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進学マップShingaku Map

Grade 3 (小学3年)

Grade 3 adds science, social studies and English activities, and the 通知表 (report card) starts giving an overall mark on a scale. For the child it is the start of the turning point the ministry's paper calls the 9歳の壁 (the age-nine wall), when schoolwork turns abstract and children begin to compare themselves with each other.

Age 8–9

What school expects this year

Body and mind this year

  • What each age is working on: the ministry's stages from infancy to high school

    子どもの発達段階ごとの特徴と重視すべき課題（文部科学省）

    The ministry's paper describes this as the age children start to see things, and themselves, from the outside: thinking gets more abstract and the differences between children widen.

    At home: Your child starts calling themselves stupid or bad at things, or gives up on work that used to come easily.

    Ask the teacher: Have you seen my child lose confidence in any subject?

  • When a child stops going to school: the places, the attendance rule, and who decides

    不登校の相談先と出席扱い

    In the middle grades, 不登校 (not attending school) can follow a falling-out with friends or harder lessons; the article explains where a child can learn instead and when those days count as attendance.

    At home: Your child stops talking about school, or asks to stay home on the same day each week.

    Ask the teacher: Is anything happening with friends or lessons that might make school hard for my child right now?

Friends, rules and screens

  • Phones, games and social media by age: what the national survey shows and what schools allow

    年齢別のスマホ・ゲーム・SNS（青少年のインターネット利用環境実態調査と学校の持込みルール）

    This is when many children get a game console or a tablet of their own, and the article shows what the national survey finds by school stage and what the school allows.

    At home: Your child gets angry when screen time ends, or plays online with people you have never met.

    Ask the teacher: What does the class learn about using the internet safely, and what is the school's rule on devices?

  • If you think your child is being bullied, the school has to look into it

    いじめ防止対策推進法で学校がすること

    In the middle grades bullying often means being left out of a group, and the law counts it if it hurts; the school must investigate when a parent reports it.

    At home: Your child stops mentioning a friend they used to talk about, or says 'nobody' when you ask who they played with.

    Ask the teacher: Has my child been left out of groups in class or at break?

  • After-school care: the registered club, the open room, and what a full club does next

    放課後児童クラブ・放課後子供教室と、新宿区の学童・ひろばプラス

    From grade 4 a full 学童 (after-school club) may have no seat, since younger children come first, so this is the year to plan the afternoons after it.

    At home: Your child asks to stop going to 学童, or says they are among the oldest there with nothing to do.

If your child came from abroad

  • DLA: how a school measures your child's Japanese, and why it is not a pass-or-fail test

    対話型アセスメントDLA（外国人児童生徒等のことばの力のアセスメント）とは

    By grade 3 the Japanese of lessons gets harder than the Japanese of the playground, and the school's DLA assessment can show where your child stands in each.

    Ask the teacher: Is my child following the lessons in Japanese, or mainly the talk between friends?

This year's decisions

With your child