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
Math builds in layers, and this year's layer matters — each unit below leans on the ones before it. In Ontario, that's Mathematics, Grade 4 — 5 units, 48 skills.
Number
- Reading, showing, building, and breaking apart numbers to 10 000
- Writing and showing fractions from halves to tenths
- Reading, showing, comparing, and ordering decimal tenths
Algebra
- Spotting repeating and growing patterns
- Using symbols as variables in expressions and equations
- Writing and running code with loops inside loops
Data
- Telling qualitative and quantitative data apart
- Choosing and justifying the best graph, including multiple-bar graphs
- Finding the mean, median, and mode of a data set
Spatial Sense
- Naming the geometric properties of rectangles
- Performing and predicting translations and reflections on a grid
- Grams and kilograms, litres and millilitres, with benchmarks
Financial Literacy
- Identifying different ways to pay for things
- Understanding spending, saving, earning, investing, and donating
See the full Mathematics, Grade 4 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
English Language Arts this year
Reading, writing, and speaking skills deepen this year — less "can they read it," more "what do they make of it." In Ontario, that's Language, Grade 4 — 4 units, 62 skills.
Literacy Connections and Applications
- My rights and responsibilities online
- Identity, belonging, and history in diverse stories
Foundations of Language
- Asking questions that help a speaker say more
- Using word parts to read and spell
- Independent and dependent clauses
Comprehension: Understanding and Responding to Texts
- Reading and understanding a variety of texts
- Using and explaining prior knowledge
- Personification and anthropomorphism
Composition: Expressing Ideas and Creating Texts
- Choosing a text form that suits my purpose and audience
- Drafting narrative, persuasive, and informational texts
- Publishing a final text using digital design tools
See the full Language, Grade 4 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Science this year
Science gets more structured this year — real investigations, real explanations, real vocabulary. In Ontario, that's Science and Technology, Grade 4 — 5 units, 39 skills.
STEM Skills and Connections
- Coding for different types of output
- How coding and new technology affect life and skilled trades
- Science and technology in occupations and skilled trades
Habitats and Communities
- How people affect habitats and communities
- What a habitat provides
Light and Sound
- Devices that use light or sound
- Natural and artificial light sources
Machines and Their Mechanisms
- Machines in daily life
- Machines used in daily life
See the full Science and Technology, Grade 4 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
French this year
French builds through listening, speaking, and simple reading — confidence first, grammar second. In Ontario, that's Core French, Grade 4 — 4 units, 32 skills.
Listening
- Using listening strategies
- Interactive listening strategies
- French-speaking communities in Ontario
Speaking
- Using speaking strategies
- Speaking-interaction strategies
- Speaking about French-speaking communities
Reading
- Using reading strategies
- Purposes of text forms
- Reading about French-speaking communities
Writing
- Identifying purpose and audience
- Pre-writing: gathering ideas
- Writing about French-speaking communities
See the full Core French, Grade 4 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Three ways parents use this list
Common questions
What does my child learn in Grade 4 in Ontario?
Ontario's official curriculum sets out Mathematics, English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, French for Grade 4 — 205 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 habitats and communities. 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.
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 widens the lens this year — history, geography, and how communities and governments work. In Ontario, that's Social Studies, Grade 4 — 2 units, 24 skills.
Heritage and Identity: Early Societies to 1500 CE
- Comparing social organization
- Locating early societies and reading maps
+ 12 more skills in this unit →People and Environment: Political and Physical Regions of Canada
- How the environment shapes industry
- Canada's physical regions
+ 8 more skills in this unit →See the full Social Studies, Grade 4 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →