Open Features: Bring Back The Three Rs
Hedley Haigh recalls his father's outstanding penmanship, along with his ability to spell words correctly and do mental arithmetic, then suggests it is high time that schools concentrated on teaching the three Rs - reading, writing and 'rithmetic.
The other day, my elderly neighbour excitedly showed me a postcard she had received from her 17-year-old grandson, the head boy at the local grammar school, which was sent to her while he was on a school trip to Continental Europe.
I didn't want to discourage her by pointing out the spelling mistakes and the awful handwriting but I thought about my youth and my father's talents with the Three R's, the basis for all education in those days.
My father left school at 14. He jokingly used to say he had been educated at the High School of Scapegoat Hill. Scapegoat Hill is the highest village in the Huddersfield area.
He worked all his life as a woollen weaver and a quarryman. His writing and spelling would have put a lot of the present generation to shame.
Consider his skill with the Three R's. He was an avid reader and this must have been a big help with grammar and spelling. He loved all kinds of books, but his favourite author was Jack London, the author of "Call of the Wild" and "White Fang.’’
He practised his calligraphy skills for hours - thin strokes up, thick strokes down, every loop, circle and curve done to perfection. Many diplomas and certificates hanging in solicitors’ and doctors’ premises in the Colne Valley were testimony to his work.
He used "dip-in" pens until he found the perfect fountain pen with interchangeable nibs - a Conway Stewart. He had also tried Waterman, Sheaffer and Parker pens. He used to guard his pens jealously and woe betide anyone who used them.
The ballpoint pen with its characterless "hand" has a lot to answer for in taking the skill out of handwriting!
In regard to arithmetic I was always fascinated to see my father lay out in columns on the kitchen table the Co-op cheque and calculate the Div every half-year. He would add up pounds, shillings and pence, along with the halfpennies and farthings. Then he would divide the total by 2 shillings and 10 pence, which was the dividend paid back to customers by Slaithwaite Co-Operative Society for years and years.
He would then solemnly declare to my mother, "It's been a good do this time.’’ He would then announce how much they had to come back from the Co-Op. Sure enough when we got paid out at the Co-op office he would be proved correct to the nearest penny. And the sums were done without the help of calculator or computer.
Now we spend millions of pounds on education, but what about bringing back the "Three R's"?
