Is your 3rd grader keeping up
with what they are learning now?
Third grade is the year multiplication arrives, and the year a New York child sits a state test for the first time. A child who is unsure about equal groups in October is guessing at division by February, and nobody notices until the spring. A short check on this quarter’s topics shows where your child stands, and weekly practice aimed at any gaps fixes them now, so there is no catching up later.
Check 3rd grade nowCheck now, practice the gaps, see the progress.
Buy a quarter and your child signs in on their own NY Exam account. Each of the four subjects runs the same way, on its own, for the whole quarter.
1. A quick check, first
Each subject opens with about seven questions on this quarter’s 3rd grade topics, before any practice. Your child answers once and sees no scores or answers; you see the results on your side as soon as it is done, so you know where things stand before a single practice session.
2. About ten questions a week
After the check, your child gets a short session roughly once a week for the rest of the quarter — about ten questions, a few minutes. Every answer, right or wrong, comes with a short explanation, not just the correct choice. From the third week on, half of each session is aimed at whichever two topics are weakest so far, instead of spreading evenly across everything.
3. “We haven’t learned this yet”
If a topic has not come up in class yet, your child marks it “not learned yet” instead of guessing. It is never counted wrong, is left out of that topic’s score, and comes back for another try about four weeks later, by which time most classes have reached it.
4. A short check at the end, and a clear report
The quarter closes the same way it opened, with a short check on the same topics, so you can see the change. Your report shows one line per topic — On track (at least 70% right), Needs practice, or Not enough answers yet — and nothing is judged on fewer than four answers, so one bad session cannot brand a topic for the rest of the quarter.
Two real questions from the first quarter.
Not a free trial — just what a session actually looks like, with the answer and the reason shown.
Math
In a display with 7 equal shelves, 7 × 5 gives the number of books. What does 5 mean?
- The books on all shelves
- Books on each shelf — correct
- Shelves with no books
- The number of shelves
Each of the seven equal groups holds five books.
English
Read nation aloud to yourself. Its ending sounds like shun. Identify another word with that ending.
- native
- station — correct
- actionless
- natural
Nation and station both end with the spoken shun sound spelled -tion.
What most New York 3rd graders learn, quarter by quarter.
Multiplication and division come first, then rounding and adding within 1,000, then fractions as numbers on a line, and area last.
| Quarter | Math | English | Science | Social studies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall September to November | Understand multiplication as equal groups; Understand division as sharing or grouping; Solve multiplication and division word problems; Use properties to multiply and divide and 3 more | Reading, writing and language skills, on new passages | Balanced and unbalanced forces; Patterns in motion; Magnetic and electric forces; Solving a problem with magnets | Geographic regions and map tools; Locating world communities |
| Winter December to February | Multiply and divide within 100 quickly and accurately; Round to the nearest 10 or 100; Add and subtract within 1,000; Understand and write four-digit numbers and 3 more | Reading, writing and language skills, on new passages | Weather data and seasons; How weather connects to the water cycle; Climates around the world; Reducing the impact of weather hazards | Why people settle where they do; Each community's history, heroes and traditions; Cultural similarities and differences |
| Early spring March and April | Find and explain number patterns; Solve two-step word problems; Understand fractions as parts of a whole; Split shapes into equal parts and name the fraction and 3 more | Reading, writing and language skills, on new passages | Life cycles of plants and animals; Traits inherited from parents; How the environment affects traits; How differences help individuals survive | How communities exchange ideas; Governments around the world; Human rights and standing up to unfairness |
| Late spring May and June | Measure area by counting square units; Find area by multiplying and adding; Solve perimeter problems; Compare rectangles with the same perimeter or the same area and 3 more | Reading, writing and language skills, on new passages | How living in groups helps animals survive; Why some organisms survive better in a habitat; Solutions when a habitat changes; What fossils tell us about the past | How communities meet needs and wants; What communities produce and trade |
The order follows a typical New York school year. It is our estimate, not a state or school schedule, so you can buy any quarter at any time, including one your child has not reached yet.
What 3rd grade covers in each subject.
Math
Multiplication and division come first, then rounding and adding within 1,000, then fractions as numbers on a line, and area last.
English
Chapter books and short informational texts, where every answer has to be found back in the words on the page.
Science
Pushes and pulls, magnets, weather and climate, then life cycles, inherited traits and how animals survive in a habitat.
Social studies
Communities around the world: maps, how places are settled, cultures, governments and trade.
Watch the multiplication facts. A third grader who still counts by ones to find 6 x 7 will slow down on every fraction and area question that follows.
Read the full guide to what 3rd graders learn this year, quarter by quarter.
Before you start.
Is third grade too early for weekly practice?
Each session is about ten questions, and the quick check at the start of a quarter tells you whether practice is needed at all. A child who is on track gets a short session and a parent who can stop worrying.
Does this prepare my child for the grade 3 State Test?
It practices the same New York standards the test is built from, a quarter at a time. It does not predict a State Test level; our full-length State Test practice exams are separate.
How much does 3rd grade practice cost?
Each quarter is 5 credits ($29.99 with the 5-credit pack) and covers all four subjects. The whole 3rd grade year is four quarters, 20 credits ($99.99 with the 20-credit pack). It is a one-time purchase, not a subscription.
Are the questions based on what New York actually teaches?
Yes. Every question is written to New York State's own learning standards for this grade, and is checked against them before it goes on sale.
On sale now.
3rd grade practice is on sale, along with every other grade from 3 to 8. Buy a quarter, or the whole year, from the parent portal.