Free worksheets · Grade 1
Count Back by Tens Worksheet
Subtract a multiple of 10 by counting back one ten at a time.
Free printable
Count Back by Tens
20 questions, one page, US Letter. Print it and do it on paper.
On the sheet: Start at the first number. Count back by tens, once for each ten you take away. Write the number where you stop.
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About this worksheet
60 − 40 is the same as 6 tens take away 4 tens. Counting back by tens, one for each ten taken away, gets there: 50, 40, 30, 20.
Thinking in tens makes these quick, and it is the same idea a child will use for 64 − 40 later.
A worked example
60 − 40
- 40 is 4 tens.
- Count back 4 tens from 60: 50, 40, 30, 20.
- 60 − 40 = 20.
Answer: 20
The common mistake
What it looks like: Counting back 40 ones, or counting back one ten too many.
Why it happens: Counting by tens is new, and it is easy to include the starting number as one of the jumps.
How to fix it: Hold up one finger for each ten taken away and say only the new number with each: 50 (one), 40 (two), 30 (three), 20 (four).
Ten minutes a day, on paper. We plan what comes next.
A printed page and a pencil. No screen, no login for your child. Snap a photo when they’re done: AI scores it, and what they missed comes back on the sheets that follow.
- Mon Count Back by Tens
- Tue What they missed, back again
- Wed The next step, when they’re ready
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