Subtracting Numbers to 5

🎯 What You'll Learn

You will practise subtracting small numbers where you start with 5 or less.

🏪 Market Story

Tunde has 5 sweets in his pocket. He gives 2 to his little sister. How many sweets does he have left? 5 − 2 = 3. He has 3 sweets remaining.

📝 Let's Learn

Here are the subtraction facts for numbers up to 5:

• 2 − 1 = 1
• 3 − 1 = 2, 3 − 2 = 1
• 4 − 1 = 3, 4 − 2 = 2, 4 − 3 = 1
• 5 − 1 = 4, 5 − 2 = 3, 5 − 3 = 2, 5 − 4 = 1

Also remember: any number minus itself equals 0. For example, 5 − 5 = 0.

Example 1: 4 − 1 = 3.

Example 2: 5 − 3 = 2. Count back from 5: 4, 3, 2. You counted back 3 times.

Example 3: 3 − 3 = 0. If you take away everything, nothing is left!

✏️ Practice Questions

1. What is 5 − 4?
2. Amina has 4 beads and loses 2. How many does she have?
3. What is 3 − 0? (Hint: taking away nothing means...)

Click to see answers

1. 5 − 4 = 1.
2. 4 − 2 = 2 beads.
3. 3 − 0 = 3. Taking away nothing leaves the number unchanged!

💡 Remember

Subtraction with small numbers is the foundation. Any number minus itself is 0, and any number minus 0 is itself. Use your fingers to practise!