How to read this page
Ontario publishes its curriculum as long official documents written for teachers. This page is the same content, translated for the fridge door: each subject below shows this year's units and the skills inside them. If a skill sounds unfamiliar, that's the point — now you know what to ask about at dinner.
Mathematics this year
Numbers stop being abstract this year — they become things your child can count, compare, build, and explain. In Ontario, that's Mathematics, Grade 3 — 5 units, 46 skills.
Number
- Reading, showing, building, and breaking apart numbers to 1000
- Sharing fairly among many friends, up to 20 items
- How multiplication and division connect
Algebra
- Spotting repeating elements and operations in patterns
- Describing and using variables
- Writing and running code that repeats with loops
Data
- Sorting data by two or three features
- Describing likelihood: unlikely, equally likely, and likely
Spatial Sense
- Sorting and naming prisms, pyramids, cylinders, and cones
- Giving and following multistep directions with half- and quarter-turns
- Measuring and building shapes with a given perimeter
Financial Literacy
- Estimating and calculating change for cash purchases
See the full Mathematics, Grade 3 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
English Language Arts this year
Reading and writing grow fast at this age — this is the year the letters turn into stories. In Ontario, that's Language, Grade 3 — 4 units, 64 skills.
Literacy Connections and Applications
- My rights and choices online
- Seeing identity and belonging in stories
Foundations of Language
- Listening and asking questions to clarify
- Reading and spelling longer words
- Building complex sentences with adverbial clauses
Comprehension: Understanding and Responding to Texts
- Reading and understanding a range of texts
- Using what I already know to make connections
- Metaphor and assonance in texts
Composition: Expressing Ideas and Creating Texts
- Choosing a topic, purpose, audience, and form
- Writing a first try of my text
- Making a final copy of my text
See the full Language, Grade 3 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Science this year
Science at this age is guided curiosity — observing, sorting, asking why, and testing ideas hands-on. In Ontario, that's Science and Technology, Grade 3 — 5 units, 40 skills.
STEM Skills and Connections
- Testing, debugging, and refining code
- Noticing how coding and new technology affect everyday life
- Finding science and technology at home and in the community
Growth and Changes in Plants
- Why plants are important
- What plants need to grow
Forces Causing Movement
- Forces from nature
- Contact and non-contact forces
Strong and Stable Structures
- Effects of strong and stable structures
- What a structure is
Soils in the Environment
- The importance of soils
- What soil is made of
See the full Science and Technology, Grade 3 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Grade 3 is an EQAO year
Ontario students write the EQAO assessment in reading, writing, and math in Grade 3, usually between mid-May and mid-June. It doesn't count toward their report card — it's a snapshot of how the class is doing against the curriculum. The skills it tests are the same ones listed on this page, so steady work through the year is the whole preparation.
Three ways parents use this list
Common questions
What does my child learn in Grade 3 in Ontario?
Ontario's official curriculum sets out Mathematics, English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies for Grade 3 — 172 specific skills in total. The big themes: Mathematics covers number and algebra; English Language Arts covers literacy connections and applications and foundations of language; Science covers stem skills and connections and growth and changes in plants. The full list is on this page.
Is this the official Ontario curriculum?
It's built from Ontario's official program of studies, reorganized into plain language — and each subject links to a course page that quotes the ministry's own wording and links to the government source, so you can check our work. One honest caveat: we're not the ministry, curricula do change, and we can't guarantee this reflects the very latest revision, so confirm anything important against the live provincial curriculum data.
Does Grade 3 have a provincial test in Ontario?
Ontario students write the EQAO assessment in reading, writing, and math in Grade 3, usually between mid-May and mid-June. It doesn't count toward their report card — it's a snapshot of how the class is doing against the curriculum. The skills it tests are the same ones listed on this page, so steady work through the year is the whole preparation.
My child is finding one of these skills hard. What can I do?
That's normal — every skill on this page is one most kids wobble on at first. MapleMind teaches any of them one-on-one: a short lesson in plain words, a worked example, then solving together. It's free to start, on any device, in 14 languages.
Keep exploring
Knowing the list is half the job
The other half is the teaching — and that's what MapleMind does. Pick any skill on this page and see it taught properly, free, in under a minute.
MapleMind isn't affiliated with any ministry of education. We build these guides from each province's official program of studies and refresh them from time to time — but curricula change, and we can't guarantee this page reflects the very latest revision. Always confirm against the live provincial curriculum data. Last updated 2026-08-15.
Social Studies this year
Social studies starts close to home — family, community, and how people live together. In Ontario, that's Social Studies, Grade 3 — 2 units, 22 skills.
Heritage and Identity: Communities in Canada, 1780–1850
- Everyday life of early communities
- First Nations and Métis communities on the map
+ 10 more skills in this unit →People and Environment: Living and Working in Ontario
- Environment, land use, and community
- How Ontario is organized
+ 8 more skills in this unit →See the full Social Studies, Grade 3 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →