Grade 3 Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 3 social studies in the Ontario Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- A1 Application: Life in Canada – Then and Now: Compare ways of life among some specific groups in Canada, including a few First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities, from around 1780 to 1850, and describe some of the changes between that era and the present day
- A2 Inquiry: Community Challenges and Adaptations: Use the social studies inquiry process to investigate some of the major challenges that various groups and communities, including a few First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities, faced in Canada from around 1780 to 1850, and key measures taken to address these challenges
- A3 Understanding Context: Life in Colonial Canadian Communities: Identify some of the communities in Canada, including a few First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities, from around 1780 to 1850, and describe their relationships to the land and to each other
- B1 Application: Land Use and the Environment: Demonstrate an understanding of some key aspects of the interrelationship between the natural environment, land use, employment opportunities, and the development of municipal regions, First Nations communities, and/or Métis regions in Ontario
- B2 Inquiry: The Impact of Land and Resource Use: Use the social studies inquiry process to investigate some of the environmental effects of different types of land and/or resource use in two or more Ontario municipal regions, First Nations communities, and/or Métis regions, as well as some of the measures taken to reduce the negative impact of that use
- B3 Understanding Context: Regions and Land Use in Ontario: Describe major landform regions and types of land use in Ontario and some of the ways in which land use in various Ontario municipalities, including First Nations communities and/or Métis regions, addresses human needs and wants, including the need for jobs
Easy ways to practise social studies at home
- Look at a map of your community and find places you visit.
- Ask an older relative or neighbour what the area was like when they were young.
- Read stories from many communities, including Indigenous authors, and talk about what is the same and different.
- Talk about how rules and jobs help a community work.
What each unit covers
Life Then & Now
How people lived about 200 years ago (homes, light, water, travel, food, chores and school), how it differed among First Nations, Métis, Inuit and settler communities, and what is part of identity in Canada today: two official languages, multiculturalism and religious freedom.
Communities of the Early 1800s
Upper and Lower Canada, Loyalist, French, Irish, Scottish and Black settler communities, First Nations such as the Six Nations of the Grand River, Métis communities, the fur trade, and why settlements grew up on rivers and lakes.
Challenges & Solutions
Isolation, long winters, few doctors and loss of land, and how neighbours and communities responded. Also builds history detective skills: primary and secondary sources, good questions, maps, timelines and key words like settler, treaty and refugee.
Treaties & Allies
What treaties and wampum belts are (including the Two Row Wampum), allies in the War of 1812, and how communities cooperated and sometimes came into conflict. Reviewed with care for First Nations perspectives; deeper treaty content is not covered.
Regions of Ontario
Ontario's three main landform regions (the Canadian Shield, the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands and the Hudson Bay Lowlands), the Great Lakes, cities, towns, First Nations and Métis regions, and what local governments do.
Land Use & Jobs
Farming, housing, industry, recreation, transportation and conservation, how natural features lead to ports, farms and mines, jobs in different communities, and comparing land use in small and large places.
Land & the Environment
How logging, mining, farming and cities affect the environment, ways to reduce harm (reforestation, rehabilitation, public transit, protecting wetlands and the Greenbelt), reading data and maps, and thinking about different perspectives.
Map Skills
Using a legend, compass rose, number and letter grid and scale, reading population and thematic maps, and telling intermediate directions such as northeast.
Maps & Globes
Naming continents and oceans, using north, south, east and west on a simple town map, and reading map features such as a legend (key), compass rose and scale.
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 social studies?
Look at a map of your community and find places you visit. Ask an older relative or neighbour what the area was like when they were young. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
What does my child learn in Grade 3 social studies in Ontario?
The Ontario Curriculum Grade 3 social studies units include life then & now, communities of the early 1800s, challenges & solutions, treaties & allies, regions of ontario, land use & jobs.
Free printable Grade 3 social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.