Addition Practice - 3-Digit Plus 2-Digit

💡Tips for Parents

▸ Why It Matters This worksheet pairs a three-digit number with a two-digit number across ten column-addition problems, such as 123 + 45, 502 + 68, and 385 + 29. Roughly half the problems add up cleanly with no carrying, while the rest require regrouping a ten into the next column — and two of them, 267 + 45 and 385 + 29, even carry twice in a row, since the ones-column carry pushes the tens total high enough to carry again into the hundreds. That deliberate mix matters: it keeps children from assuming every problem needs a carry, a habit that causes just as many errors as forgetting to carry at all. ▸ Getting Started Before your child picks up a pencil, have them notice that the two-digit number only fills the ones and tens columns, leaving the hundreds column empty underneath the three-digit number's hundreds digit. That empty space is exactly where alignment mistakes creep in, especially if your child is used to worksheets where both numbers have the same number of digits. A simple habit that helps: have them write the smaller number's ones digit directly under the larger number's ones digit first, then work backward to check that everything lines up correctly before adding anything. ▸ If They Get Stuck Work through one column at a time, out loud. On 267 + 45, start with the ones column: 7 + 5 = 12, so they write the 2 and carry the 1 above the tens column. Next, the tens column: 6 + 4 = 10, plus the carried 1 makes 11 — so they write the 1 and carry a new 1 into the hundreds column. Finally, hundreds: 2 + 0 + 1 = 3, giving 312. If your child loses track of a carried digit, have them write it small above the column rather than trying to hold it in their head. ▸ Praise Points Praise your child for checking each problem individually rather than assuming a pattern. If they say something like "I added the ones first and saw I didn't need to carry on this one," that's exactly the instinct worth reinforcing — it means they're reasoning through the math instead of following a rote rule. It's also worth celebrating when they catch a double-carry problem like 385 + 29 on their own, since noticing that one carry can trigger a second is a genuinely more advanced skill than single-digit regrouping, and getting it right shows real number sense.

🎯What This Worksheet Builds

Builds confidence with regrouping by mixing problems that carry with problems that don't, so your child learns to check each column before assuming a carry is needed. The set also includes two problems, 267 + 45 and 385 + 29, where a single carry from the ones column triggers a second carry into the hundreds — an important next step beyond basic one-time regrouping that prepares your child for larger, multi-carry addition problems down the road.

👉Next Step

Once your child can quickly tell, just by glancing at the ones column, whether a problem will need a carry, and can also handle the double-carry problems like 267 + 45 without hesitation, move on to Addition Practice 2, where every problem requires regrouping. That next worksheet removes the guessing step and focuses purely on carrying accurately and consistently, building the speed your child will need for larger numbers.