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Video: Year 3 maths#
Watch this video to find out what you can expect your child to learn in maths during Year 3 at school.
Year 3 maths
What you can expect your child to learn in maths in Year 3 at school.
What your child will learn in maths#
Every day, your child is learning about and using maths ideas like:
- counting
- measuring
- sorting
- patterns
- numbers
- shapes
- size
- position.
You can help them by:
- noticing patterns, shapes, sizes, and numbers wherever you are
- including maths ideas in their play, interests, and everyday activities.
Good maths skills and a positive view of themselves as maths learners will help your child in the future.
Maths is important for solving problems and creative thinking.
Encourage your child to use the maths vocabulary they learn in class.
Number#
Ideas to help at home
With your child, you could:
- name the number that is 10 more or 10 less than a number up to 100
- make patterns when counting in groups (skip counting) forwards and backwards, starting with different numbers for example, 13, 23, 33, 43... and ...43, 33, 23, 13
- set a shopping budget, such as $20, and see which items could be bought for that amount.
Your child is learning to:
- read, write, compare and order whole numbers up to 1,000, and understand the place value each digit
- count forwards and backwards in 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s,8s, 10s and 100s and recall multiplication and division facts for 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 8s and 10s
- use these facts to solve problems like 2 x 23 or 24 ÷ 3, as well as equal grouping and sharing for multiplication and division
- add and subtract numbers using single and multi-step addition and subtraction problems up to 1000
- use rounding and estimation to predict and check answers
- read, write and represent fractions of groups, show fractions on a number line, and count in fractions of a specific denominators up to 1
- compare unit fractions with denominators up to 12
- add and subtract fractions with the same denominator within a whole
- represent money as dollars and cents without a decimal (e.g. $2 and 50 cents), and use addition and subtraction to give change.
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- change
- equivalent fraction
- third, fifth, eighth
- renaming
- unit fraction.
Algebra#
Ideas to help at home
With your child, you could:
- use real-life items like steps, claps, or toys to build patterns together
- try making different types of patterns by drumming, clapping, stamping and dancing or drawing patterns that repeat
- trace repeating patterns
- make up a dance to music and sing/clap to favourite songs
- start a number pattern and ask your child to continue it. Example: 2, 4, 6, 8… or 5, 10, 15…or count in 5s around the numbers on a clock
- ask your child to make their own pattern and explain how it grows.
Your child is learning to:
- use the equals sign by solving problems with missing numbers, like 217 - X = 105 or 12 ÷ 3 = 5 - 2, true or false?
- identify and create repeating patterns (red, blue, red, blue)
- identify and create growing patterns (2, 4, 6, 8)
- understand pattern rules, such as ‘alternating colours’ or ‘adding 2 each time’.
Important words
Words include:
- complete, incomplete
- growing pattern
- rule
- sequence
- visualise.
Measurement#
Ideas to help at home
With your child, you could:
- ask your child to choose specific items at the supermarket (for example, a 400 gram tin of red beans, 2 litres of milk, 500g of mince)
- grow seeds or sprouts and measure the growth each week
- create a measurement scavenger hunt with a ruler or tape measure – give challenges like "find 3 things exactly 6 centimetres long" or "find something between 10 and 12cm wide"
- think out loud as you read a clock, for example, "the big hand is on the 3 and the little hand is on the 4, that means it is quarter past 4".
Your child is learning to:
- find and describe regular shapes with up to 10 sides, like triangles, squares, pentagons, etc
- sort shapes based on their features, such as number of sides or corners
- recognise lines of symmetry in pictures or patterns, and complete or create symmetrical designs
- follow and give step-by-step instructions to move objects or people, including turning (half and quarter turns) and measuring how far to go
- use simple maps to find where things are in relation to other places (for example “The playground is next to the library”).
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- am/pm
- gram
- litre, millilitre
- measuring jug or cup
- metre, centimetre
- metric
- leap year
- area
- quarter past, quarter to
- ruler
- three-quarter turn
- unit
- volume
- weighing scale, balance scale
- decade, century, millenia
- perimeter.
Geometry#
Ideas to help at home
With your child, you could:
- do a shape and number search when you are reading a book or looking at art, like carvings and sculptures. Look for regular shapes like triangles, squares, pentagons, and count how many sides they have
- look for right angles in everyday objects like books, windows or door frames
- do a shape and number search when you are reading a book or looking at art, like carvings and sculptures
- go on a treasure hunt – make a map with clues and see who can get to the treasure first. Give directions like “Take 3 steps forward, turn a quarter turn to the left, then walk 2 steps.”
Your child is learning to:
- find and describe regular shapes with up to 10 sides, like triangles, squares, pentagons, etc
- sort shapes based on their features, such as number of sides or corners
- recognise lines of symmetry in pictures or patterns, and complete or create symmetrical designs
- follow and give step-by-step instructions to move objects or people, including turning (half and quarter turns) and measuring how far to go
- use simple maps to find where things are in relation to other places (for example “The playground is next to the library”).
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- horizontal, vertical
- location
- North, South, East, West
- reflect, reflection
- regular
- right angle
- rotate, rotation
- symmetry, line of symmetry
- transform, transformation
- translate, translation.
Statistics#
Ideas to help at home
With your child, you could:
- look at a sports statistics page like goals scored, wins and losses or player performance
- show your child simple graphs from the media and talk about what the graph means.
Your child is learning to:
- ask questions and collect information organising the responses, for example "What are the shoe sizes in the class?"
- present data using graphs and describe the information. Examples of graphs are tallies, tables, picture graphs, dot plots, and bar graphs
- answering questions about the information collected, for example how many students in the class have the same shoe size? What shoe size is more common?
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- bar graph
- context.
