#free educational material

[schoolofpracticalskills]

Hello Friend!

Here, we're all about helping each other. The focus of this blog is compiling and crowdsourcing educational materials for skills and knowledge that affect your daily life, to help fill in the gaps. We are here to help with developing valuable life skills at every age - everything from cooking to job-hunting, housekeeping to budgeting, car maintenance to first aid.

Everyone deserves space and opportunity to learn and ask questions free of judgment. If you have things that you'd like to learn but don't see on our blog already, please send us an ask!

If you have posts, resources, or tags you think we'd be interested in, please share it with us!

We are currently just setting up shop, and will be building up our full tagslist below; check back for more soon! Keep striving!

[schoolofpracticalskills]

Reminder that you can also find and browse books at your local library! If you need assistance locating a particular book or want more information on different kinds of books, talk to your local librarian! If they don't already have what you're looking for, they can potentially order the book, get it from inter-library loan, or help you find other ways to locate a copy!

"Absolutely no one comes to save us but us."

Ismatu Gwendolyn, "you've been traumatized into hating reading (and it makes you easier to oppress)", from Threadings, on Substack [ID'd]

[hopefulqueer]

My bosses: Write and prepare to deliver educational programs about Native American history, Lewis and Clark, and the Oregon Trail

Me, who has not taken a history class since high school: Why would you ask me, an ecologist, this

[livelist]

We as Queer People have a duty to understand Pink-Washing. We must see through our identities being used to perpetutate violence.

This incredible documentary by a trans Law Professor details how this works. 7 years ago, in Seattle, they successfully worked with other activists to shut down a single pink-washed event. The backlash from the Israeli state is something we all can learn from.

[pixelmanifest]

I uploaded a free word search about geography on Ko-fi! Easy to download and print out. Perfect for parents, teachers, social workers, etc. who need some fun and engaging worksheets for their kids.🌎

It’s great for introducing or revising geography vocabulary while keeping learning enjoyable. Check it out and feel free to share with anyone who might find it useful!

[edwardshundredyearoldspunk]

I've seen a lot of posts and videos about late gen z and gen alpha and how horrible they are, how they can't read, how all they want to do is use their phones and ipads and they're out of control and rude.

and the blame inevitably goes to land on the parents without much more thought put into it.

I've seen rarely anyone call it what it is, which is a moral panic. that's what it is. I myself am guilty of contributing to this. we blame the parents for "putting an ipad" in the kids face at the first sign of distress without taking a step back to think, "why are these parents having less time to spend educating their children?" we blame teachers for passing students that clearly are not at the required skill level to move to the next grade without stopping to ask "why are we losing passionate educators? why are the ones we have left so overworked?"

it's capitalism btw.

it's not an individual problem, it is systemic.

poor parents, single parents, marginalized parents, all of these are the parents who you are really shaming by refusing to acknowledge that this, just as everything, is a symptom of a greater problem. we know educators aren't making enough; we know educators are leaving the field in droves; we know income, disability, race, et al. are contributing factors to gaining a fruitful education; we know people are working longer and harder than ever for less and less pay.

yet we are unwilling to put these pieces together into the forgone conclusion that there are systemic barriers put into place to prevent future generations from access to quality education. we wring our hands and talk about screentime and social media and how the internet is the problem or the kids are the problem or the bad millennial parents are the problem or tiktok or ipads or lack of discipline or

but we need to stop and think for a moment, because the only thing that benefits from the idea that this burgeoning education problem is a moral failing that the "real" and "good" parents aren't guilty of, rather than the capitalist machine working as intended, is you guessed it, the capitalist system that birthed many of these issues in the first place

[inthecarpets]

Hey, as someone who was unschooled, please don’t say that parents “do not care” to teach their children. It has nothing to do with not caring, in fact in my experience, parents of unschooled children care far more than those of schooled children. Are there bad apples? Absolutely! But unschooling is not out of a lack of care. My parents did not put me in school because they thought I’d struggle there, and frankly I do not think I would have survived school. I am much happier with the way I was raised than any of my friends who were sent to school are.

