Homeschool World Forum

[bigreys5]

DS-6 is having trouble with subraction. He did great with addition, but is just not getting it with subtraction. We do not use a curriculum. I use several workbooks and also print off online from different sites I heard about from other members.

I am not sure what I am doing wrong.
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Batrice - Kings Academy
Mommy to: Gabriel(2000)allergic to peanuts, treenuts, shellfish and Michael(2003)
Step mom to: Isaiah(1996) andRebekah(1997)

[ncmom]

Have you tried doing the problems "upside down"? By upside down I mean do the addition problem first and then write the problem again but with the answer on the bottom and make the top where the answer will go. If that makes sense. I don't know how else to explain it but it was a visual that helped with the concept of what we were doing. Something else that helped my daughter was using her favorite toys. I also had a number line for her to use and I let her count on her fingers if she needed to. I would use as many visuals and hands on as possible. When she eats use her chips, cookies, carrot sticks or what ever she is eating. Make it fun so she doesn't realize she is learning it and it might just click. Good luck!

[Lily]

We printed the strip board from here for visual reminders and played a lot with the snake game.
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"The greatest sign of success for a teacher... is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist."
- M. Montessori
Proud non-member of the HSLDA

[laurabeth]

My dd 6 (almost 7) loves addition, but subtraction was a bit of an issue, we used manipulative's when we started over the summer, I am using a curriculum now that hasn't gotten to subtraction yet, (we started less than 4 weeks ago and it is very slow and steady to the point I would like to skip ahead, but I am sticking with it for now) but the manipulative's made her get it, I just used pencils because thats what was handy at the time, but really you could use anything.

[Theodore]

You can turn it into an addition problem -

Solve x - y:
What would you add to y to get x?

This is an easy way to get the concept of subtraction across. Long subtraction can also be presented as addition in reverse, since you add tens to the column on the left in addition, and subtract tens from the column on the left in subtraction.
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[mom1967]

oh here is what I did,

I used all sorts of model to figure out a subtraction fact with them, after each of those exercise, I wrote the fact on down on a flashcard.

Then I kept practicing those facts by the flashcard, while figuring out and adding more cards to my collection.

This approach really works to let them remember the subtraction facts.

[bigreys5]

What I have been doing, and it has helped a lot, is I 10 blocks from his toy box and I let him use them as he is doing the problems. He seems much more comfortable, and I will eventually faze this out.
_________________
Batrice - Kings Academy
Mommy to: Gabriel(2000)allergic to peanuts, treenuts, shellfish and Michael(2003)
Step mom to: Isaiah(1996) andRebekah(1997)

[Kitty-Cat]

I would use toys like little cars, lego blocks and small lollies like M&Ms. Then I would make up some stories, so I would drive 5 cars into a shoe box and say two people need to drive to work and drive them out and ask how many are left. Build a small Lego house (put down how many bricks that took) and say a big tornado came and 5 bricks fell off, how many were left standing. Or with lollies you can say how you had ten but then a naughty boy came and ate 5 lol.
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Jo from Australia