Soccer Stars Subtract to Score Big Goals

About this Grade 2 Subtraction Drill

Subtraction is one of the most practical math skills your second grader will develop this year. At ages 7–8, children are building fluency with numbers up to 20, which directly supports their ability to handle money, keep score in sports, share toys fairly, and solve everyday problems. When students practice subtraction regularly, they strengthen their number sense and begin to see the relationship between addition and subtraction—a foundational concept for all future math. Grade 2 subtraction also develops working memory and mental flexibility, as children learn different strategies to solve the same problem. Mastering these core facts builds confidence and reduces the cognitive load so your child can tackle more complex word problems and real-world situations with ease.

What your student will practice

• Fluently subtract within 20 using strategies like counting back or fact families
• Solve subtraction word problems requiring one step with numbers to 20
• Understand and use the minus symbol and equals sign correctly
• Apply regrouping (borrowing) concepts when subtracting two-digit numbers

Common mistakes to watch for

Many second graders reverse the numbers in a subtraction problem—for example, solving 12 − 5 as 5 − 12—because they haven't yet internalized that subtraction order matters. Others count up from the smaller number instead of back from the larger one, or they lose track of how many they've counted and restart midway. Watch for students who write the answer in the wrong place, confuse the minus sign with other symbols, or consistently get answers larger than the starting number, which signals they don't understand what subtraction does.