Grade 4 (小学4年)

What each elementary grade learns: the subjects, the hours, and when English and programming start

小学校の学年別の教科と標準授業時数

Maths takes on long division and goes further with fractions and decimals, social studies turns to your own prefecture, and 保健 (health lessons) cover how the body grows.

Ask the teacher: Which subject has got harder for my child as the work turns abstract?

Olympiads and contests a child in Japan can enter, from primary school to high school

小学生から高校生まで挑戦できる算数・数学・科学オリンピックとコンテスト

Maths and science olympiads and contests take entries from primary children, and a child well ahead in one subject can enter now.

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 same turning point is often called the 10歳の壁 (the age-ten wall): abstract ideas in lessons, tighter friend groups with their own rules, and for some children a first loss of confidence.

At home: Your child compares themselves with friends and comes off badly, or a close group has started leaving them out.

Ask the teacher: Is my child comfortable in their friend group, or have you noticed a change?

Puberty and "life safety education" (生命の安全教育): what schools teach at each stage

生命（いのち）の安全教育と保健の学習（体の発育・発達）

Health lessons in grade 4 cover how the body grows and the changes of puberty, and the school's 生命の安全教育 (life-safety education) teaches that a child's body is their own and who to tell.

At home: Your child asks about periods or body changes, or is suddenly embarrassed to change for PE or swimming.

Ask the teacher: When will the class cover body changes, so we can talk about it at home first?

Sleep and the daily rhythm by age: the national sleep guide and the 早寝早起き朝ごはん campaign

こどもの睡眠時間の目安と「早寝早起き朝ごはん」

Juku, games and later homework start pushing bedtime back around now, and the national guide's hours for a primary child are still the yardstick.

At home: Your child yawns through breakfast, or lies awake late on juku nights.

Eyes, teeth and weight by age: what the national school health statistics show

学校保健統計調査（令和7年度）：裸眼視力・むし歯・肥満傾向の年齢別の割合

Around the middle grades the national statistics show eyesight getting worse for more children, and the school's check notice is a prompt to see a doctor, not a verdict.

At home: Your child rubs their eyes or gets headaches after reading or screen time.

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）

Games and video sites start to take real time from sleep and homework, and the school's 情報モラル教育 (lessons on behaving safely online) cover how to treat people online.

At home: Your child stays up with a device, or turns the screen away when you walk past.

Keeping your home language (including English) while your child is in a Japanese school

母語・継承語を保つ（英語を含めて）

Around now schoolwork needs more than everyday language, and the ministry's handbook warns that a child who seems fine in both languages may not yet be strong enough in either for lessons.

Ask the teacher: Does my child understand what they read in Japanese lessons, or mostly get by in conversation?

A grade 4 to 6 timeline: Waseda Academy's calendar and ONETES mock dates

小4から小6までの日程（早稲田アカデミーの実施要項とONETES）

For families on the exam route, the juku's grade-4 course started in the winter of grade 3 and now runs a set calendar of classes, seasonal courses and mock exams up to the exams in grade 6.

What the large juku publish: entry tests, class days and monthly fees

大手塾が公表している入室テスト・授業日・月額授業料

The large juku publish their own entry tests, class days and monthly fees, and the monthly line leaves out seasonal courses and many tests.

The parent's job in the junior-high exam, and one tutor company's published fees

中学受験で保護者がすることと、家庭教師の公表料金

The junior-high exam asks parents to run the weekly plan, mark work and choose schools with a child too young to do it alone, and a private tutor is one paid way to share that.