How to read this page
Quebec 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 Quebec, that's Mathematics, Secondary 2 — 6 units, 98 skills.
Arithmetic
- Meanings of a fraction: part of a whole, division, ratio, operator, measure
- The concept of absolute value
- Squares and square roots
Algebra
- The idea of an unknown
- Building an algebraic expression
- Interpreting an algebraic expression in context
Geometry
- Decomposing plane figures
- Describing circles and sectors
- Lines and segments in figures
Analytic Geometry
- Locating numbers on an axis
- Locating points in the Cartesian plane
Statistics
- Stratified and cluster sampling
- Recognizing sources of bias
- Types of statistical variables
Probability
- Multi-step random experiments
- Networks, tables and Venn diagrams
- Types of events
See the full Mathematics, Secondary 2 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 Quebec, that's English Language Arts, Secondary 2 — 11 units, 53 skills.
Reading Process: Interpreting Texts
- Use: Uses cues conveyed by the structure, features, codes…
- Use: Cites evidence from the text to substantiate own ide…
- Notice (guided intro): new Reading Process: Interpreting Texts material
Production Process
- Use: Determines criteria to judge the quality of the text…
- Use: Surface errors in written language (i.e. spelling an…
- Use: Makes effective use of specific feedback throughout…
Research Process
- Use: Distinguishes between primary and secondary sources,…
Required Genres: Planning Texts
- Use: Notes and informal transcripts based on sources read…
- Use: Discussions in media production groups (i.e. to esta…
- Use: Notes and informal transcripts based on sources read…
Required Genres: Reflective Texts
- Use: Journals, real or fictional (e.g. multimedia journal…
- Use: Postproduction discussions (e.g. in small groups, fo…
Required Genres: Narrative Texts
- Use: Young Adult Literature (YAL) in a range of genres in…
- Use: Written for children and young adolescents and refle…
- Use: Fictional narratives such as short story, script for…
Required Genres: Explanatory Texts
- Use: "How to" booklets/manuals/videos
- Use: Selection and synthesis of steps in a process
Required Genres: Reports
- Use: News reports in different media (e.g. television, ra…
- Use: Inverted pyramid structure in short breaking news st…
- Use: Features that give a sense of immediacy and prescien…
Conventions: Spoken Language
- Use: Makes effective use of visual aids to support spoken…
Conventions: Written Language
- Use: Uses a structure that fits the genre (e.g. letter fo…
- Use: Uses a variety of phrases and clauses to add detail…
- Use: Uses words that consistently support style, intended…
Conventions: Media Language
- Use: Identifies and analyzes the codes used in a media te…
- Use: Explains how layout cues the reader to the social fu…
See the full English Language Arts, Secondary 2 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Science this year
Science gets more structured this year — real investigations, real explanations, real vocabulary. In Quebec, that's Science and Technology, Secondary 2 — 4 units, 33 skills.
The Material World
- What mass is
- Heat and particle motion
- Naming the phase changes
The Living World
- Habitat and ecological niche
- Adaptations for survival
- The cell as the unit of life
The Earth and Space
- Inside the Earth
- The three rock types
- Fresh and salt water
The Technological World
- Diagram of principles
- Motion and force in objects
- Parts of a technological system
See the full Science and Technology, Secondary 2 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
French this year
French builds through listening, speaking, and simple reading — confidence first, grammar second. In Quebec, that's Français, langue d’enseignement, 2e secondaire — 10 units, 75 skills.
1. La description dans les textes écrits et oraux
- Prendre en compte son destinataire — ses caractéristiques : sa renommée, sa connaissance… (taking the addressee into account)
- L’analyse et la production du genre — un plan temporel : les différents aspects sont des… (analysing and producing a text genre)
2. L’explication dans les textes écrits et oraux
- Prendre en compte son destinataire — sa connaissance du sujet (taking the addressee into account)
3. La justification dans les textes écrits et oraux
- Prendre en compte son destinataire — sa connaissance du sujet, ses goûts et, si… (taking the addressee into account)
- Le titre neutre ou évocateur — , s’il y a lieu, un titre neutre ou évocateur (neutral or evocative title)
4. L’argumentation dans les textes écrits et oraux
- Les moyens graphiques et typographiques — Des moyens graphiques : mise en page et marques… (graphic and typographic devices)
5. La narration dans les textes littéraires
- L’appréciation d’une œuvre littéraire — ses caractéristiques : ses champs d’intérêt, ses… (appreciating a literary work)
- L’appréciation d’une œuvre littéraire — des critères d’appréciation (appreciating a literary work)
7. La poésie
- Prendre en compte son destinataire — ses caractéristiques : ses champs d’intérêt, la… (taking the addressee into account)
- La structure du poème — régulière : le titre, les blancs dans le texte, la… (the structure of a poem)
- La structure du poème — entre les différents éléments de l’univers poétique (the structure of a poem)
1. Les ressources de la langue pour nommer et caractériser
- Le nom et son sens — pour les titres d’ouvrages (the noun (common / proper) and its sense)
- Les figures de style — La métaphore (figures of speech (comparison, metaphor, etc.))
