▸ Why It Matters
This worksheet introduces borrowing — the subtraction mirror of the carrying concept from addition — for problems like 13-8, where the ones digit of the top number is smaller than the ones digit being subtracted. All 14 problems here use minuends up to 18, so every borrow your child works through fits comfortably within numbers they already recognize and can picture. This is one of the more conceptually demanding ideas in early arithmetic, since it asks your child to reorganize a number into tens and ones on the fly rather than just count objects, so patience here matters more than speed. Expect this page to take longer than earlier worksheets in the series, and treat that slower pace as evidence your child is actually thinking it through rather than a sign something is wrong.
▸ Getting Started
Use the "think addition" strategy: for 13-8, ask your child "8 plus what number makes 13?" rather than subtracting directly — many children find the missing-addend version of a borrowing problem noticeably easier than subtracting straight across. Let your child build up from 8 with fingers or small objects, adding one at a time and counting how many were added until they reach 13; that count is the answer. Once this feels natural for one problem, ask your child to explain out loud why asking "8 plus what" gives the same answer as "13 minus 8" — putting the idea into their own words is often what makes it truly click.
▸ If They Get Stuck
Break the larger number into a ten and some extra: 13 is "a ten and a 3." Take away from the extra part first, then work with what's left of the ten — for 13-8, take 3 away from the extra (leaving 5 needed from the ten), then 10-5=5. If splitting the number into tens and ones is itself confusing, use two different colored objects or two small piles to make the ten and the extra visually distinct before removing anything. Working through two or three problems this way, slowly and out loud, usually does more to build lasting understanding than rushing to a faster method too soon.
▸ Praise Points
Praise attempting the "think addition" strategy even before the answer is confirmed: "You asked yourself '8 plus what makes 13' instead of subtracting straight through — that's a genuinely clever way to make a hard subtraction problem easier." When your child successfully splits a number into a ten and some extra to solve a tricky problem, name that specific move as a real strategy, not just luck: "You saw that 13 is a ten and a 3, and that made the whole problem easier — that's exactly what good mathematicians do." Since this page is harder than the previous two, a wrong first attempt followed by a correct second one deserves just as much praise as getting it right immediately.
🎯What This Worksheet Builds
This worksheet introduces borrowing, the subtraction skill needed once the ones digit being subtracted is larger than the ones digit on top, using minuends up to 18 across 14 problems. Children practice two connected strategies: 'thinking in addition' to find a missing addend, and splitting the larger number into a ten and some extra to subtract in two smaller steps. Because borrowing asks children to reorganize numbers rather than just count or count back, this worksheet builds genuine number sense and place-value thinking that later carries directly into multi-digit subtraction.
👉Next Step
Once your child can solve borrowing problems up to 18 confidently, using either the think-addition or the ten-and-extra strategy without needing to be reminded which to try, introduce two-digit subtraction with borrowing across the tens place, along with simple word problems that use the same numbers in a real-world context. Playing quick mental math games with dice or cards keeps the skill fresh, and revisiting a missed problem by talking through the steps together matters more than getting every answer right the first time.