One maker for every step
- Within 10. The facts children learn first, a whole sheet at a time.
- Within 20. Sums that cross ten, like 8 + 5 and 7 + 6.
- Two digits, no regrouping. Add the ones, then the tens.
- Two digits with regrouping. Ten ones make a ten: carry it to the next column.
- Three digits. The same steps with hundreds.
Stacked or in a row
Stacked problems line the digits up in columns, the way children learn written addition with regrouping. Problems in a row (47 + 25 = ___) suit mental maths and fact practice. Both come with an answer key.
More addition
For younger children, picture addition has groups of pictures to count before the number sentence. For taking away, the subtraction worksheets work the same way, with or without borrowing.
NCF and NCERT links
- Class 1The NCF-FS (competency C-8.6) has children using real objects and known facts to solve sums up to 18, and learning the + sign.
- Class 2Children add two-digit numbers with totals up to 99, using tens and ones and flexible ways of splitting numbers.
- Class 3NIPUN Bharat counts standard written methods for numbers up to three digits as part of foundational numeracy, which is where three-digit column sums belong.
The NCF for the Foundational Stage gives a neat example of flexible adding: for 57 + 33, move 3 across to make 60, then add the remaining 30. Children who can do this in their heads understand why carrying works on paper, so ask for one or two sums “the clever way” before a page of stacked problems.
The framework also asks that sums sit inside everyday situations, not just in columns. After a sheet, set one word problem from the children’s own lives: rupees spent at the shop, sweets shared at Diwali, runs scored in a cricket match.
Summarised in our own words from the National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCERT, 2022) and the NIPUN Bharat guidelines (Ministry of Education, 2021).
