kids in grade K-8.  Read about visual learning, and try out a demo.

Secondary Education at About.com includes a collection of articles on adapting typical secondary education materials for a visual learner.

This is part two about children and computers. Read the first part on Keeping Your Kids Safe on the Computer.

John is a busy grandfather who has learned more than once the importance of protecting your computer if kids are going to be using it. The first time John ran into a problem was when his four-year-old grandson visited for the weekend. Left alone in the computer room for a few minutes, the budding computer genius quickly pushed a series of keys and clicked on icons until John’s computer stopped working altogether. Several years later, another grandchild visited, this one a teen who was using the computer for a research paper. After he left, John’s computer had sustained a virus that ultimately crashed his system and lost all data.

Kids don’t intentionally set out to destroy data, but it’s easy to do on computers. Fortunately, using some simple controls can help protect both your data, and your peace of mind.

1. Password-protect your user profile. This will keep the kids out. Instead, only allow them access to their own profile, and limit the changes they can make by setting up parental controls in the Control Panel or System Preferences.

2. Password-protect sensitive data. It doesn’t hurt to be doubly safe. Any critical documents should receive a password that is different from your profile password.

3. Install virus protection software. This will protect your computer from common viruses a child may encounter, provided you keep the software updated. AVG, Symmantic are good virus protecting softwares. Also keep your computer updated with the latest patches since not updating can create security flaws.

4. Back up your files regularly. If, with all of your protections in place, you still lose data, maintaining regular backups allows you to restore it quickly and easily. Backblaze is a great online solution which backs up your files online.

Careful utilization of parental controls can minimize risks to both your children and your important data. By selecting age-appropriate parental controls, supervising your children’s computer usage, and talking to your kids about responsible computer use, you will be far less likely to encounter difficulties as your children enter the information age.

Inquiry Based Learning

by Lisa Jo Rudy

In essence, there are two ways to learn.  The first is to be taught.  The second is to discover for yourself.  Inquiry based learning is the second.

What’s the difference?

In the most informal sense, inquiry based learning can happen anywhere at any time.  A child tosses a pebble in the water and watches it sink.  He wonders, “what will happen if I toss in a twig?”  It floats.  The child has discovered that some things are more buoyant than others.  He may pursue his discovery with more experiments (what about a pine cone?  what about a very small rock?), with research (let me find out why this happened by checking Google), or with nothing at all.

In more formal settings, such as museums or zoos, inquiry based learning is the difference between a recipe-based activity and an experiment-based activity.

For example, you want a child to know that mixing vinegar and baking soda will cause a huge fizzy reaction.  You could simply say “add one quarter cup of vinegar to two tablespoons of baking soda.  Stand back and watch the fun!”

But if you prefer inquiry based education, you’d set out vinegar, baking soda, flour, oil, water, and a variety of other “kitchen chemistry” equipment — along with a pile of bowls, spoons, and paper towels.  You’d say “See what happens when you mix these things!”  Then YOU’D stand back.

Which is better – inquiry-based or recipe-based?  As with all types of education, it depends upon the situation

For more about inquiry based learning, explore:

Thirteen.org is a website created by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  There, you’ll find information about inquiry-based learning in the classroom and beyond, including a full explanation of the place of inquiry-based education in the formal academic setting.

The Miami Museum of Science offers a website about constructivism, a more academic term for inquiry-based learning.  Get a fuller understanding of how to help learners construct an understanding of the natural world by getting hands-on and minds-on.

For inquiry-based activity ideas, check out:

The Exploratorium is a hands-on museum in San Francisco – but its website is much more.  Start here for a variety of inquiry-based try-its, and then explore the site to find many more resources and ideas for families and teachers interested in inquiry-based learning.

The Center for Inquiry-Based Learning at Duke University offers full-fledged lessons suitable for teachers or families.  The center also offers teacher development workshops and kits (for a fee).