I also know many, MANY people who were unschooled like me that have successful careers and lives. Please don’t fall for the “well they didn’t go to school so they’re failures as adults” thing.

I wrote those tags written quick without bigger thought, my bad i apologize.

That being said if you happened to watch the video i mentioned in the tags, you'd hear how the youtuber mentions how much parents care, mentions the safety of schools with the shootings, the state of US education, and however how much said care can also ruin child's life sometimes. There might be plenty of children who ended up successful but also plenty who ended not successful. There are even comments under the video. (once again, a video by Kasia Baba)

Everything in life is nuanced. But like, I never said anything about "well they didn’t go to school so they’re failures as adults" since literally homeschooling exists and people can get schooling in individualistic ways? And very specific cases exist aswell.

It's simply absolutely wild to me that it's legal to not even teach your children Basic Math or Reading in the US. Because stuff like that in my country is Illegal. It's illegal. It's simply illegal here so Yes i'm going to think it's Wild. Education was boiled really deep in us bc education meant a job for decades.

Teaching basic math and reading should be mandatory no matter what. That's also why homeschooling in my country requires some kind of tests every now and then.

Like honestly, every child is different but also there still needs to be some kind of system in place bc most of normie parents couldn't Ever handle something like "unschooling".

In my non american eyes It's a very special kind of upbringing which should be reserved Only to very individual cases. There are children who'll learn how to read on their own and count on their own. But it's not all of them. I know that if it were me? I'd be ruined as hell because i was a slow kid.

Please note i'm seriously, Not American so it's natural such concepts would surprise.

[cyeayt]

Mormon Hell!

I have stuff to do tonight but why would i when i could make a post explaining the mormon afterlife (as i was taught it)

prelife

we all lived with god in heaven in our heavenly bodies, until lucifer and the exodus n all that

we travel through the veil and lose our memories of our heavenly families and bodies

earth

we have free will! yipee! you have a few different options here. live according to the principles of the gospel, be baptized at 8, be a missionary and a productive worker and raise children after being sealed with your spouse in a temple, teach and lead if you get the chance. do all that but with less enthusiasm dont get sealed. be aware of god and be baptized and be mediocre. be baptized and leave the church. be baptized, leave the church and disavow it, dedicate your life to disproving it, torment members of the faith. die before you're 8. die before you learn what mormonism is. know what mormonism is but never participate and be a decent person. know what mormonism is but never participate and be a bad person. die and get baptized by your descendants after death.

die. what happens next?

purgatory. or spirit prison. theres two versions. one is where you just chill (and i once heard you get to be a holy ghost and help guide people), or go to jail where they teach you how to be good and you have the change to redeem yourself.

the second coming! mormons will never take any war or disaster seriously or try to do anything about it, because strife and hardship mean the second coming is near!

zion! (yikes) 1000 years of heaven on earth, the resurrection of christ was like a free trial of this. everyone is alive again and everything is perfect. supposed to happen in the garden of eden, which is in missouri. yeah i know. the church is helping fund the genocide in palestine also. we suck, go to protests n keep posting.

judgement day!

where can you be judged to?

the celestial kingdom! beautiful sunny top tier heaven, for eternal families sealed together in the temple! people who go here are the ones who will supposedly eventually get to be gods of their own universes.

the telestial kingdom. second tier heaven. kinda boring, better than earth and you get to talk to jesus but not god. you go here if you were pretty good but never got sealed with an eternal family. i assume that unbaptized babies and people who were baptized after death also go here.

the terrestrial kingdom. third tier heaven. basically more zion. no jesus or god but maybe angels. i think most people go here.

and finally

perdition! the outer void! eternal suffering! well actually as i was taught, eternal suffering is only for the souls who followed satan out of heaven in the exodus before any of our lives on earth. even if you really really sucked, youd get thrown into the outer void, which to me always meant your soul getting ripped apart by the vaccum of space and your eternal spirit ceasing to exist. you have to be really really bad to get here. even like murderers and whoever get to go to the terrestrial kingdom. so, souls who followed lucifer out of heaven, and people who were allowed to be born but who dedicated their lives to serving satan. souls here are the only ones who will not be allowed to receive the glory of god, even after they are resurrected.

in other words, who wants to be a child of perdition with me?

