7 Video Views·Jun 16, 2026
Mathematics has its tricks and techniques which are chosen according to the age of the one learning and since this is about homeschooling kids then the different methods which we will depend on are all for the age of KS1 and KS2.
Subtraction is one of the four different mathematical operations that are forming math and in order to teach kids how to subtract, it is important to choose the exciting methods. In this educational video, subtraction for kids is the main focus and in this video, Michelle was talking about the subtraction story problems and how the kids should handle them.
There are several ways for kids to learn how to subtract, it could be through the story problems and it could be through telling stories while using some of the toys which they already own. The first method of subtraction for kids is about telling them a story while using some toys as characters and always enjoying this fun technique while doing it and always make the story seem interesting while telling it and while waiting for the answer.
The second method for subtraction used in teaching the kids how to subtract is through the written story problems which are considered a little bit harder yet they are important because the kids learn different things through it; they learn to read carefully, understand the problem, search for the numbers and highlight them and at the same time it teaches them some math vocabulary that would tell them what they are supposed to do.
Michelle is teaching kids through this video to learn how to subtract after solving the story problems they are faced with. There are two different difficulty levels from these problems, those which are only about the two numbers that the kids will need to deal with and bring the answer, and those which include more numbers making it harder for the kids. The most important thing in the easy version is teaching the kid to place the bigger number first and then removing the second from it in subtraction, and the most important thing in the harder version is also about teaching the kids to choose the larger numbers first and then deal with the other less ones to get the final answer at the end.
It is not important to use the method that you think is the best for your kid, what is important is choosing the one that your kid feels comfortable with dealing with after trying them all. The thing is that homeschooling is different than schools, while you are homeschooling your kid, you could always choose what you think is the best for him/her, but in school there are some questions which they are supposed to know how to answer and thus should be well aware of all the different methods found out there.
There are other subtraction lessons found on our channel which you could check, there is the inverse operations that teach kids subtraction (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsQHpE6D6PQ), there is the subtraction vocabulary which the kids should know about (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEK689u7hJs), there are different subtraction problems with different levels of difficulty which the kids should also learn (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nFYJlt_b5g) and there are different subtraction games that could be played with Lego pieces that could teach the kids how to subtract (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0E8zRw_J70).
Counting in general is easy to teach the kids, it could happen through the everyday experience that one goes through, you could ask your kid to count for you the red cars moving around, count the number of plates you have placed on the table and you could even ask them to subtract a specific number in general. This is the best thing about maths and the techniques one could use for teaching the kids and educating them.
There are different lessons which you will find on our channel regarding subtraction for kids which you could check in addition to those related to addition, multiplication and division.
If you have any questions regarding the methods and techniques of subtraction for kids, send us your questions and we will help you with all the answers you might be in need for, especially if its about story problems.
Visit www.learningmole.com for more educational lessons and videos in Maths, English, Crafts and Cooking.
LearningMole focuses on educating children of all ages. We offer advice and practical, interactive ideas to help parents challenge, homeschool, teach and develop their children’s skills at home.
Help your child to explore the key concepts of number, counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in Maths. Spelling, reading, writing and grammar in English. Help them to develop their imagination and creativity with crafts and to explore a range of skills to cook, bake and create tasty treats and snacks.
Easy to follow activities will support you and your child to learn and practice new concepts as well as enjoy spending time together. Help your child to progress and explore and most importantly - have fun!
