The fundamentals are the basic principles of any knowledge. Each area of knowledge (art, science or technique) has some essential elements from which all its complexity develops.
If we think of a house, we see the external elements, but there has to be a structure (the building blocks) for the house to stand. In fact, it is popularly said that you cannot start a house with the roof, implying that without the primary elements it is unfeasible to complete a project successfully.
There are other senses of the concept of foundation. To imply that it is the beginning of something or its main reason. Thus, we say that the foundation of their success is work. It is also used as the origin or the first cause. In this sense, we affirm that the foundation of soccer is cardiovascular exercise. It also applies to refer to a quality of people. If we mean to say that someone has a deep knowledge of a subject, we will say that they are a well-founded person.
In all acceptances, there is a common idea: something fundamental that acts as a determining factor. This idea is clearly appreciated in any learning process. When learning something, we have to start with the simplest, its rudimentary aspects. Over time, we gain skill, experience, and practice. Finally, we will be very skilled in something (experts, qualified professionals or teachers in a discipline). If the fundamentals are not acquired correctly, due to precipitation, the learning result will not be satisfactory.
In the field of ideas, it is said that there is foundation in an approach when it is based on solid primary ideas, proven data or a reliable source of information.
At school the foundations for adult life are acquired. Traditionally it was said that there were three basic skills: reading, writing and doing accounts. This popular idea has been expanding and currently there are other learnings that are considered fundamental: a foreign language, computers, etc. The content of the fundamentals can therefore vary over time, although its primary idea remains the same.