- Le nom et son sens — avec mais (the noun (common / proper) and its sense)
2. Les ressources de la langue pour situer dans le temps
- Les temps verbaux et leurs valeurs — les mots et les groupes de mots qui situent Les… (tenses and their values)
- Les compléments du verbe — la phrase subordonnée complétive, complément direct (verb complements (direct / indirect))
- Les temps verbaux et leurs valeurs — l’imparfait de narration : dans un récit au passé… (tenses and their values)
3. Les ressources de la langue pour introduire des discours rapportés (DR)
- L’identification des énonciateurs — par les rôles respectifs des énonciateurs (identifying the speakers in reported speech)
- Découverte guidée : L’identification des énonciateurs — Observer les ressemblances et les différences entre… (identifying the speakers in reported speech)
4. Les ressources de la langue pour modaliser
- L’identification des énonciateurs — les marques énonciatives qui renvoient à… (identifying the speakers in reported speech)
French as a Second Language this year
French builds through listening, speaking, and simple reading — confidence first, grammar second. In Quebec, that's Français, langue seconde (Core), Secondary 2 — 8 units, 52 skills.
Éléments de la situation de communication
- Use: Reconnaître les éléments de la situation de communication : destinateur, destinataire, contexte, message, code, support de communication (1/2)
- Use: du destinataire (ex. : l’interlocuteur tente de convaincre)
Repères culturels
- Use: Reconnaître le nom de personnalités publiques ayant marqué le Québec d’hier et d’aujourd’hui dans des textes entendus, lus ou vus (ex. : des premiers ministres, des dirigeants d’entreprise)
- Discover: le registre familier (ex. : La porte!)
Lexique
- Use: Appliquer correctement le procédé d’élision lorsque nécessaire
- Use: la réciprocité ou la répétition (ex. : interaction, recommencer)
- Use: la synonymie (ex. : s’habiller / se vêtir, sentier / chemin)
Éléments du langage oral
- Use: les voyelles nasales et orales (1/3)
- Use: Utiliser les conventions appropriées au contexte de la communication (ex. : échange de salutations à la première rencontre ou au début d’une conversation formelle)
Grammaire du texte
- Use: décrire (ex. : itinéraire, recette)
- Use: Reconnaître des caractéristiques d’une séquence descriptive (ex. : parties de la séquence, intention de communication et temps verbaux) (1/2)
- Use: Produire un texte en maintenant l’unité du sujet (1/2)
Grammaire de la phrase
- Use: elle est formée de deux constituants obligatoires, soit un sujet suivi du prédicat (ex. : Les enfants / regardent un film.) et d’un ou plusieurs constituants facultatifs, soit le complément de phrase (ex. : Les enfants / regardent un film / dans la salle de jeux.)
- Use: un mot interrogatif au début de la phrase interrogative partielle (1/3)
- Use: un groupe adjectival, prépositionnel ou nominal (1/5)
Stratégies
- Use: Recourir à divers moyens de dépannage (ex. : poursuite de la lecture malgré les incompréhensions, utilisation d’une paraphrase pour remplacer un mot ou pour clarifier une idée)
- Use: Demander à son interlocuteur de répéter, de reformuler, de préciser ou de confirmer des propos
Démarche intégrée d’interaction, de compréhension et de production
- Use: S’assurer de bien comprendre la tâche
- Use: Recourir à différentes ressources, telles qu’un pair, un expert, les dictionnaires, les tableaux de conjugaison, son répertoire personnel de ressources francophones
English as an Additional Language this year
English language skills for learners whose first language is something else — practical, everyday, encouraging. In Quebec, that's English as a Second Language (Core), Secondary Cycle One — Year 2 — 4 units, 27 skills.
Language Repertoire
- Using English: Begins/ends telephone exchanges and uses voice mail
- Using English: Uses targeted vocabulary tied to student interests
- Using English: Uses rising and falling voice pitch to convey meaning
Strategies
- Using English: Constructs a meaningful sentence by putting together known w
- Using English: Makes positive statements during a task and congratulates se
Processes
- Using English: Uses strategies, prompts and guiding questions
- Using English: Identifies text components in model written texts
- Using English: Identifies text components in model media texts
Texts
- Using English: Uses text components to construct meaning when listening to,
Three ways parents use this list
Common questions
What does my child learn in Grade 8 in Quebec?
Quebec's official curriculum sets out Mathematics, English Language Arts, Science, French, French as a Second Language, English as an Additional Language for Grade 8 — 338 specific skills in total. The big themes: Mathematics covers arithmetic and algebra; English Language Arts covers reading process: interpreting texts and production process; Science covers the material world and the living world. The full list is on this page.
Is this the official Quebec curriculum?
It's built from Quebec'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.