Subtraction really takes off in Year 2 as the knowledge and skills gained in Year 1 are extended to larger numbers. These mental skills learned include:

1. subtracting a single digit from a multiple of 10 (e.g. taking 6 from 20)
2. subtracting a single digit from any 2-digit number (e.g. taking 6 from 21)
3. having a fast recall of subtraction facts to 20 (e.g. knowing off by heart 12 – 6 is 6)
4. subtracting multiples of ten from 100 (e.g. 100 take away 40 is 60)
5. subtracting numbers close to multiples of ten by adjusting (e.g. subtracting 11 by taking 10 and then 1)
6. subtracting 2-digit numbers by counting up (e.g. 32 – 28 by counting on from 28)
7. use the relationship between addition and subtraction to work out answers to the above.

We have a terrific selection of colourful worksheets covering all of the above, as well as introducing written methods, in our Subtraction category.

An exciting development in teaching maths in the UK is bar modelling. Bar models are pictorial representations of number problems and act as a half-way house between using concrete representations (e.g. solid cubes) and working in the abstract. Bar models can be applied to subtraction and are an excellent way to help children in Year 2 visualise the calculation.

This way of working has become very popular in UK schools over the last few years, picking up from the success shown by children in Singapore. In the early stages it is a good idea to keep the bars proportional but this is not entirely necessary and for our very latest worksheets we have included a mixture of examples, many of which are proportional but some are less so.