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 8 — 5 units, 45 skills.
Number
- Representing and comparing numbers with scientific notation
- Describing, comparing, and ordering rational and irrational numbers
- Estimating and calculating square roots
Algebra
- Comparing patterns using rate and initial value
- Creating and translating patterns using algebraic expressions and equations
- Using pattern rules to extend patterns and solve for unknown values
Data
- Telling one-variable and two-variable data situations apart
- Collecting continuous two-variable data and organizing it in a table of values
- Choosing and justifying the best graph, including scatter plots
Spatial Sense
- Identifying properties of tessellating shapes and their transformations
- Making objects and models from views using appropriate scales
- Performing and predicting translations, reflections, rotations, and dilations
Financial Literacy
- Weighing methods of payment across currencies and exchange rates
- Creating a financial plan that accounts for income, expenses, and taxes
- Identifying ways to keep a balanced budget and track income and spending
See the full Mathematics, Grade 8 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 English (Language), Grade 8 — 4 units, 56 skills.
Literacy Connections and Applications
- Rights, responsibilities, and digital identity
- Identity and belonging in diverse texts
Foundations of Language
- Active listening in discussions
- Morphology: reading and spelling with word parts
- Increasingly complex sentences
Comprehension: Understanding and Responding to Texts
- Reading and comprehending texts
- Using prior knowledge
- Literary devices
Composition: Expressing Ideas and Creating Texts
- Planning topic, purpose, and audience
- Drafting texts in various genres
- Producing final texts
See the full English (Language), Grade 8 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 8 — 5 units, 47 skills.
STEM Skills and Connections
- Automating large systems with code
- How coding and AI affect life and skilled trades
- Science and technology in occupations and skilled trades
Water Systems
- Fresh-water scarcity and a plan of action
- States, distribution, and circulation of water
See the full Science and Technology, Grade 8 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 8 — 4 units, 33 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 8 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Three ways parents use this list
Common questions
What does my child learn in Grade 8 in Ontario?
Ontario's official curriculum sets out Mathematics, English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, French for Grade 8 — 225 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 cells. 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 History and Geography, Grade 8 — 4 units, 44 skills.
Creating Canada (1850-1890)
- Factors in the creation of the Dominion
- Key events and their significance
+ 9 more skills in this unit →Canada, 1890-1914: A Changing Society
- Experiences then and now
- Developments affecting Indigenous peoples
+ 8 more skills in this unit →Global Settlement: Patterns and Sustainability
- How the environment shapes settlement
- Global patterns in human settlement
+ 8 more skills in this unit →Global Inequalities: Economic Development and Quality of Life
- Factors that shape quality of life
- Quality-of-life indicators
+ 11 more skills in this unit →See the full History and Geography, Grade 8 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →