2nd Grade Subtract Across Zeros worksheets

About this worksheet

Subtracting across zeros is the single hardest three-digit subtraction case in second grade, and it earns its own worksheet instead of being buried inside a general regrouping page. The trouble starts because the usual advice, if the ones are too small, borrow from the tens, breaks down the moment the tens digit is already zero. There is nothing there to lend. A child has to go one place further: borrow a hundred, turn it into ten tens, and only then lend one of those tens down to the ones.

Skipping that middle step is why children write a zero, or a ten, where a real digit belongs, or simply freeze on the problem. This worksheet uses exactly the numbers that cause the trouble, such as 300 minus 125 and 500 minus 68, and asks directly what a child should do the moment the tens digit is zero, before it ever asks for the final answer, so the reasoning gets checked and not only the arithmetic. A short word problem and a spot-the-mistake question round out the page.

What your child will learn

• Subtract across a zero in the tens place, such as 300 - 125
• Regroup a hundred into ten tens, then a ten into ten ones
• Explain what to do first when the tens digit is zero
• Spot the mistake of writing zero instead of regrouping through it