Every now and then, when we visit the library and I’m hunting around for nonfiction or even novels related to what we’re currently studying in our Mystery of History—the Renaissance, by the way—I will stumble upon a gem of a book that fits perfectly with our unschooling journey and it inspires small sparks of joy within me. That happened with a book focused on true stories of lost, stolen, and found treasures. At first, I planned to let each of the girls read it on their own, but after I flipped through it one night I realized it was filled with puzzles and interactive activities and an idea started to form. Why not make it a group adventure?
And so my teenagers and I have embarked on a treasure hunt in pursuit of a Ghost Captain who is apparently making his way from one well-known treasure heist (paintings, jewels, books, artifacts) to another. The beautiful kismet was that the first pages of the book touched on the Renaissance, and that’s how I knew this was one of those wonderful meant-to-be pursuits. We were off on a hunt for treasure. So far we have been to Florence, visited the Louvre where we learned about different art heists both solved and unsolved, landed in Moscow and discovered the 50 Imperial Easter Fabergé eggs, and then traveled to Norway. Together we have deciphered ciphers, interpreted ancient Runes, decoded morse code, and traced coordinates on a map to determine each next stop.
With each page we have gained some fun and fascinating information about lost and stolen treasures and stories about how some of those missing relics and riches that went missing are still being sought by modern-day treasure hunters. But the treasure I have discovered lies in each of my teens. I have thoroughly enjoyed adding this activity to our unschooling days because I love the opportunity for us to come together and combine our strengths. I love learning things alongside these two remarkable young women and helping each of them appreciate what they can do well and what they aren’t as capable of as they wish they were.
Sometimes it is incredibly difficult to come to terms with realizing we cannot do all the things well and that’s actually okay. Instead, we get to stumble and fumble at some tasks, growing in our own ability while relying on another person’s stronger ability. To me, this is a wonderful opportunity to grow in this particular understanding, to see that when we work together we all get to contribute our strengths. And yet we also get to gain some ability by puzzling things out that don’t come as naturally to us. In the end, that, too, is a discovery of hidden treasure, and I love that we are all learning that through this treasure hunting adventure—me included.
Even more, I love that this activity has piqued a new curiosity in them and I get to watch the realizations they come to along the way. Like the way my 15 year old’s eyes sparked with recognition at the mention of the Fabergé. Or the way they both immediately wanted to visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, a place that is near and dear to my heart where one of the unsolved art heists took place and a place I would love to share with them one day in the future.
These stories and puzzles and descriptions of treasures have sparked my curiosity as well. It is a gift to me that I get to share that with my girls. I love that they enjoy my company and participation. And while it isn’t a real-life adventure in which we are hopping trains and buses from place to place, I love the feel of having an adventure with them, as if we are writing a version of our own choose your adventure story and we are the clever and witty treasure-hunting protagonists. We are Indiana Jones, Jack T. Colton, the Goonies, Jim Hawkins or City Slickers on the hunt for missing treasure. And, as in so many of those tales, we are gaining other valuable gifts along the way, not the least of which is the delight, the joy, and the adventure of spending time with these two awesome young treasure hunters.