Estimation?

One skill that I have been using virtually my whole life is estimation.  Coming into this math class I would not have given estimation a second thought as an actual taught mathematical method.  It just seems like guessing and they are never going to teach us to just guess randomly in math...right??  Well I found out that's not the case!

Estimating is an actual skill that is important to use.  How many times do you go to the grocery store with a set amount of money that you either can spend or that you'd like to keep to?  If you're like me then you will do this often!  As you go through grabbing items you keep a running mental tab of the prices of all these items to make sure you are not going to spend more than your set amount.  I usually don't pull out my calculator in the store and punch in the actual prices but instead I use estimation.  I round the prices and then add them mentally.  That's not going to give me the exact dollar amount I will be spending but it does give me a good idea of where I'll be at.

I was always saying that math was not important because we would not be using it in our everyday lives.  For me that is accurate to a point.  Things like estimating and rounding are things that I will use for the rest of my life and they are very important for me to be able to do well.  I do not like going to buy clothes for my kids and wanting to spend no more then $150 and realizing my estimating skills were terrible and I actually walked away spending $200!  I think that showing kids early on that math is something that will be needed for the rest of their lives is very important.