Read a stop, then play the games to earn ⭐ and grow your garden! 🌱
Understanding days, weeks and months
Children need to know the names and the order of the days of the week and the months of the year. There are seven days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. When these seven days repeat, they make a week. The year is divided into twelve months: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December. Each month has a set number of days. Most months have either 30 or 31 days, and February usually has 28 days. Learning these names and counts helps us plan school days, holidays and birthdays.
How to remember and use them
Use songs, rhymes and calendars to remember the order. Practice by asking what day comes after or before a given day. Use a monthly calendar to see the block of days and to count how many days are left until an event. Teach children to count full days between two dates and to include or exclude the start or end date depending on the question.
Classroom activities
1) Make a classroom calendar and mark special days. 2) Give students short tasks: "If today is Friday, what day will it be after three days?" 3) Sort month cards into those with 31 days, 30 days and February. These activities help children use days and months confidently in real life.
Parts of an analogue clock
An analogue clock has a round face with numbers from 1 to 12. It has two main hands: the short hand (hour hand) and the long hand (minute hand). There may also be a thin hand for seconds, but Class 3 focuses on hours and half-hours. The top of the clock is the 12. When the long hand points to 12, minutes are zero and we say 'o'clock'. When the long hand points to 6, minutes are thirty and we say 'half past'.
Reading whole hours
To read an o'clock time, look where the short hand points and say that number followed by "o'clock". For example, if the short hand points exactly at 8 and the long hand is at 12, the time is 8 o'clock. Practice by asking children to draw the hands for different o'clock times and to show the time using a toy clock.
Reading half past times
For half past, the long hand points to 6 and the short hand points between two numbers. We name the hour that the short hand has passed. For example, when the short hand is just past 3 and the long hand is at 6, the time is half past 3 (3:30). Give practice by moving the hands slowly and asking children how the short hand moves a little as minutes pass. Use real clocks, paper clocks and classroom routines to make this clear and fun.
What is a digital clock?
A digital clock uses numbers to show time instead of hands. It usually shows hours, a colon, then minutes, for example 7:00 or 7:30. For Class 3 we work with times to the hour and to the half-hour. The left part shows the hour and the right part shows minutes. When minutes are 00, we say o'clock; when minutes are 30, we say half past the hour.
Reading and writing digital time
Teach students to read a digital time by saying the left number as hours and the right number as minutes. Show many examples so they match digital times to everyday events: school begins at 9:00, lunch at 1:00, story time at 3:30. Ask children to write the digital form for times shown on analogue clocks and vice versa. Explain that 12:00 is noon or midnight depending on context, but Class 3 focuses on simple day times.
Practice activities
Use cards with digital times and blank clock faces for matching. Play games where one child shows a time on a paper clock and another writes the digital time. Use classroom routine charts with digital times to reinforce reading and writing. Gradually include AM and PM words so children learn morning and evening differences in a simple way.
How a calendar is arranged
A calendar shows the days of a month in a grid with weeks as rows and weekdays as columns. Each box holds one date. Months start on different weekdays, so dates move across the grid. Students learn to find the day for a date, mark important events and count days between two dates within the same month. A calendar is a useful visual tool for planning and counting.
Finding and counting dates
To find how many days are between two dates, first locate each date on the calendar. Count the boxes including both dates if told to include them, or count the gaps if asked for days in between. Teach children to move by weeks (7 days) to jump quickly: adding 7 to a date gives the same weekday one week later. Use examples with birthdays, festivals and school events so counting has meaning.
Classroom tasks
Give activities like: mark all Fridays in a month, count how many weekends are in a month, or find which day a given date will fall on next month. Encourage students to plan a simple schedule using the calendar: for example, mark the date of a picnic and count days left. These tasks make calendars practical and easy to use.
Common coins and notes
Children should be able to identify common Indian coins and notes and know their values. Coins used in daily life include 1 rupee, 2 rupees, 5 rupees and 10 rupees. Common notes include 10, 20, 50 and 100 rupees. There are also paise coins historically used, and students learn that 100 paise make 1 rupee. Pictures of coins and notes help children recognise shapes, sizes and printed numbers for value.
How to teach value
Show one coin or note and say its value aloud. Ask children to group coins that make the same value, for example, ten 1-rupee coins equal one 10-rupee note. Practice building amounts by combining coins and notes. Use hands-on play money so children can touch and count real items and develop a sense of worth for each piece of money.
Everyday practice
Use a mock shop in class: label items with rupee prices and ask students to pick coins or notes to pay. Encourage students to sort money into boxes by value and to match pictures of items to how much money they need. These activities make recognising money easy and useful for shopping and saving.
Adding rupees and paise
Adding money is like adding numbers but we must keep rupees and paise properly placed. Write rupees under rupees and paise under paise in two columns. First add the paise column. If the total paise is 100 or more, change 100 paise into 1 rupee and carry it to the rupee column. Then add the rupee column including any carry. For Class 3, many problems use whole rupees or paise like 50 or 25, so practise simple conversions and carrying.
Step-by-step method
1) Line up values with decimal parts (if shown) or rupee and paise columns. 2) Add paise and note if you make 100 paise. 3) Carry to rupees if needed. 4) Add rupees. Encourage neat writing and checking by adding in a different order (e.g., add rupees first then paise) to confirm the answer.
Classroom work
Use pictures of items with prices and ask students to add the cost of two or three items. Play group activities where children collect coins to reach a target amount. Show clearly how 50 paise + 50 paise = 1 rupee and how different coin combinations make the same total. These exercises build practical confidence in adding money.
Meaning and importance of change
Change is the money returned when a buyer gives more money than the price of an item. If a child buys a pencil costing Rs. 3 and gives a Rs. 5 note, the seller gives Rs. 2 back as change. Finding correct change is a useful everyday skill that uses subtraction and knowledge of coin values.
How to calculate change
To find change, subtract the price from the amount paid: Change = Amount paid - Price. Write the amount paid above and the price below it, then subtract. If you need to subtract paise and there are not enough paise in the amount paid, borrow 1 rupee = 100 paise from the rupee column and add to paise. Teach borrowing with real coins so children see 1 rupee become 100 paise.
Activities and practice
Role-play a shop: one child is the seller and one the buyer. Give situations with whole rupees and simple paise like 50 paise so borrowing is clear. Ask students to check change by adding the price and the change to see if it equals the amount paid. This checking step helps avoid mistakes and builds confidence.
How to approach word problems
Word problems tell a short story and ask a question about time or money. Teach children to read the problem carefully, underline important numbers and words like 'cost', 'change', 'after' or 'before', and decide whether to add, subtract or count days. Encourage drawing a small picture or a number line to show the situation visually before calculating.
Solving time problems
For time questions, ask whether the problem wants hours, half-hours or days. Use a clock drawing or a timeline to show start and end times and count the hours. For date questions use a calendar to count days. Writing steps helps: write the problem numbers and then the arithmetic underneath so the working is clear.
Solving money problems
For money questions, set up values in rupees and paise columns and add or subtract as needed. Use coins or play money for young learners to model buying and change. Always ask students to check their answers: for money, add price and change to see if it matches amount paid; for time, reverse the steps to confirm the result. Regular practice with simple, real-life examples builds strong problem-solving skills.