Grades 3 and 4 math: Place value to 1000, then to 10 000

If your child is working on Grades 3 and 4 math, the topic "Place value to 1000, then to 10 000" is one of the ideas where confidence is most often won or lost. Here is what it means in plain words, a worked example you can follow together, and a few simple ways to help at home.

What Grades 3 and 4 children learn

• Build 3-digit numbers from hundreds, tens and ones, and say what each digit is worth
• Write numbers in expanded form and in words, using a 0 to hold an empty place
• Keep going to thousands: read, write and build numbers up to 10 000

The key ideas

• Every digit sits in a place, and the place tells us what the digit is worth.
• 10 ones make 1 ten. 10 tens make 1 hundred. 10 hundreds make 1 thousand. 10 thousands make 10 000.
• The places from the right are ones, tens, hundreds and thousands.
• A 0 holds a place when there is none of that group: 4063 has no hundreds.
• Expanded form splits a number by place: 4063 = 4000 + 60 + 3.

Quick examples

• 507 = 5 hundreds + 0 tens + 7 ones = 500 + 0 + 7, so the 5 is worth 500 and the 7 is worth 7
• 10 ones make 1 ten, 10 tens make 1 hundred, and 10 hundreds make 1 thousand, so 1000 is 10 hundreds, and 10 thousands make 10 000
• 6205 = 6 thousands + 2 hundreds + 0 tens + 5 ones = 6000 + 200 + 5
• In 7480 the 4 is in the hundreds place, so it is worth 400. "Four thousand sixty-three" is written 4063, with a 0 in the hundreds place

A worked example

How to help at home

• Ask your child to explain the first step of the worked example in their own words before you show them anything.
• Work through the "Try it yourself" question together, and talk about why the answer makes sense.
• Spend a few minutes a day on the free Tutorizer "Place value" practice. Short and regular beats long and rare.
• If a step feels shaky, go back to the key ideas above and use objects, drawings or a number line.

Try it yourself

Want a challenge?

Next steps