Creative Lives Inc. is sharing a transformative Framework for Wise Education.

"If I could wave a magic wand, I would put this Framework in the hands of every parent and teacher around the Globe. It's that important."
--Liz Wiley, Director of the Marion Institute

Greetings!

I am Maureen Burford, the Director of Creative Lives Inc. Our mission is to empower adults through A Framework for Wise Education® developed by renowned educator Ellen Tadd. The impact has been profound, equipping teachers and parents with essential tools to nurture wisdom and well-being in these challenging times.

Our team has successfully field-tested this Framework with thousands of children through our award-winning youth programs. Since 2022, we have developed and refined an online training program for adults, which reached full capacity in 2024. This overwhelming interest has inspired us to create a self-paced version of our training, allowing even more individuals to benefit from Tadd's transformative approach.

Why be part of this movement?

67% of our trainees report they can consistently help their students clearly assess the next steps they should take and make wise decisions, compared to 27% before training.
81% report being consistently joyful in their work life, compared to 30% before training.
93% agree they have gained a more complete understanding of how to raise and educate children.
93% report they can better help children develop their unique potential.

Topics covered in our training:

The keys to inner happiness
The mechanics of focus and wise decision-making
The roots of intrinsic motivation
Empathy and emotional steadiness
The balance of leading and following
Developing keen discipline and responsibility

Support our work

Your donation will help bring our new self-paced training to teachers, parents, and children around the globe. For example:

$300: Sponsor a teacher to bring this approach to their classroom
$150: Supports creating course videos
$75: Support tuition assistance for those in need
Other: Any amount you contribute will further our work

This Giving Tuesday, make your tax-deductible donation and help us train those who are educating and raising today's youth. Remember to check if your organization offers corporate matching funds.

Thank you from all of us at Creative Lives Inc. We will let you know when the new course becomes available!

Maureen Burford, Executive Director

About Our Approach

A Framework for Wise Education is based on educator Ellen Tadd's discoveries about the human energy (chakra) system and its fundamental role in human development. Each of the seven main centers deals with different aspects of our essential nature. In our online training programs, educators and parents learn concrete, practical tools and strategies anyone can implement to support every child's potential and purpose.

Learn more about our approach and training here.

"Without teaching my students anything about chakras or becoming a therapist in my classroom, I have used Framework strategies to significantly improve how my students focus, relate, and develop their unique gifts. I still work hard, but now, I work smart."

--Middle School Educator K.G.

Story from the field:

Fall 2024 -- shared by Moriah Carney, educator, parent, and Framework trainee. Used with permission.

I picked my 3rd-grade daughter Avyonna (Avy) up from school today, and she was upset. She told me that during school, another child in her class had told her that “Brown people shouldn’t be at this school.” My daughter is bi-racial. I had a flood of emotions. Why hadn’t the school called me? What had been done to address this and support my child?” I recognized I was in a big solar plexus reaction.
I did not want to add to Avy's upset, so I stayed quiet. After a few moments, Avy shared, “I am too upset to know what to do right now. I just can’t get out of my big feelings yet, and up to my wise view.” Once we arrived home, Avy said she wanted to head to her room to write. “That will help me get back in my wise view.” I felt grateful that I had shared this Framework technique with my daughter and that we had been practicing it together. While she was writing, I worked on finding my wise view, too.
When my daughter came out of her room, we were both calm, and she shared what she had written with me, a poem called “We Belong.” She wanted to bring it to school, so we called her teacher and made a plan. The next day, Avy read her poem for her class:

We Belong
by Avyonna Person

We belong because we are human
I belong because I am PERFECT just the way I am!
We belong because we are third graders
I belong because I am amazing!
We belong because we are Academy Stars
I belong because I am beautiful just the way I am!
We belong because we are grateful for our friends
I belong because my family loves me!
We belong because our feelings matter
I belong because I am ME!

Afterward, her classmates responded to her poem, and Avyonna helped all the students write their own versions of “We Belong.” Suffice it to say that what started as a significant hurt became a beautiful and empowering lesson for my daughter and her classroom community.
I am so thankful this situation occurred while I was taking this class – because in the past, with my dominant solar plexus, I would never have been able to manage my feelings as I did or support my daughter to walk through this challenge as she did.

This story highlights the use of the Tadd Technique, a Framework strategy that helps both children and adults access their innate capacity for wisdom and engage in creative solution-finding. Learn more about this technique here.

Giving Tuesday 2024: Creative Lives Inc.

Advancing Whole Child Teaching and Parenting