Addition and subtraction strategies (age 7+)
Explain why addition and subtraction strategies work, using place value and the properties of operations
Lesson
Set out your lesson
“Addition and subtraction strategies (age 7+) means practising the idea at the table with counters or paper models and one clear check. We will demo once, then your child tries.”
Bring to the table
- 20 counters
- Paper and pencil
Extra for the adult
Worked example. Start with 12 counters, remove 4, 8 remain. Write 12 − 4 = 8.
Optional challenge. For Addition and subtraction strategies (age 7+), add one harder example after success.
What to notice. Keep one parent note: examples tried; results; support used. This session samples Addition and subtraction strategies (age 7+), not mastery.
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Teaching approaches
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1 approach
Addition and subtraction strategies (age 7+) means practising the idea at the table with counters or paper models and one clear check. We will demo once, then your child tries.
Materials: 20 counters; Paper and pencil. Adult models 12 − 4 by removing counters, then writes the difference. Child solves three subtraction problems with counters and records each difference. Done: three correct differences with counters matching the writing. Stop after the fresh check; keep optional challenge for another day.
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Practice this concept
Start practiceAddition and subtraction strategies (age 7+) practice
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Learning resources
Extra practice links — they do not replace Gakuva’s teaching approach.
Illustrative Mathematics · Practice link — not the full lesson
Peyton and Presley Discuss Addition
Before you open · source notes
Explain why 47 + 65 can be reasoned as 100 plus 12, using a diagram and place value. Addition only; subtraction still needs separate examples.
Free, no sign-in. A teacher solution is on the same page, so use the student view with your child.
Before you openAsk the learner to show the tens that make 100 and the ones that remain. Do not treat this explanation as subtraction evidence.
Opening this link does not save learning or assess mastery.
Source, access and review notes
Public Illustrative Mathematics task page. The .html address responds HTTP 308 to this URL. An anonymous GET of this URL on 2026-11-10 returned HTTP 200 with no login or payment prompt. Where a teacher solution is present, it is on the same page as the student task; this check did not find a separate locked student view. An adult can use the student view section and should not read a solution aloud. Advertising was not observed in the fetched HTML text; that is not a browser, device, or ad-free guarantee. This is a paper or discussion task, not an automatically marked interactive game. Opening the link does not save practice or assess mastery. Diagrams on the page use missing or filename-only alt text, so they are not an accessible image equivalent. Accessibility still depends on an adult describing the picture.
Illustrative Mathematics. “Peyton and Presley Discuss Addition.” Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. External task; Gakuva does not copy, host, embed, or redistribute it.
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — link only
Check understanding
- Explain why adding tens and ones separately gives the correct total
- Describe why a compensation strategy works (e.g. 'I added 1 too many, so I subtract 1')
- Use place-value language to justify a written method step by step
“If your child works out '67 + 24' by splitting it into '60 + 20' and '7 + 4', can they explain to you in words *why* that approach gives the right answer?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Meta
- Subject
- Mathematics
- Domain
- Addition & Subtraction
- Age range
- Ages 7–9
Standards