Ages 8 to 9
3rd grade math: what your child learns, and how to help
3rd grade math is mostly about multiplication and division, and fractions as numbers. Here is what that means, where children often get stuck, and simple ways to help at home.
What your child learns in 3rd grade
Multiplication and division
Understand multiplication as equal groups and division as sharing. Know all products of two one-digit numbers from memory by the end of the year.
Fractions
Understand fractions like 3/4 as numbers on a number line. Find equal fractions and compare fractions with the same top or bottom number.
Area and perimeter
Find area by counting square units and by multiplying. Tell area and perimeter apart.
Two-step word problems
Solve problems with two steps using all four operations, and check if an answer is reasonable.
Rounding and adding within 1,000
Round to the nearest 10 or 100; add and subtract within 1,000.
Based on the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Your state or school may order topics differently.
Where children often get stuck
- Memorising facts without understanding what 6 × 7 means
- Thinking 1/8 is bigger than 1/4 because 8 is bigger than 4
- Mixing up area and perimeter
How to help at home
- Cook with measuring cups to see fractions.
- Ask "what does 4 × 6 look like?" and draw it.
- Practise facts a few minutes a day, not an hour once a week.
How Kidscient helps with 3rd grade math
- It starts from your child's level, not their grade. A short, friendly check finds what your child can already do. Many children are ahead in some topics and behind in others.
- Homework help without answers. Your child snaps tonight's math homework and Curio helps with each problem by asking and hinting. Your child writes every answer. Code checks the arithmetic.
- Guided lessons on a whiteboard. Curio explains each step out loud while drawing it, then asks your child to try. Lessons open level by level; at the founding beta they start around the grade 4 level.
- Voice-first. Your child talks through their thinking, which is where the learning happens.
Parents also ask
What math is taught in 3rd grade?
How can I help my 3rd grader with math at home?
My child finds 3rd grade math too easy. What should we do?
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