three Rs
nounEtymology From the initial consonant in the pronunciation of reading, (w)riting, (a)rithmetic (aphetically), 1820s.
1
The basic education received in primary schools, especially (but not necessarily limited to) reading, writing and arithmetic.
- “You shall teach me, and when I am a woman we will set up a school where nothing but the three R's shall be taught, and all the children live on oatmeal, and the girls have waists a yard round,” said Rose, with a sudden saucy smile dimpling her cheeks.1875, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, chapter 8, in Eight Cousins:
- From these studies the schoolmaster would sally forth into his school-rooms, and instruct his boys in the religion, the fanaticism of Hugolatry. He taught them nothing else. Hugo was for him the three R’s, catechism and grammar, deportment and the use of the globe.1885 July, “A Forgotten Pamphleteer”, in Tinsleys’ Magazine, volume 37, London: Tinsley Brothers, page 84:
1 more example
- Elementary schools have already done a noble work, but among many of them the demand has now arisen for something more than the three R’s and simple Bible-teaching.1908, Charles W. Hattersley, Uganda by Pen and Camera, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States: Union Press, pages vii–viii:
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Broadly The basic precepts of any subject matter.
- Chapter 11: The Big C and the Three Rs: Chores, Relaxation, Recreation, and Rebellion2002, Barbara Coloroso, Kids are Worth It!: Giving Your Child the Gift of Inner Discipline:
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Reduce, reuse and recycle.