Grade 3 Math: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 3 math in the BC Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Numbers to 1000 represent quantities that can be decomposed into 100s, 10s, and 1s.
- Fractions are numbers that represent an amount or quantity.
- Development of computational fluency in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers requires flexible decomposing and composing.
- Regular changes in patterns can be identified and represented using tools and tables.
- Standard units are used to describe, measure, and compare attributes of objects' shapes.
- The likelihood of possible outcomes can be examined, compared, and interpreted.
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).
Facts to 20
Building fast, flexible recall of addition and subtraction facts to 20 with strategies like making ten, near doubles, fact families and thinking addition to subtract.
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).
Fractions
Naming fractions of a shape, a set and a number line, knowing what the top and bottom numbers mean, and comparing fractions by the size of their parts.
Patterns & Equations
Extending increasing and decreasing patterns, describing pattern rules in words and tables, and solving one-step equations like ☐ + 8 = 23.
Measuring
Measuring with centimetres and metres, grams and kilograms, millilitres and litres: choosing sensible units, estimating, comparing and solving measurement problems.
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.
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.
Graphs & Chance
Reading pictographs and bar graphs where one symbol can stand for one vote or several, and describing how likely outcomes are with spinners, marbles and number cubes.
Money
Counting and making amounts with Canadian coins and bills up to $100, making change, and talking about ways to earn money and to pay for things.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Emerging
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Developing
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Proficient
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Extending
- 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 BC 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 BC?
The BC Curriculum Grade 3 math units include numbers to 1000, facts to 20, add & subtract, multiplication, division, fractions.
Free printable Grade 3 math practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.