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Did you know that you are blind to some things that are right in front of your face? Don’t believe me? Try this simple experiment, and I will prove it to you! All you have to do is count how many times the letter “f” appears in the sentence below. You can read it several times just to make sure you don’t miss any. It’s not as simple as you think!

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY IN COMBINATION WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF SEVERAL YEARS OF EXPERTISE.

How many times did the letter “f” appear in that sentence? If you are like most people, you counted 3. Did you know that there are more than double that amount? The correct number of “f’s in the sentence is, seven. But how can that be? The answer is in the details! In this case, the details being the word “of”. When we read, our minds subconsciously skips over the words that seemingly have no value to the content. Even though you were purposely looking for the letter “f” your mind wouldn’t allow you to see it.

This is a sneaky conditioning of your mind that happens purely on a subconscious level.
The experiment got me thinking…how many things in life are we missing because we have unknowingly been conditioned not to see them? This issue of selective awareness was recently illustrated to me in the area of my children’s education during a routine visit from the pest control man.

Living in the south we encounter many bugs, including lots of hungry termites. One way to combat this problem, is to have termite stations placed in the ground around your house. Each of these stations has a piece of wood placed inside. The pest control man comes about every eight weeks and checks each piece for any termite feasts on the wood that may have occurred since his last visit. My mother, who was visiting from "up North", started a friendly chat with the pest control man as he was working the stations. She quickly recognized that he had a vast knowledge of entomology that he enjoyed sharing. She recognized this as a great educational opportunity for my children and called us all out to join the bug man. For the next 25 minutes, we all learned about the fascinating (it really is!) world of a termite colony.

Since most of us grew up in “traditional education” (public/private school, college, etc) settings we tend to be conditioned to recognize certain activities as being “educational”: worksheets/homework, reading, playing educational computer games, going to a museum, etc. We seek out these learning opportunities for our children and encourage them when spotted. However, how many educational opportunities are we missing simply because we don’t recognize them when they are right in front of us? How many hidden “f”s, or possible hidden educational treasures, are in our daily routine of life? The next time you are busy with the “details” of life, take a minute to stop and look for those learning treasures that may be right in front of you. Following are some ideas to get you started.

The next time you go to the grocery store with your children, view it as if you are going on a school field trip. Here are some hidden educational treasures you might explore and discover while on a routine trip to the local grocery store.

Cereal Aisle-Where is the children’s cereal boxes placed…up high, down low or in the middle? Do you think there is a reason they are all at children’s eye level? Where is the “healthier” type of cereals? Why? What is the first ingredient listed in the children’s cereal, what is the first in the healthy cereals?
Bakery & Meat Department- Are there separate Bakery and Meat Departments? What do they do? Why did they separate those two departments? Why not just have one kitchen where they cut meat and bake cookies and cakes? Could there be any danger in that?

Produce Department- Ask the Produce Manager to show you where the different fruits and vegetables come from and why they only offer them certain times of year. Are there any items you've never seen before? Write down the names and research at home to see where they come from.

Dairy Department- Look at a couple items in the Dairy case. Do see any dates on them? Why do you think those dates are there? What could happen if there were no dates?

Although simple and easy, any one of these conversations could spark an interest in your child that could be followed up at home in a more detailed study.

"Education" is largely a matter of becoming aware of our surroundings and teaching our children to notice and question what they see. Let's be sure to impart awareness and curiosity into our children as they develop so that they will grow to see the "hidden f's" around them.

Can You See The Hidden F's?
by Jennie von Eggers

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