Grade 4 is the last year of primary school — and for many families that brings more tension along with it than in previous years: the transition to secondary school looms, and suddenly every wobble feels bigger than it is. Yet the same principle applies here as at every other stage: not a race, a corridor. Most grade-4 topics build directly on what grade 3 already laid down.
Here are the core topics, each with a one-sentence check you can ask casually at the kitchen table — no test atmosphere, just an honest picture of where things stand.
Numbers to 1 million: place value at a larger scale
New in grade 4 is the number range beyond 1,000 up to a million. Your child should be able to name ten-thousands, hundred-thousands and millions, and confidently order larger numbers by size — even when they look similar at first glance.
The check: “Which is bigger — 856,302 or 858,030? And how can you tell?” If the answer reasons about the ten-thousands digit rather than guessing, place-value understanding holds up at the larger scale too.
Column division with larger numbers
Column division, introduced in grade 3 with a single-digit divisor, extends in grade 4 to larger dividends, and the first problems with a two-digit divisor appear. The method itself stays the same — what grows is the number of steps your child has to carry out correctly in sequence.
The check: have your child work out 936 ÷ 4 in columns, naming each step out loud: “How many times does 4 fit into 9?” If they stall, it usually helps to check the inverse fact out loud — 4 × 2 is 8, so 1 is left over — rather than re-explaining the whole method.
Column multiplication of multi-digit numbers
After multiplying by a single-digit number in grade 3, multiplying two multi-digit numbers is now introduced, such as 234 × 26. This is where it becomes visible whether the times tables are truly automatic — if this step wobbles, the problem usually isn't the new method but a single times-table row that hasn't clicked yet.
The check: work through a problem like 143 × 12 together in columns and ask: “What do you calculate in the second step?” If your child knows that the tens digit of the second factor produces a new row with a shift, the principle is understood.
Expanding, simplifying and comparing fractions
The fraction sense from grade 3 gets more concrete: expanding and simplifying fractions (½ is the same as ⁴⁄₈) and comparing two fractions with the same denominator by size now belong here. Visual models — pizza slices, a cake, a strip diagram — remain the best entry point even as the numbers get more abstract.
The check: “Is ⅜ more or less than ⅝?” If your child can explain without a drawing that with the same denominator, the larger numerator gives the larger fraction, this topic stands on solid ground.
Converting units confidently and multi-step word problems
The units from grade 3 (length, weight, money, time) expand — kilometers and metric tons are added — and above all get combined in multi-step word problems: problems where an intermediate value has to be worked out first before the actual question can be answered.
The check: “A train travels 120 km in 2 hours. How far does it go in 3 hours at the same speed?” If your child recognizes that the speed per hour has to be found first, that shows exactly the multi-step thinking expected by the end of primary school.
What is NOT expected
Negative numbers, adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators, and working with variables are secondary-school material. If your child can't do these yet by the end of grade 4, that's not a gap — it simply isn't their turn yet.
If something wobbles: close the gap without drama
Especially in the last year of primary school, parents tend to take every uncertainty more seriously than it deserves. A single wobbly topic right before the transition closes with the same recipe as at any other stage: ten minutes a day, one single topic, accuracy before speed.
If you want to know precisely where your child stands: our 5-minute check asks exactly these core topics and turns the result into a workbook that starts in the right places. No sign-up, straight from the kitchen table.