[tourmelion]

I'm sending this to everyone I know and 30 people I don't know

👏🏾Education 👏🏾is 👏🏾a 👏🏾right,👏🏾 not👏🏾 a👏🏾 service 👏🏾

Pass along and use the shit out of them

[steviescrystals]

i will never shut up about how much i hate the college system in the us and the way it’s all about money because i genuinely love learning and i miss being in school so fucking bad but i simply cannot afford the education i want

[schoolofpracticalskills]

I don't have a lot of fitness and movement people that I follow closely, but Justin Agustin is one of my favorites. Far too many fitness trainers present beginner workouts with an assumed baseline level of general physical health. That attitude excludes people that are elderly, disabled, or have otherwise limited mobility, which makes it even harder to engage in trying to improve your levels of movement.

Justin's workouts focus on meeting beginners at an actual, realistic, I-haven't-been-able-to-exercise-in-years beginner level. He gives gentle, low-impact beginner workouts that you can even do sitting or laying in bed. They frequently display modified versions to account for lower flexibility & mobility.

If it's been a long time since you were able to exercise and you are wanting to get moving more, to improve flexibility and muscle tone, his channel is a great place to start. This link goes to his Youtube channel, but he also posts on Instagram and (I think) TikTok.

[wealthwise93]

Canva: What It Is, Why You Need It, and How It Works

Unlock your creativity with Canva! 🎨 This user-friendly design platform lets you create stunning graphics, presentations, and social media posts easily. Perfect for beginners and pros alike! Join millions and elevate your design game today! #Canva

Canva is a user-friendly, web-based design platform that allows users to create eye-catching graphics, presentations, social media posts, posters, and much more without needing advanced design skills. Founded in 2013, Canva has quickly become an essential tool for individuals, businesses, marketing teams, and even educational institutions. What is Canva? Canva is an all-in-one design platform…

[nickbutnodick]

i hate it when people bully people less smart than they are. but i HATE it when people bully people less smart than i am on my behalf.

[my-project-hd]

Computer Science Notes in Hindi

Access comprehensive Computer Science notes in Hindi on MyProjectHD. Perfect for students and professionals looking for clear, concise, and easy-to-understand content. Visit now for free resources!

[askshivanulegacy]

Look, there's nothing forcing professors to cut the reading just to pass students for nothing.

If the students don't read and they can't pass whatever benchmarks are set for that, then fail them. Failure is the consequence. Hold students accountable. You shouldn't accommodate trends of lazy people just to achieve arbitrary passing benchmarks. It doesn't matter how old or dry the reading is. You won't fix this presumed attention span issue by catering to it. Develop it properly. Read or fail, it's not like it's hard.

HOWEVER, the point about insane levels of reading is also true. That is a chronic issue across all levels of higher education, and that itself is a failure of the university, the professors, and the subpar system that thinks it's okay to assign that much work. If you want students to read that much, then you have to assign it in reasonable amounts which also take into account other classes the students have and also their ability to keep their own lives in order. This has been an issue for decades.

You don't assign entire books in just a few days. MAYBE 10-20 pages in a day for one class ... observing an overall university cap of no more than something like 50 (dense pages) in a day, and even that might be on the high end if you also have tasks like essay or math or labs to do.

And of course, as a consequence of that, you either achieve fewer overall books or you extend the length of the courses - two semesters instead of one, for example. I wonder how much of the pared down reading is actually a recognition of poor teaching practices and the implementation of a better-paced system.

