Subtraction Worksheets for Grade 1

Print a sheet and run it as a calm five to ten minute task. Give the child counters, buttons or fingers to take away for the first few days. Twelve problems keeps it short. Use the answer key to check, and when a child gets one wrong, act it out with objects rather than just correcting it. Alternate with the Grade 1 addition page the next day so each operation reinforces the other. A New version each time stops answers being remembered.

Subtraction within 10 teaches taking away, finding the difference, and the fact that 7 - 3 relates to 3 + 4. The usual trouble is counting backwards, which is harder than counting forwards, and getting confused by zero. Children who know their number bonds to 10 find this far easier. The step before is counting objects, and the step after is subtraction within 20 in Grade 2.

Stay at 12 problems until the sheet is routine, then try 20. The Stacked layout is clearest for a new learner, and In a row prepares for how equations appear in books. Missing number mode asks things like 9 - _ = 4, which is great for showing that subtraction is a reverse of addition. Practice the bonds to 10 alongside.

Why is subtraction harder than addition?

Taking away reverses direction, and counting backwards is less familiar than counting up. Many children do better counting up from the smaller number to the larger one, so show them that route too.

How do number bonds help with subtraction?

If a child knows 4 and 6 make 10, then 10 minus 4 must be 6. Practicing bonds in both directions turns subtraction into recall. The Number Bonds pages pair well with this one.

Do these sheets include borrowing?

No. Every problem here stays within 0 to 10 and avoids borrowing, so a child can focus on facts. Borrowing comes up later with 2-digit subtraction.