Grade 3 math in Ontario: multiplication and what to expect

Your child isn't bad at math. Grade 3 is the year when math starts to feel different: the numbers get bigger, multiplication and division arrive, and fractions become a real topic. A child who coasted through Grade 2 can suddenly feel lost, and that usually means one earlier idea needs another look, not that anything is wrong with them.

What Grade 3 math covers

Grade 3 follows Ontario's 2020 math curriculum for Grades 1 to 8. In the lessons we teach, the year includes:

• Place value to 1000: building, comparing and rounding numbers.
• Adding and subtracting with regrouping within 1000.
• Multiplication and division: equal groups, arrays, the easy facts first, then the harder ones.
• Fractions: parts of a whole and of a set, and comparing simple fractions.
• Money, time and elapsed time.
• Perimeter and area, and missing numbers in number sentences.

Ontario students also write the provincial EQAO assessment in Grade 3. It is a snapshot at one point in the year. Strong everyday understanding is what helps most, so I'd put your energy there.

What multiplication really means

Before it is a times table, multiplication is a simple idea: equal groups.

3 × 5 means "3 groups of 5". Picture 3 plates with 5 cookies on each. You can add it (5 + 5 + 5), skip count it (5, 10, 15), or arrange it as an array: 3 rows with 5 in each row.

An array is the picture I come back to most. It shows that 3 × 5 and 5 × 3 have the same total, because turning the array on its side doesn't change how many dots there are. It also shows that division is the same picture read backwards: 15 split into 3 equal rows leaves 5 in each.

Where children get stuck

Memorizing facts without the picture. A child who has chanted "six sevens are forty-two" but cannot say what it means will be stuck as soon as the question looks different, such as a word problem.

The harder facts. The 6, 7, 8 and 9 times tables are where many children slow down. There are ways around memorizing them one at a time, and the worked example below shows one.

Regrouping across zeros. Subtracting 307 − 129 asks children to take from the hundreds when the tens place is empty.

Fractions. The bottom number is the number of equal parts in the whole. Children often think a bigger bottom number means a bigger fraction. In fact, 1/8 of a pizza is smaller than 1/4, because the slices are smaller.

Children don't want to be left out, so they go along with the class even when it isn't clear. Most won't ask for help, because asking feels weak.

A worked example: 6 × 7 with a split array

The big idea is that a hard fact can be built from easy ones. Children who know 5 times tables and 2 times tables can build 7 times tables.

Try this at home tonight

You need a muffin tin, an egg carton or a sheet of paper, and a small bowl of anything you can count (dried beans, buttons).

• Ask your child to make "4 groups of 6" with the beans. Let them decide how to lay it out.
• Ask, "How many in all?" Let them count it however they like.
• Now make the same total as an array: 4 rows of 6. Ask what stayed the same.
• Ask them to say it two ways out loud: "4 groups of 6" and "6 groups of 4".
• Swap roles and ask them to challenge you.

Keep it to about ten minutes and stop on a win.

Next steps

The free 15-question check-in shows where your child stands in Grade 3 math. There is no mark, and it points to what is solid and what needs practice. The free math games are a good way to keep multiplication facts fresh without drills.

If you want live support with the hardest ideas of the year, read about our small-group Grade 3 course. We find out where your child is first. I don't want to take your money if your child doesn't need it.