DEVELOPING SKILLS OF ESTIMATION

The skill of estimation within Mathematics can be very important. It’s helpful in completing number calculations to know what your answer should be close to. It’s also very useful in completing measuring tasks for length, area, volume and mass.

There are many opportunities that parents can help children develop these skills in a fun way.

Cooking: Involve your child from time to time with the preparation of meals. They will experience and gain an understanding of units such as ‘a cup of water’; ‘500 grams of mince’; ‘180 degrees Celsius’ for the oven; and many more.

Driving games: Play guessing games / competitions in the car such as: estimating the time of arrival at a destination; estimating how many litres of petrol it will take to fill the tank (or how much it will cost); estimating the distance in kilometres between two locations on a trip.

Shopping:  There is a great opportunity to discuss the net / gross weight or volume of various products being chosen from the shelves . . . . “Can you please go and get a 3 litre container of milk”.  Shopping also provides the opportunity to learn about the concept of ‘rounding up or down’ for estimation. As items are put in the trolley or basket, round up or down to the nearest dollar. In this way keep a running total of the approximate cost. When paying for the items you can see how close your final estimation was.

These are just a few fun ways to develop the skill of estimation.

Mr Richard Tuckwell
Assistant Principal