How to Tell Kids Subtraction Stories

Video Transcript

"Again with subtraction, you can do the same thing. Give them a story to emphasize them how subtraction works in real life and then let their brain try to think of the numbers that represent that story. So you could say, you had 5 lollipops again, or apples, let's use something healthier. You had 5 apples and you decided to share 2 of them with your friend Johnny. So write that as a problem. And again you can start by drawing boxes and 5 apples, shared 2 of them, how many do you have? If they don't know that by heart already, they can use their fingers, or they can draw circles. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Cross out, remember don't draw any for those. Cross out now because it's subtraction. 1, 2, and we have 3 apples left. Again tell them another story. You had 10 teddy bears and somehow you lost 4 of them. What happen? You end up with 6. After they do this for a while, you can take the boxes away and you can take the minus sign and the equals sign away. Just give them a line and have them draw the problem by themselves. You had 5 pieces of pie and you decided to share 3 of the them with your friends. Tell me how many you had left and write the problem. 5 - 3 and they have to write all this on their own, equals 2. That's a great way to build up to understanding subtraction."