Well, honey, if we're rounding 444 to the nearest 1000, we're looking at numbers in the thousands, not the hundreds. So, 444 stays put at 444 because it's closer to 0 than it is to 1000. Keep on truckin', and don't worry about rounding up when it ain't necessary.
When rounding 444 to the nearest 1000, you look at the hundreds place, which is 4. Since 4 is less than 5, you round down. Therefore, 444 rounded to the nearest 1000 is 0.