Helping Madisyn Understand Subtraction with Big Top Numbers and Small Single Digit Numbers - For 9-Year-Old

Understanding Subtraction with Big Top Numbers

Hey Madisyn! Subtraction can be a lot of fun, especially when you’re working with big top numbers (like 200, 300, or even bigger) and small single-digit numbers (like 2, 5, or 7). Let’s go through it together, step by step!

Step 1: Know Your Numbers

First, let’s say we have a big number at the top, like 356, and we want to subtract a small number from it, let’s use 4. So our problem looks like this:

356 - 4

Step 2: Line Up the Numbers

Now, it’s important to remember that we always write the numbers one below the other, neatly lined up. So, it looks like this:

  356
-   4

Step 3: Subtracting the Numbers

When we subtract, we start from the right side. So, let’s look at our ones place first. We have:

• In the ones place of 356, we have 6
• And in the ones place of 4, we have 4

Now, we will subtract 4 from 6:

   6
-  4
____

When we do the math, we get 2. Write that down. Now we have:

  356
-  4
_____
   2

Step 4: Move to the Next Column

Next, we move to the tens place. The number in the tens place of 356 is 5 (which means 50). Since we didn’t subtract anything from that, we just keep it the same:

  356
-  4
_____
   2
  5

Step 5: Subtracting the Hundreds Place

Finally, we look at the hundreds place. The number here is 3, and we haven’t changed that either, so it also stays the same:

  356
-  4
_____
   2
  5
  3

Step 6: Putting It All Together

So, when we put all our answers together from the hundreds, tens, and ones places, we get:

  352

So, 356 - 4 = 352! And that’s how you subtract a big number by a small number. Easy-peasy, right?

Practice Time!

Now, you can try it yourself! What is 487 - 3? Line it up and see if you can find the answer!