In third grade, social studies moves from the back seat, to a more visible part of the school week. Students focus on communities within the United States and around the world. Your child will learn more in-depth map skills, geography will play a big role, and economics and how money relates to your child's world enter the picture. Curriculum varies from state-to-state but students working at the standard level at the beginning of third grade:

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  • Know the name of the president of the United States and some of the jobs he does.
  • Know what state they live in and where it is in the country
  • Know how to use a map and its key
  • Can identify the seven continents

By the end of third grade, students working at the standard level:

  • Can create symbols for real-life objects
  • Can identify cardinal and intermediate directions on a map
  • Can identify the equator and prime meridian
  • Can identify the four hemispheres of the earth
  • Can identify basic landforms
  • Understand the law of supply and demand