the three Rs

the three Rs

The three tenets of education traditionally considered the most basic or essential: reading, writing, and arithmetic. (So named for the prominent "R" sound at the beginning of each word.) When a school begins seeing major performance issues across the three Rs, then it is time to revise its curriculum and teaching style.
See also: RS, three
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

three R's

The fundamentals of education, as in It's a terrible school; the children are not even taught the three R's. It is widely believed that Sir William Curtis, an alderman who became Lord Mayor of London, once presented a toast to the three R's-reading, riting, and rithmetic-thereby betraying his illiteracy. In any event, the term was picked up by others and so used from the early 1800s on.
See also: three
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

the three Rs

reading, (w)riting, and (a)rithmetic, regarded as the fundamentals of elementary education.
See also: RS, three
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

the three ˈR’s

(old-fashioned) reading, writing and arithmetic as the basic school subjects
When you say these three subjects, they all have the sound /r/ at or near the beginning of the word.
See also: three
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

three Rs, the

Basic education. This term may have been coined by Sir William Curtis (1752–1829). According to several sources, this illiterate alderman, who became Lord Mayor of London, presented a toast to the three Rs: Reading, Riting, and Rithmetic. Whether or not this tale is true, the term was picked up by others and became current in the early nineteenth century.
See also: three
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • RS
  • the three R's
  • three R's
  • three Rs, the
  • get down to the nuts and bolts
  • be down to (something)
  • nuts and bolts
  • nuts and bolts, the
  • the nuts and bolts
  • the nuts and bolts of something
References in periodicals archive
Effective utilisation of the three Rs can highly supplement the country's fertiliser requirements.Wastes from processing plantsCoffee: It comes from harvesting the cherries, which are mainly processed by wet fermentation to obtain the parchment coffee (dried beans covered by paper-like coating).
Reduce and recycle farm waste
It's already started to happen, and as the technology becomes less expensive and more common, the three Rs will become a normal part of our everyday lives, just like the smartphone did a decade ago.
VR, AR, MR will soon be a part of life
"That's why we have raised the bar on what counts as a good enough standard in the three Rs for our children by the end of primary school."
Half of primary kids fail in three Rs
Nationally, the figures suggested the proportion of primaries failing to give their pupils a good grounding in the three Rs remained static this year, despite schools facing tougher government targets.
Schools 'below target for 3 Rs'
Cardiff Bay's Alaric Bates and Iwan Roberts were the first of the three RS Feva XLs.
Cardiff sailor Rhys has to settle for third spot
We have teamed up with Totally Bound Publishing so that five lucky winners will win a Kindle and 100 runners-up will win a free download of Ashe Barker's new The Three Rs, one of the first titles from its brand new sizzling imprint, What's Her Secret?
5 Kindles to be won; We love COMPETITIONS PLUS 100 COPIES OF THE THREE Rs BY ASHE BARKER
IMPORTANTLY stick to the three Rs: rest, relax, recover.
Man moment
I went to school from 1938 to 1947 and I was caned a few times, so I wasn't just taught the three Rs but I learned what discipline was.
Caning taught me discipline
It used to be the teaching of the three Rs that was considered the foundation of a good school education, but the poll found that today most people would prefer the four Rs - reading, writing, arithmetic and respect, the Telegraph reported.
Brits want manners to be taught in school
Welcome, Jessica, to the three Rs, the essence of K-12 education.
From the three Rs to the four Cs radically redesigning k-12 education
ST HELENS primary schools are in the top 10 nationwide for teaching the three Rs.
OUR PUPILS ARE IN THE UK TOP 10; St Helens wins best ever score
Ministers want to make sure that by 2020, 95 per cent of adults have the skills in the three Rs that they need for daily life - such as paying bills and reading train timetables.
Adult maths drive struggling; EDUCATION POLITICS
IF, as we're told, standards of the Three Rs have slumped to their lowest level in seven years, leaving thousands of primary schoolchildren unable to read, write or do maths, it rather makes a nonsense of denials from education experts and parents who insist GCSE exams haven't been dumbed down.
Dumb & dumber
His Government keeps pouring money into education, yet many school-leavers don't even know the three Rs. They pump cash into the Health Service but people are still waiting months for treatment.
Letter: Unfair spending
Sin City has mastered the three Rs: Reliability--for every casino there is a show, and the good ones enjoy longevity; Revenue--the pay is fair to fabulous, and the benefits are better since they are provided by the venues (usually a hotel-with-casino) not the production; and Routine--with consistent work, a performer can afford a life with style.
Beyond the strip: navigating the Las Vegas job scene