Grade 3 Math: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 3 math in the Ontario Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- B1 Number Sense: Demonstrate an understanding of numbers and make connections to the way numbers are used in everyday life
- B2 Operations: Use knowledge of numbers and operations to solve mathematical problems encountered in everyday life
- C1 Patterns and Relationships: Identify, describe, extend, create, and make predictions about a variety of patterns, including those found in real-life contexts
- C2 Equations and Inequalities: Demonstrate an understanding of variables, expressions, equalities, and inequalities, and apply this understanding in various contexts
- C3 Coding: Solve problems and create computational representations of mathematical situations using coding concepts and skills
- C4 Mathematical Modelling: Apply the process of mathematical modelling to represent, analyse, make predictions, and provide insight into real-life situations This overall expectation has no specific expectations. Mathematical modelling is an iterative and interconnected process that is applied to various contexts, allowing students to bring in learning from other strands. Students’ demonstration of the process of mathematical modelling, as they apply concepts and skills learned in other strands, is assessed and evaluated. Read more about the mathematical modelling process.
- D1 Data Literacy: Manage, analyse, and use data to make convincing arguments and informed decisions, in various contexts drawn from real life
- D2 Probability: Describe the likelihood that events will happen, and use that information to make predictions
- E1 Geometric and Spatial Reasoning: Describe and represent shape, location, and movement by applying geometric properties and spatial relationships in order to navigate the world around them
- E2 Measurement: Compare, estimate, and determine measurements in various contexts
- F1 Money and Finances: Demonstrate an understanding of the value and use of Canadian currency
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 1000
Reading, building, comparing and ordering numbers to 1000 as hundreds, tens and ones, including tricky zeros and regrouping (12 tens is 1 hundred and 2 tens).
Round & Count
Rounding numbers to the nearest ten or hundred, counting forward and back by 50s, 100s and 200s, and comparing and ordering numbers up to 1000.
Add & Subtract
Adding and subtracting 2- and 3-digit numbers by place value, number-line jumps and counting up, plus estimating by rounding to the nearest hundred.
Multiplication
Understanding multiplication as equal groups, arrays, repeated addition and skip counting. Easier sets use 2s, 5s and 10s; stretch sets go beyond 5 × 5.
Division
Understanding division as sharing fairly and as making equal groups, and using multiplication facts to divide (3 × 4 = 12, so 12 ÷ 3 = 4).
Fair Shares
Sharing up to 20 items fairly among 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 or 10 people, including leftovers that must be cut up, and seeing that different fractions can be the same amount.
Patterns & Equations
Extending increasing and decreasing patterns, describing pattern rules in words and tables, and solving one-step equations like ☐ + 8 = 23.
Data, Mean & Mode
Reading pictographs and bar graphs with different scales, reading two-way tables, and finding the mean (equal share) and the mode (most common) of a set of numbers.
How Likely?
Using the words impossible, unlikely, equally likely, likely and certain, predicting from results, and noticing when the mean and mode of a data set match.
3D Objects
Naming 3D objects, counting their faces, edges and vertices, and thinking about how they are built from flat faces or from straws and clay.
Turns & Structures
Following directions with half and quarter turns, counting the faces of 3D pieces in a structure, and knowing when two shapes are congruent (exactly the same).
Measuring
Measuring with centimetres and metres, grams and kilograms, millilitres and litres: choosing sensible units, estimating, comparing and solving measurement problems.
Area & Perimeter
Finding the perimeter (distance around) of rectangles and triangles, finding a missing side, and measuring area in square centimetres and square metres.
Time
Telling time on an analog clock, working out start and end times, and knowing how seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years relate.
Making Change
Working out change from $1, $5, $10 and $20, adding two prices, and checking whether there is enough money. Amounts are in multiples of 5¢, since Canada no longer has pennies.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Level 1
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Level 2
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Level 3
- Has it! Level 3 is the provincial standard. Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Level 4
- 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 Ontario report card guide.
Common questions
How can I help my Grade 3 child with math?
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.
What does my child learn in Grade 3 math in Ontario?
The Ontario Curriculum Grade 3 math units include numbers to 1000, round & count, add & subtract, multiplication, division, fair shares.
Free printable Grade 3 math practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.