The Ontario Grade 4 math curriculum: what your child learns

Your child works with whole numbers up to 10 000 and represents fractions from halves to tenths. Decimal tenths appear, and kids learn that 0.7 and 7/10 are the same amount. They’re expected to recall multiplication facts to 10 × 10, multiply two- and three-digit numbers by one-digit numbers (and by 10, 100 and 1000), and divide with remainders, sometimes writing the remainder as a fraction.

Typical homework, with a hint

What your child learns in Number

• Reading numbers to 10 000B1.1

  Reads and shows numbers up to 10 000, breaks them into parts and puts them back together using suitable tools and strategies, and talks about where numbers are used in daily life.

• Comparing numbers to 10 000B1.2

  Compares numbers up to 10 000 and puts them in order, in different situations.

• Rounding whole numbersB1.3

  Rounds numbers to the nearest 10, 100 or 1000, in different situations.

• Representing fractionsB1.4

  Shows fractions from halves up to tenths with drawings, tools and fraction notation, and explains what the top number (numerator) and bottom number (denominator) mean.

• Comparing fair-share fractionsB1.5

  Uses drawings and models to compare and order the share each person gets in two different fair-sharing situations, with 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 or 10 people sharing.

• Counting by fractionsB1.6

  Counts up to 10 in tenths, eighths, sixths, fifths, fourths, thirds and halves, with or without tools.

• Decimal tenthsB1.7

  Reads, shows, compares and orders decimal tenths (like 0.3 or 2.7), in different situations.

• Rounding decimalsB1.8

  Rounds a decimal to the closest whole number, in different situations.

• Fractions and decimalsB1.9

  Explains how fractions and decimal tenths are related, and shows when they are equal (like 3/10 = 0.3), in different situations.

• Properties of operationsB2.1

  Uses how the four operations work, and how they relate to each other, to solve whole-number problems (including ones that need more than one step) and check answers.

• Times tables to 10×10B2.2

  Knows the multiplication facts from 1 × 1 to 10 × 10 by heart, and the division facts that go with them.

• Mental math with 10sB2.3

  Multiplies whole numbers by 10, 100 or 1000 and divides them by 10 in their head, adds and subtracts decimal tenths mentally, and explains the strategies.

• Adding and subtracting problemsB2.4

  Solves adding and subtracting problems with whole numbers that add up to 10 000 or less, and with decimal tenths, using suitable tools and strategies, including written methods.

• Multiplying by one digitB2.5

  Solves problems that multiply a two- or three-digit number by a one-digit number, or by 10, 100 or 1000, using suitable tools such as arrays.

• Dividing by one digitB2.6

  Solves problems that divide a two- or three-digit number by a one-digit number, using suitable tools such as arrays, and writes a remainder as a fraction when that makes sense.

• Multiplying unit fractionsB2.7

  Uses tools, drawings and fraction notation to show that adding a unit fraction several times is the same as multiplying it by a whole number (1/5 + 1/5 + 1/5 = 3 × 1/5).

• Rates and multiplyingB2.8

  Uses tools and drawings to show simple “times as many” relationships with whole-number rates, like 4 wheels for every car.

Patterns now grow as well as repeat, and kids show them in tables and graphs. They use symbols as variables, solve equations with whole numbers up to 50, and solve simple inequalities (like x + 6 < 10). In coding, loops can sit inside other loops (“nested events”).

Typical homework, with a hint

What your child learns in Algebra

• Repeating and growing patternsC1.1

  Finds and describes patterns that repeat and patterns that grow, including patterns in everyday life.

• Patterns in tables, graphsC1.2

  Makes repeating and growing patterns, and shows them in different ways, including in tables of values and on graphs.

• Pattern rules and predictionsC1.3

  Works out the rule of a repeating or growing pattern, and uses it to continue the pattern, predict what comes next (and explain why), and find missing pieces.

• Number and decimal patternsC1.4

  Makes and describes patterns that show how whole numbers and decimal tenths are related.

• Symbols as variablesC2.1

  Recognizes and uses symbols as variables (letters or symbols that stand for numbers) in expressions and equations.

• Solving equationsC2.2

  Solves equations with whole numbers up to 50 in different situations, and checks the answer.

• Solving inequalitiesC2.3

  Solves inequalities (like ☐ + 5 < 12) that add or subtract whole numbers up to 20, checks the answers, and shows them on a number line.

• Writing codeC3.1

  Writes and runs code to solve problems and show math situations, including code with steps in order, at the same time, repeating, and loops inside loops (nested).

• Reading and changing codeC3.2

  Reads and changes existing code with steps in order, at the same time, repeating or nested, and describes how the changes affect what happens.

Math modelling (C4): Turns a real-life situation into math (a model) to represent it, analyse it, make predictions and understand it better.

Kids learn the difference between qualitative data (words, like favourite colour) and quantitative data (numbers, like height). They organise data in frequency tables and stem-and-leaf plots, choose the right graph (including multiple-bar graphs), make simple infographics, and find the mean, median and mode. Probability goes on a line from impossible to certain.

