A large number of multi-digit subtraction worksheets were updated to be fillable and savable with design improvements, and the subtraction page in general was revised for clarity and to group together similar worksheets. This also included removing some “legacy” subtraction worksheets which duplicated newer ones.
The updated worksheets include almost all of the vertically arranged multi-digit subtraction worksheets. They are organized into several categories to make them easier to find. The first section includes multi-digit subtraction worksheets with some regrouping (aka “borrowing” in subtraction questions). These are essentially randomly generated questions with no attention paid to whether regrouping is needed or not. There is also a section with “all regrouping” where the questions require students to regroup at every step. The “no regrouping” section includes easier questions since students won’t have to regroup (borrow) to complete the questions. These would be suitable for students who need more assistance in learning how to subtract multi-digit numbers.
Although many students learn an algorithm for completing long subtraction, there is no reason why these worksheets have to be used in that way. Using mental strategies to complete subtraction (and other) questions is a desirable goal for students. The better able they are to make mental calculations, the better will be their success in future math studies (a big claim, but try to prove me wrong!). One such mental strategy is called “counting up” wherein one starts with the subtrahend (the amount to be subtracted) and counts up to the minuend (the original amount). Three examples of this can be found on the subtraction page and are copied below.
Example 1: For the question, 84 – 35, start at 35, and count, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85 (five tens) and one down to get 84. Five tens minus one is 49.
Example 2: For the question 65 – 22, start at 22 and count, 32, 42, 52, 62 (four tens) and three up to get 65. Four tens and three is 43.
Example 3: Let’s use the question 927 – 648. First, count up by hundreds to 948 (that’s 300). Then count down by tens to 928 (that’s -20). Finally count down by ones to 927 (that’s one). 300 – 20 – 1 = 279.
The three sections mentioned above do not include thousands separators, but because some teachers prefer to present larger numbers with thousands separators, you will also find a few more sections of multi-digit subtraction worksheets that include thousands separators. Teachers in the United States and the United Kingdom might appreciate the comma-separated section while teachers in Canada might prefer the space-separated section. Still others may want to peruse the period-separated thousands.
Back to the first three sections, you might also be interested to note there are some large-print versions available which may help students with differing needs when the worksheets are printed. If you have access to a printer with 11″ by 17″ paper, it is also possible to print any Math-Drills worksheet on larger paper by choosing the “fit to page” or similar option. The fact that the new worksheets are fillable and savable means that they can be used on the screen and zoomed to whatever factor suits your student. The design elements all maintain their crisp quality when zoomed in or out.
If you have any feedback on the new subtraction worksheets or anything else, please let me know at feedback {at} math-drills {dot} com.
