2-Digit Column Subtraction Without Regrouping

Six two-digit subtractions run down this Grade 2 page in columns, ones under ones and tens under tens: 68 − 24, 95 − 51, and four more built the same way. In every problem the top digit is the larger one in both columns, so nothing is ever borrowed. The child subtracts the ones, writes the digit in its box, moves across to the tens, and does exactly the same thing again.

This is the right moment to name a habit that will cause trouble later. Because the top digit is always the bigger one here, a child can answer every problem correctly while believing the rule is take the small one from the big one — and that belief survives happily until the first problem where it is wrong. Say out loud, on this easy page, that we take the bottom number from the top one, and that a case is coming where the top is too small and something will have to be exchanged. Groundwork laid now saves a difficult week later on.

Print it free as a PDF for regular short practice. Two-digit column addition is the partner sheet, the column method review interleaves both operations, and subtraction with borrowing is the step this page is quietly preparing the ground for.