The three Rs

The three Rs (as in the letter R) refers to the foundations of a basic skills-oriented education program within schools: reading, writing and arithmetic. It appeared in print as a space-filler in "The Lady's Magazine" for 1818, although it is widely quoted as arising from a phrase coined in a toast given by Sir William Curtis, Member of Parliament, in about 1825. Since its original creation, many others have used the term to describe other trifecta.

Origin and meaning

The original phrase "the Three Rs" came from a previous speech made by Sir William Curtis in 1795.

From reading and writing comes the idea in modern education of literacy, by which we generally mean having the ability to understand ideas expressed through the medium of words. From reckoning and figuring comes the modern idea of numeracy which means being able to understand ideas expressed in the medium of mathematics. There is no single word, equivalent to literacy or numeracy, that expresses wrighting and roughing (that is the ability to make – as in wheelwright, shipwright, Cartwright). In late 18th and early 19th century the role of schools in preparing children to work in manufacturing industry would have been seen to have had a greater vocational and economic relevance than it would today.