1st Grade Subtracting 2 Worksheet: Two Back in the Ones Column

Watch a six-year-old take 2 from 18 and you will often see two small nods of the head: seventeen, sixteen. Counting back two steps is a natural strategy, and this 1st grade subtracting 2 worksheet builds on it. Eight colored boxes each hold a two-digit number with - 2 underneath, written in tens and ones columns. The first box solves 13 - 2 for your child. A red loop holds the ones digits, a note reads 3 - 2 = 1, and the tens digit comes down. The other problems run from 14 - 2 to 42 - 2. Your child writes each answer under the line. A second page gives the answer key.

Why two steps back still means one column

Subtracting 2 sits between a fact your child knows by heart, minus 1, and facts that need more thought. Many children count back by 2 at first, which is a sound strategy. Over time, the facts 8 - 2, 7 - 2 and 5 - 2 become automatic.

The page adds place value to that habit. Every number has a ones digit of 2 or more, so the change always stays in the ones column, and the tens digit simply comes down.

For example, 35 - 2 needs only 5 - 2 in the ones place. Meanwhile, the 3 tens stay as they are. So the child practices column subtraction with two-digit numbers while the arithmetic stays small. Short steps, done well.

At the table: 22 - 2 and 42 - 2

First, read the worked example aloud with your child, and point to the loop around 3 and 2. "Which digits does the loop hold?"

Most problems on this page go smoothly. The two boxes on the right, 22 - 2 and 42 - 2, are where a child may slip. The ones become zero. Some children write 2 or 4 alone, as if the zero did not count. Others count back from 22 and land on 21. Instead of correcting, cover the tens with a fingertip and ask, "What is 2 take away 2?"

Then uncover the tens and let your child put the two parts together. Seeing the zero as a real digit is a quiet step forward.

Pairs that leave the table

Twos are everywhere at home. When you match socks after laundry, count the pile, fold one pair away, and ask how many socks stay. At snack time, start with twelve grapes and eat two each, then count what is still on the plate.

Also, the card game Memory turns subtracting 2 into play. Lay out eighteen cards face down, and each time someone finds a pair, those two cards leave the table. After each turn, ask, "How many cards are still down?"

When you finish, check the page with the answer key together and praise the effort: "You looked at the ones column first in every box."