How to Simplify Subtraction with Regrouping to Help Struggling Learners
If you’ve taught double-digit subtraction with regrouping, you’ve probably watched this happen.
A student solves 54 + 28 with no problem.
Then you give them 54 − 28 and suddenly everything falls apart.
They stare at the ones column.
They whisper “eight minus four?”
Then someone raises their hand and asks the classic question:
“Wait… do we borrow here?”
Even students who seemed comfortable with addition with regrouping can hit a wall when subtraction appears.
And it makes sense when you think about what subtraction is asking students to do.
With addition, regrouping means combining ones to make a ten.
With subtraction, students suddenly have to break a ten apart.
That conceptual flip trips up a lot of learners.
The good news is that when subtraction with regrouping is taught conceptually instead of as a series of steps, students can absolutely master it. In this post, I’m sharing five strategies that help struggling learners build the understanding they need to feel confident with regrouping.
5 Tips to Help Struggling Math Students Conquer Double-Digit Subtraction with Regrouping
Supporting struggling learners can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re working on a concept as foundational as regrouping. These classroom-tested strategies help students build the understanding behind subtraction with regrouping instead of just memorizing a procedure.
Even implementing one or two of these tips can make a noticeable difference for students who are feeling stuck.
Tip #1: Shore Up Place Value Understanding Before You Teach Regrouping
Make sure students have a solid understanding of place value before introducing subtraction with regrouping. This is the single most important foundation for the concept, and it’s also the step most often rushed when pacing guides get tight.
Subtraction with regrouping asks students to understand that a number like 52 isn’t just “five and two.” It’s 5 tens and 2 ones.
When students can’t subtract the ones without help, they need to break apart one of those tens into 10 ones.
If students don’t understand what that ten actually represents, regrouping starts to look like a random rule:
Why do we cross out the five?
Where did the ten come from?
Why did the two turn into twelve?
No wonder it falls apart.
Before introducing regrouping, spend time reviewing place value by having students build numbers with base-ten blocks and represent them in expanded form.
Quick games like Place Value War or sorting number cards by tens and ones can also help reinforce the concept.
Once students can confidently say something like:
“52 is 5 tens and 2 ones, but it could also be 4 tens and 12 ones.”
…they’re ready to regroup.
Tip #2: Get (and Stay) Hands-on with Base 10 Blocks
Manipulatives aren’t just for math students who are really struggling. They’re the best starting point for everyone learning subtraction with regrouping, because the concept must be concrete before it can become abstract.
Base-ten blocks work beautifully for this concept because they make regrouping visible.
When students physically trade a tens rod for ten unit cubes, they see that regrouping isn’t a trick in an algorithm. It’s something that actually happens to the number.
Here’s what that looks like with 52 − 27:
• Build 52 with base-ten blocks: 5 rods and 2 cubes.
• Ask students to subtract 7 ones. They quickly notice they only have 2 cubes.
• That moment of “we don’t have enough” is exactly why regrouping exists.
• Trade one tens rod for 10 unit cubes. Now you have 4 rods and 12 cubes.
• Subtract 7 cubes and 2 rods.
Students end up with 2 rods and 5 cubes, or 25.
That sequence, build, try, get stuck, trade, subtract, IS the concept. The algorithm simply records what happened.
Use base-ten blocks until students can walk through that reasoning and explain why they’re trading before moving to the abstract algorithm.
Tip #3: Teach Students to Check Their Own Work Using Addition
A simple but powerful strategy is teaching students to check subtraction using addition.
If:
52 − 27 = 25
Then:
25 + 27 should equal 52.
This inverse relationship helps students catch errors independently and strengthens overall number sense.
Struggling learners often see addition and subtraction as completely separate skills. Explicitly showing how they connect gives students a powerful self-check tool.
You can build this habit into your classroom routine. After solving a subtraction problem, students quickly verify their answer using addition.
Once it becomes routine, students begin catching their own mistakes without needing teacher intervention.
Tip #4: Slow Down to Speed Up…Don’t Jump from Hands-on to the Standard Algorithm Too Quickly
This step is skipped constantly, and it’s one of the biggest reasons students seem to understand regrouping for a week and then lose it again.
Instead of jumping directly from manipulatives to numbers, include the important representational stage.
Have students draw their base-ten blocks.
Students can sketch rods for tens and small squares or dots for ones. When regrouping happens, they draw the trade and cross out the pieces they subtract.
The sequence should look like this:
Concrete → Build the problem with blocks
Representational → Draw the blocks and show the trade
Abstract → Solve using the standard algorithm
Students who skip the drawing stage often appear to understand regrouping but struggle to retain the concept long-term.
Slowing down during this stage ultimately saves time later.
Tip #5: Use a Step-by-Step Graphic Organizer to Anchor the Standard Algorithm
Once students are ready to work with the standard algorithm, a graphic organizer can provide an important scaffold.
Subtraction with regrouping involves several steps:
- Check the ones column
- Decide whether regrouping is needed
- If it is, cross out and rewrite the tens digit
- Subtract the ones
- Subtract the tens
For students with working memory challenges, it’s easy to lose track of the sequence.
A step-by-step organizer helps guide students through the process until the routine becomes automatic.
Students often say things like:
“Oh… I forgot to check the ones first.”
The organizer gives them a moment to pause and think before rushing through the problem.
Over time, as accuracy improves, the scaffold can gradually be removed.
Looking for Printable Activities & Classroom Resources for Teaching Double-Digit Subtraction with Regrouping?
The strategies above can make a big difference for students learning subtraction with regrouping. Structured practice can also help reinforce the concept once students understand the reasoning behind it.
Resources like task cards, guided graphic organizers, and short daily practice prompts can provide additional opportunities for students to apply regrouping without feeling overwhelmed.
If you’re looking for ready-to-use subtraction activities designed with struggling learners in mind, you can explore the resources below.
