Math · Stage 2
Add & subtract 3-digit numbers by place
Line up hundreds, tens and ones — then add or subtract one column at a time, within 1000.
✦ Math📘 Stage 2 · S2⏱ ~10 min🧒 Ages 6–7★ Free to start
I can add and subtract 3-digit numbers by place (ones, then tens, then hundreds) using bar and place-value thinking.
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Kavi's Three Shelves 📦
Kavi the owl stacks blocks on three shelves 📦 — hundreds, tens and ones. To add two piles, Kavi joins each shelf on its own: ones with ones, tens with tens, hundreds with hundreds. "Start from the right," hoots Kavi. "If the ones shelf fills past ten, I carry a ten up to the next shelf — and the whole bar still shows the total!"
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What your child will learn
1First, see the three placesEvery 3-digit number is hundreds (flats), tens (rods) and ones (cubes). Tap the 100s, 10s and 1s buttons to build 342: 3 flats, 4 rods, 2 cubes.
2Add column by column — right to leftLine the digits up by place, then add each column starting from the right. Tap Step → to add 231 + 145: ones first (1 + 5), then tens (3 + 4), then hundreds (2 + 1).
3Carry a ten when a column makes 10Now a sum where a column fills past ten. Tap Step → to add 256 + 327. Watch the ones: 6 + 7 = 13 — write the 3 and carry 1 up to the tens.
4Borrow a ten when the top is smallerSubtracting works the same way — one column at a time from the right. Tap Step → to do 452 − 138. In the ones, 2 is smaller than 8, so borrow a ten.
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A peek inside
Add by place: 342 + 215.
ones 2+5=7, tens 4+1=5, hundreds 3+2=5
Try this at home: Add by place (no carry): 124 + 353 = __ · 615 + 272 = __
Part of Math · Stage 2 · S2 on KAVI Academy — a secular, whole-child learning platform for ages 5–12.