Grade 4 Math: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 4 math in the New Brunswick Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Number: Number Sense. Develop number sense.
- Number: Operations. Develop number sense.
- Statistics and Probability: Data Analysis. Collect, display and analyze data to solve problems.
- Statistics and Probability: Chance and Uncertainty. Use experimental or theoretical probabilities to represent and solve problems involving uncertainty.
- Patterns and Relations: Algebra. Use patterns to describe the world and solve problems.
- Shape and Space: Measurement. Use direct and indirect measurement to solve problems.
- Shape and Space: 2-D Shapes and 3-D Objects. Describe the characteristics of 3-D objects and 2-D shapes, and analyze the relationships among them.
Easy ways to practise math at home
- Practise math facts in short bursts, such as five minutes while dinner cooks.
- Let your child handle small cash purchases, working out the change in multiples of 5¢.
- Cook together and double or halve a recipe.
- Ask “How do you know?” after an answer, even when it is right.
What each unit covers
Numbers to 10 000
Reading, writing and comparing numbers up to 10 000: place value, expanded form, number lines, ordering and rounding.
Add & Subtract
Adding and subtracting numbers to 10 000 with regrouping, counting up to subtract, estimating by rounding, and solving word problems.
Times Tables
Multiplication and division facts to 100 with arrays, fact families and strategies like doubling, using 10s, and thinking multiplication to divide.
Multiply & Divide
Multiplying and dividing 2- and 3-digit numbers by 1-digit numbers by splitting them by place value, plus remainders, estimating and word problems.
Fractions
Naming fractions from pictures and number lines, comparing fractions with the same top or bottom number, using 1/2 as a benchmark, and finding equal fractions.
Decimals
Tenths and hundredths as decimals, linking them to fractions, placing and comparing them on number lines, and adding and subtracting decimals by lining up the decimal points.
Patterns & Tables
Extending increasing and decreasing number patterns, naming pattern rules, finding rules in input/output tables, and describing how two quantities are related.
Equations
Solving one-step equations with a box or letter for the unknown, using all four operations, and matching equations to word problems.
Telling Time
Reading analog clocks to the minute, switching between 12-hour (a.m./p.m.) and 24-hour time, and working out how long events last.
Angles & Area
Sorting angles into acute, right, obtuse and straight, finding area by multiplying length by width, and working backward to find a side.
Polygons & Perimeter
Telling regular polygons (all sides and angles equal) from irregular ones, finding lines of symmetry, and measuring perimeter around regular and irregular shapes.
Graphs & Chance
Reading bar graphs and pictographs where one picture can stand for many, and predicting and interpreting the results of spinner, dice and coin experiments.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Working below
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Meeting
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Excelling
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the New Brunswick report card guide.
Common questions
Practise math facts in short bursts, such as five minutes while dinner cooks. Let your child handle small cash purchases, working out the change in multiples of 5¢. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The New Brunswick Curriculum Grade 4 math units include numbers to 10 000, add & subtract, times tables, multiply & divide, fractions, decimals.
Free printable Grade 4 math practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.