Subtraction
5 min · Age 3-4

Take away

Some Yazies leave. How many stay?

Take-away is the first meaning of subtraction: start with an amount, remove some, count what is left. It suits ages four to six, but it is only one of three meanings — the others are finding a difference and finding a missing part.

Play this lesson with narration →
concrete

Five Yazies at the park

5 Yazies

Five Yazies are playing. Two of them go home. How many are left?

pictorial

Cross them out

Take-away means subtract.

Whole = 5
3 stay
2 leave
5 − 2 = 3

We start with five. We take two away. Five, four, three. Three Yazies are left.

abstract

Write it

5 − 2 = 3

Five minus two equals three. The minus sign means take away.

tryit

Your turn

Seven Yazies, three go home. How many stay?

Try it: 7 − 3 = ?

What parents should watch for

  • Believing subtraction always means physically removing, so "how many more?" questions look like addition.
  • Counting the starting number as the first hop back, giving an answer one too big.
  • Reversing the numbers to avoid a smaller-minus-bigger situation.
  • Recounting the whole remaining set instead of tracking the count back.
Practise it in Yaze

Land 3 · Subtraction Shore10 levels for ages 5–6 in the addition & subtraction strand. Mapped to 1.OA.A.1 (Common Core), Take-away within 10 (UK EYFS/KS1) and P1: Subtraction within 10 (Singapore Math).

Ready to practice?

Play Subtraction Shore in the Yaze Adventure Map — games built on this exact skill.

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