Open the door to creative learning. . .

It’s time to start the school year, or nearly so.  Parents everywhere are gearing up for their children’s schooling choices, often at home.  Most people who know me or read my blog know that I’m a huge fan of themes in teaching and learning—it adds a framework and keeps a theme of higher order thinking involved from the start.  So I encourage a gesture to start the year.   Here you see, a door!   With a possible theme of animals, even as specific as pigs, the children enter their year of learning; (don’t want to commit to one theme for a year?  Choose one theme a month, or week or semester).   Pigs is so rich. . .a controversial topic, even.  Yet so much a part of childhood lore and story life.   What will you use to open the door for keeping a creative mindset for learning this year?