Typical homework, with a hint

What your child learns in Data

• Qualitative vs quantitative dataD1.1

  Explains the difference between qualitative data (words or categories) and quantitative data (numbers), and when you would use each.

• Collecting and organizing dataD1.2

  Collects data first-hand and from other sources to answer questions that compare two or more sets of data, and sorts it into stem-and-leaf plots and frequency tables.

• Choosing the right graphD1.3

  Picks the best type of graph for a set of data, including multiple-bar graphs, gives it a title, labels, a suitable scale and the data source, and explains why that graph fits.

• Making an infographicD1.4

  Makes an infographic that tells the story of a data set, using frequency tables, stem-and-leaf plots, multiple-bar graphs and any other useful information.

• Mean, median, and modeD1.5

  Works out the mean (average) and median (middle value) and finds the mode (most common value, if any) of sets of whole-number data, and explains what each one tells you.

• Analysing dataD1.6

  Asks and answers questions about data shown in multiple-bar graphs, stem-and-leaf plots and other ways, draws conclusions, and uses them to back up arguments and make good decisions.

• Probability lineD2.1

  Describes how likely things are with the words “impossible”, “unlikely”, “equally likely”, “likely” and “certain”, marks the chances on a probability line, and uses that to make predictions and decisions.

• Predicting mean, median, modeD2.2

  Predicts, then tests, whether the mean, median and mode of data from different groups of people will turn out the same.

Geometry focuses on rectangles: right angles, parallel and perpendicular sides, and lines of symmetry. Kids plot points on a grid (the first quadrant), slide and flip shapes, and classify angles as right, straight, acute or obtuse. Measurement covers grams and kilograms, litres and millilitres, metric prefixes, elapsed time, and area of a rectangle as length × width.

Typical homework, with a hint

What your child learns in Spatial Sense

• Properties of rectanglesE1.1

  Describes what makes a rectangle a rectangle: how many right angles it has, which sides are parallel or perpendicular, and its lines of symmetry.

• Coordinates on a gridE1.2

  Plots and reads points on a coordinate grid (the first quadrant), and describes the slides that move a point from one spot to another.

• Translations and reflectionsE1.3

  Describes and carries out slides (translations) and flips (reflections) on a grid, and predicts where a shape will end up.

• Mass and capacity unitsE2.1

  Explains how grams and kilograms are related (mass), and how millilitres and litres are related (capacity), and estimates using familiar objects as a guide.

• Metric prefixesE2.2

  Uses metric prefixes (like milli-, centi- and kilo-) to tell how big units are compared to each other, and picks the right units and tools for measuring length, mass and capacity.

• Elapsed timeE2.3

  Solves problems about how much time has passed, using how units of time relate to each other.

• Classifying anglesE2.4

  Finds angles and sorts them as right, straight, acute (smaller than a right angle) or obtuse (bigger than a right angle).

• Area of rectanglesE2.5

  Uses the rows and columns of an array to find the area of rectangles, and shows that you can find any rectangle’s area by multiplying its length by its width.

• Rectangle area formulaE2.6

  Uses the area formula for a rectangle (length × width = area) to find the missing measurement when two of the three are known.

Financial literacy grows up in Grade 4: ways to pay (cash, debit, credit and more), working out the total and the change for several items (without tax), and the ideas of spending, saving, earning, investing and donating. Kids also talk about how to tell if something is a good price.

Typical homework, with a hint

What your child learns in Financial Literacy

• Ways to payF1.1

  Names different ways to pay for things you buy, such as cash, debit or credit.

• Shopping costs and changeF1.2

  Uses mental math to estimate and work out the total cost of several items priced in whole dollars (without sales tax), and the change from a cash payment.

• Spending, saving, earningF1.3

  Explains what spending, saving, earning, investing and donating mean, and what to think about when making simple choices about each.

• Spending versus savingF1.4

  Explains how spending and saving affect each other, and how people may spend and save differently.

• Is it a good price?F1.5

  Describes ways to tell whether something is fairly priced, and so a good buy.

The Ontario curriculum also has a strand A that runs through all the others. It’s about how kids approach math: managing frustration, keeping at a hard problem, and using the mathematical processes (such as problem solving, reasoning, connecting, representing and communicating). It has no homework of its own, but it’s exactly what a patient, hint-based tutor helps build.

How to help with Grade 4 math at home

• Keep times tables practice short and daily. Fact fluency frees up brain space for the harder steps.
• Connect decimals to money and measuring: $0.50 and 0.5 m are both “five tenths”.
• When your child is stuck on a big multiplication, ask them to break the number into parts.
• Look at graphs together in the news or on cereal boxes and ask what they show.

More ideas: how to help with math homework without giving the answer.

How Astuzo helps with Grade 4 math

Grade 4 homework often mixes fact drills with multi-step word problems. Spark checks a whole times-table sheet in one photo, then walks through word problems by asking what’s known, what’s asked and what the first step is, without doing the step for your child.

You set your child’s grade once, and Spark pitches every hint at that level. You get a short email each evening they use it, showing what they worked on. See how Astuzo works.