It's two issues, frankly: personal failure and university system failure. If younger students aren't interested in dense texts ... zero sympathy. The text exists for a reason, and part of the point is to learn to read things you may not be personally interested in, and also to broaden your horizons. The point is not to cave and cater to a failure of students to develop their minds. But you also shouldn't grind people into the dirt with unrealistic reading assignments. The purpose of reading a book is to absorb the big picture but also the nuance, and you are not doing that by skimming texts. If I have multiple hundreds of pages a day, because of professor and university incompetence, then I've gotten to the point that I simply don't do any of it - out of principle, and then I also give the professors strict feedback about it and expect them to do better. They work for me, after all, and they're not teaching correctly either. It's just laziness on their part.

Fix the system to make it reasonable and then stick to your guns.

Ppl on the other hellsite losing their minds over this in every imaginable direction lmao

[chronicbitchsyndrome]

so: masking: good, unequivocally. please mask and please educate others on why they should mask to make the world safer for immune compromised people to participate in.

however: masking is not my policy focus and it shouldn't be yours, either. masking is a very good mitigation against droplet-born illnesses and a slightly less effective (but still very good) mitigation against airborne illnesses, but its place in the pyramid of mitigation demands is pretty low, for several reasons:

it's an individual mitigation, not a systemic one. the best mitigations to make public life more accessible affect everyone without distributing the majority of the effort among individuals (who may not be able to comply, may not have access to education on how to comply, or may be actively malicious).

it's a post-hoc mitigation, or to put it another way, it's a band-aid over the underlying problem. even if it was possible to enforce, universal masking still wouldn't address the underlying problem that it is dangerous for sick people and immune compromised people to be in the same public locations to begin with. this is a solvable problem! we have created the societal conditions for this problem!

here are my policy focuses:

upgraded air filtration and ventilation systems for all public buildings. appropriate ventilation should be just as bog-standard as appropriately clean running water. an indoor venue without a ventilation system capable of performing 5 complete air changes per hour should be like encountering a public restroom without any sinks or hand sanitizer stations whatsoever.

enforced paid sick leave for all employees until 3-5 days without symptoms. the vast majority of respiratory and food-borne illnesses circulate through industry sectors where employees come into work while experiencing symptoms. a taco bell worker should never be making food while experiencing strep throat symptoms, even without a strep diagnosis.

enforced virtual schooling options for sick students. the other vast majority of respiratory and food-borne illnesses circulate through schools. the proximity of so many kids and teenagers together indoors (with little to no proper ventilation and high levels of physical activity) means that if even one person comes to school sick, hundreds will be infected in the following few days. those students will most likely infect their parents as well. allowing students to complete all readings and coursework through sites like blackboard or compass while sick will cut down massively on disease transmission.

accessible testing for everyone. not just for COVID; if there's a test for any contagious illness capable of being performed outside of lab conditions, there should be a regulated option for performing that test at home (similar to COVID rapid tests). if a test can only be performed under lab conditions, there should be a government-subsidized program to provide free of charge testing to anyone who needs it, through urgent cares and pharmacies.

the last thing to note is that these things stack; upgraded ventilation systems in all public buildings mean that students and employees get sick less often to begin with, making it less burdensome for students and employees to be absent due to sickness, and making it more likely that sick individuals will choose to stay home themselves (since it's not so costly for them).

masking is great! keep masking! please use masking as a rhetorical "this is what we can do as individuals to make public life safer while we're pushing for drastic policy changes," and don't get complacent in either direction--don't assume that masking is all you need to do or an acceptable forever-solution, and equally, don't fall prey to thinking that pushing for policy change "makes up" for not masking in public. it's not a game with scores and sides; masking is a material thing you can do to help the individual people you interact with one by one, and policy changes are what's going to make the entirety of public life safer for all immune compromised people.