Welcome to learning more. So we're now on lesson four of our subtraction for kids series
and we really want to talk in this lesson about story problems. Story problems are that sort of
correlation between written problems and real life context so actually bringing that yes you know
what subtraction is, yes you can use a basic number line but can you actually use your vocabulary,
your tools to actually solve a problem. So it's actually putting those skills into practice which
is really really important and that children can actually understand how to use the skills they
have developed in context. Now we're going to start very very simple so we would be talking
at this stage again very very basic sort of p1 reception sort of age and then we'll move through
right through to year two sort of p3 level. So story problems I would start with my child
very very practically so you want to actually give them something physical that they can hold in
their hand that they can move about they can play with that they can understand and they've got that
visual because it's really really important. I would actually start orally as well I wouldn't
worry about writing anything down so you make up your little story. So I've got four, these are
sweets, I've got four sweets and this big bad monster wants to eat them and he's going to sneak
he steals away how many do I have left and have fun with it. This is the important thing about
stories at this stage is actually having fun so let your child be the big bad monster stealing
the sweets and actually make stories that are relevant to them. So again just another one just
to to show you I would again really not worry about writing anything down it's very very tempting to
get your child to write all this down at this stage they don't need to this is about understanding
the concept it's not being able to write numbers and write calculations. So now you've got five
little monsters they're all having a party they're all dancing put some music on one eats too many
sweets and he gets sick and he has to go home there he goes how many do I have left. So just
have a bit of fun with it with your child use what you've got at home as I've said I mean we have
we love lego so build tars knock them down play-doh is also a really good one for squishing
things and taking them away and breaking bits off and then you can stick it back together again
which is great so really stick with that practical to begin with. As your child then progresses you
do want to get them to start recording their calculations because that is an important aspect
of maths as well that they can record their thinking and I would say as well continue to
really talk about your child with maths and get them to talk about what they're thinking
their thought process what they're thinking as they're going along because again that will make
a huge amount of difference when they actually have to do mental maths calculations later on
because if they know their thought process they can actually apply that to mental situations as
well. So I've got two little word problems on here they would be examples of what we would
be expecting or your child would be expected to answer in around year one sort of p2 level
and then year two sort of p3 level so I will explain the difference to you so I've got this
um the first one here which is um sort of we were talking about year one level and p2 so there are
eight children at PE two fall over have to go to the nurse or whatever and how many are left
this would be the key thing here is actually getting your child to identify the information
that's relevant in this problem again starting this at an early age makes a world of difference
to your child that when they get to year five or p6 or whatever that they can identify what
the information is that they need the relevant information because as the problems get more
meatier there's more information in there and there's also sometimes information that they
don't actually need so I would actually get encourage your child to actually get a pen and
say right so what numbers do you need in this problem and actually get them to highlight the
numbers so I would actually get them to circle them color them in do whatever you think and again
this is where you can talk about well so what number needs to go first if we're doing a calculation
what will our calculation be oh yes we know that the biggest number always has to go first in
subtraction and you can't do subtraction in any order so yes so it's going to be um take away
two okay how do you know it's taking away this is where you want to enforce that idea of left
left is a vocabulary related to taking away sometimes mostly when people say how many are
left there's going to be some sort of subtraction going on there so I would actually get them to
highlight that as well again it doesn't matter that it's children it doesn't matter where they
are it's all about that vocabulary and those numbers from that then you can talk about well
how would you solve this so they get them to write their calculation so of course their calculation
is 8 subtract 2 8 take away 2 8 minus 2 whatever you want to whatever language you want to do
and then get them to solve again if they want to use a number line fine if they still are
needing those concrete um actual physical items fine tell us what your child is comfortable
it doesn't matter if they're still using the number line it doesn't matter if they're still
using concrete items we will you will be able to move them away from that but let your child
work within their comfort zone to start off with and build up to removing those items for them
and then let them go through and solve it now the second one's a wee bit more complex and it's what
we would call a multi-step um word problem or story problem multi-step because there are two
calculations that need to take place and again you can see the jump from sort of this one to this one
as your child becomes more advanced so mark has 25 sweets he gives kim 11 and joe now eats nine
how many are left so again in creating your child right first of all you need to highlight your
numbers and highlight the vocabulary that's telling you what to do so of course you're highlighting
the 25 the 11 the 9 and the word left obviously i'm rushing through this you can take a lot more
um we know that the biggest number always has to go first so we know that initially or immediately
we need that 25 and i'm actually just going to do it on the slide board i'll pop that up there
because i haven't got much room on there let's set that up so i'm going to put my 25 and i need
to ascertain is kim taking away sweets and is joe taking away sweets well he gives them away to joe
so again that word give is important so yes we know that actually he's giving some away to kim
so first of all we need to know how many he's got left after he gives some to kim so we're going to
do 25 take away 11 again i'm not going to talk about different methods that you might use at
this stage because this is all just about story problems so we will talk about different strategies
for solving something like this in further videos but i'm not going to focus on strategies in this
it's just about the story problem so you'll get your child to solve this part and of course they
will get the answer 14 he's got 14 left now what happens oh this is the second step joe now comes
along he eats nine so we're going to do 14 take away nine okay and we're going to write that
calculation down i would encourage them to write their calculations down because then they have got
something to double check and they've got a visual there to know that they've actually followed all
so 14 take away nine this is now going to test my maths at this time in the morning
which is five so he has five sweets left again make the problems relevant to your child they
can also be done orally if you're driving along in the car you know oh how many red cars did you
see oh how many red cars did blue cars how many more red cars were there than blue all of that
actually just developing all that and i'm really working through it but do please focus on your
child's level and focus on your child's interests they will be more willing to solve a story problem
if it's something involving in my in my case minecraft if it's something to do with minecraft
they won't in my house care that they're actually having to do maths as long as they're getting to
talk about minecraft to be honest so really work with your child in interests and focus on what
they like and what they enjoy
