Learn to Add and Subtract: First Math, Step by Step

This is a printable teaching workbook designed for children aged 4 to 7 who are just starting math. It teaches adding and subtracting from the very beginning, in 38 short lessons that you and your child do together. It starts at counting to 5 and ends with number stories and missing numbers up to 20. You do not need a teaching background: every lesson tells you what to say, what to watch for, how to tell your child has it, and what to do if not.

Most worksheet packs give a child practice. This book teaches first. Each lesson explains one idea with a picture, shows two examples worked step by step, names the mistake children usually make and puts it right, and only then gives practice.

How a lesson works

A lesson is two pages that face each other, and takes about 20 minutes.

1. The teaching page. A box for the grown-up, a few plain sentences to read aloud with a picture, two worked examples and a "Watch out" for the common mistake.
2. The practice page. "Do it with me" (you work these together, with a hint for you under each one), "Now you try" (your child works alone) and a "Quick check". Your child cannot read the instructions yet, so each section has one short line for you to read aloud and the pictures show what to do.
3. You check it with the answer key and your child colors in the lesson on the progress chart.

Every idea goes the same way: real things first (counters, buttons, snacks), then pictures, then numbers and signs. Pages 4 and 5 show one whole lesson finished, with a slip crossed out and put right, so you see what it looks like before you start.

What the 38 lessons teach, in order

• Part 1, counting and numbers: counting to 5, to 10 and to 20; matching a written number to an amount; zero; one more and one less.
• Part 2, putting together: adding with objects, with pictures and on a ten frame; the + and = signs; adding 0; counting on; adding on a number line.
• Part 3, number bonds and facts to 10: parts and whole; the pairs that make 5 and 10; doubles; adding in either order.
• Part 4, taking away: subtracting with objects and by crossing out; the minus sign; subtracting 0 and subtracting all; counting back; finding the difference; the missing part; fact families.
• Part 5, numbers to 20: teen numbers as ten and some more; doubles to 10 + 10; near doubles; making ten to add (8 + 5 as 8 + 2 + 3); subtracting through ten; counting up to subtract.
• Part 6, using the facts: the equals sign as "the same as"; missing-number sentences; number stories of three kinds (joining, separating, comparing); adding three numbers.

Each part ends with a mixed review, which brings earlier lessons back, and a check-up your child does alone. The answer key shows which lesson each check-up question comes from, so a wrong answer points to the one lesson worth doing again.

What is inside (130 pages)

• Start here, how a lesson works, and a finished example lesson (4 pages).
• The path through all 38 lessons, and a placement page so a child who already knows some of it can start in the middle.
• Progress chart, a "Facts I know" tracker, and a page of words to use with what to do when it gets hard.
• 38 lessons (76 pages), with large numbers and write-in boxes at least 12 mm across. 441 practice questions.
• 6 mixed reviews and 6 check-ups (12 pages), and 6 extra practice pages.
• 2 wall posters: the pairs that make 10, and eight ways to work an answer out.
• 5 games that practice the facts, with their boards. They need only the cut-out cards and counters.
• Cut-out tools the lessons use (12 pages): 40 counters in two kinds, two ten frames, number lines 0 to 10 and 0 to 20, a number track, a parts-and-whole mat, number cards 0 to 20 with the signs, and 60 fold-over fact cards with the answer on the back.
• A certificate for the end.
• A full answer key (4 pages) for every question.

What you download

• The whole book in color, US Letter (8.5 x 11 in).
• The whole book in color, A4 (210 x 297 mm).
• The progress chart and certificate as a fillable PDF, to check off lessons and type a name on a computer.
• A print pack (ZIP): the whole book in a low-ink black and white edition in both paper sizes; the 17 tools and games pages as their own file, to print on card; the answer key as its own file; and a one-page START-HERE.

Good to know

• The book uses US spelling and words (math, color). There is no money and no measuring in it, so families in the UK, Canada and Australia can use every page as it is.
• Everything stays within 20, and no subtraction goes below zero.
• Every picture and question is made by a program from a list of numbers, and the answer key comes from the same list. A second, separate program reads each finished picture back, counting the objects, counters and hops that were drawn, and works every answer out again. The book is only built if all of them agree.
• The order of the lessons and the strategies follow published guidance on teaching early number, listed on the last page. The book prints no standards codes and does not claim to be matched to any curriculum.
• Children learn at very different speeds. The book makes no promise about how long it will take or about results.
• The pictures are simple line drawings made for counting. All children's pages print clearly in black and white.
• Both paper sizes are in the download. Print at 100% or "actual size", on one side of the paper. You can print any page as often as you like.
• For your own children or your own class. Please do not share or resell the files.
• The lessons and questions were written and generated with AI assistance. All pictures are drawn by the program that builds the book. No AI image tools were used.
• This is a digital download. Nothing is mailed to you, and you need a printer or a print shop.