Helping Children Thrive with
Whole Child Education:
2025 Cohorts Training Program
Children around the world are struggling.
Join us and be part of the solution.
Creative Lives Inc. announces a training opportunity for colleagues from our school to learn and apply our pioneering whole-child approach, with the opportunity to for a joint grant application to support tuition.
Educators around the country are invited to participate in our Cohort 2025 Program to expand the application of this award-winning approach. Our work together will help demonstrate the power of this approach nationally.
To qualify for funding, three to five educators from an organization (depending on faculty size) or 6+ educators from a district must attend. The Framework approach has gained traction in the VT/NH education communities through work with Castleton University, Northern Lights, Antioch N.E., Southern New Hampshire University, and the VTAEYC.
Integrating this approach will offer you remarkable new ways to help students in classroom settings:
Relieve anxiety and depression
Develop focus and insight
Make wise decisions
Value themselves and be curious
Cultivate emotional stability
Skillfully collaborate with peers
Build discipline and responsibility
Become more resilient
Strive for excellence
Navigate frustration and disappointment
These essential skills help young people succeed in school, develop positive relationships, tackle challenges, and share their unique gifts.
An additional benefit? 94% of educators taking this training report significant improvements in their own well-being, both personally and professionally.
The Framework approach is new. It stems from author and teacher Ellen Tadd’s discoveries about the human energy (chakra) system and its fundamental role in human potential. The Framework methodology distills these discoveries into the tools, attitudes, and environments we can integrate to support such well-function. Her premise is simple but profound: Honing well-function across the energy system yields optimal learning and development for all individuals.
If you have questions, please reach out to us at info@creativelives.org or join Creative Lives Director Maureen Burford for an information session on the Framework approach. We offer 30-minute webinars on the third Monday of each month.
Join the 2025 Cohort Program
Interested participants can now register to join our Summer 2025 Foundations 1 Course by clicking the “learn more” or “register” buttons below. This nine-week course includes a weekly Zoom class with Maureen, reading assignments, an online discussion forum, peer support, and reflective writing. The time commitment will be approximately 5 hours weekly, including class time. Our Trainees report that their time spent in training yields significant positive impacts for themselves and their students. Foundations 1 learners will receive 5 CEUs and may opt to include graduate credit via SNHU.
More about this innovative methodology:
Fostering Focus
85% of our trainees report improved focus in their personal and professional lives after taking our training.
94% are better able to help children focus on the tasks at hand.
Creative Lives Inc.
As early adopters of the Framework for Wise Education, the educational non-profit Creative Lives has partnered with Ellen Tadd to develop a multi-level training program. Enroll in our upcoming 9-week course today and join a community of parents and educators changing how we teach and raise children.
“Through my own examination of the chakra system and forty years of working with students and clients of all ages, I have observed a structure that can help us simplify our understanding of the course of human development —and aid us in creating an educational strategy that supports and endorses the maturation of the whole child.” — Ellen Tadd
Developing Discipline
96% of trainees report improved self-discipline in their personal and professional lives after taking our training.
48% are better able to help children develop responsible habits.
“I cannot say enough wonderful things about this course! I learned more about myself than I thought would be possible. This course has changed my daily routine, enhanced my problem-solving capabilities, and has left me feeling like a more complete person. Most importantly, it is changing the way that I listen to and work with students of all ages. We really need more people using this framework.”
–Cat Buxton, Educator
Stimulating Self-esteem
93% of our trainees report improved self-esteem in their personal and professional lives after taking our training.
71% are better able to help children foster a healthier sense of self.
Our Framework trainees learn tools and skills to improve how they teach and how kids learn
All the experts agree children around the world are in crisis. If the new generation is to effectively navigate the rough waters of their future, we must change the landscape of education, arming them with wisdom and tools for whole living.
Getting certified in A Framework for Wise Education® is key to the upstream change that is urgently needed.
Winter registration for the first part of our multi-level training is open now.
“If we can help children know who they deeply are, understand their interconnectedness with others and the natural world, and with that knowledge, build a creative, fulfilling life — well, that would be gob-smacking wonderful. In my mind, there is nothing more important than this.”
—Richmond Mayo-Smith, Former head of Roxbury Latin School
Fall Training Begins September, 2024
Space is Limited. Register Today.
Foundations-1: Ellen Tadd’s Framework for Wise Education®
This is the first course in our multi-tiered online training. Throughout this 9-week course, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of the Framework and its application to yourself and the young people in your lives.
Each week you discover the meaning of a new chakra center and its role in teaching and childrearing. Reading assignments, audiovisual resources, partner work, and reflection essays will aid you in understanding this Framework. You will also begin to apply the Framework to your own life and to the lives of the children with whom you educate and serve.
As part of this training, you attend weekly Zoom calls to deepen your understanding of the fundamentals of this pedagogy.
This course is helpful and applicable to parents, educators, academic administrators, coaches, social workers, child-care providers, etc.
“Learning about A Framework for Wise Education is an invaluable step for any educator looking for a more holistic way to teach. The wisdom of this course can and will transform classrooms whether or not you have ever heard of a chakra before.”
—Tracy Greenfield, Lesley University
Course Outline
Week 1 Introduction and Overview of the Framework
Week 2 Inspiration —the Key to inner happiness
Week 3 Focus—the mechanics of focus and wise-decision making
Week 4 Self-esteem—building inner confidence, curiosity, and expression
Week 5 Caring—wanting the best for self and others
Week 6 Emotional Wellbeing—aligning emotions with wisdom
Week 7 Persona in the World—the interplay of our directive and receptive sides, relationships, and creativity
Week 8 Discipline—responsibility, repetition, and attention to details
Week 9 Putting it all Together Course
Learner Outcomes
Clearly describe Ellen Tadd’s Framework for Wise Education®
Understand and describe the role of chakras in child development
Assess parenting strengths and weaknesses in each of the seven Framework categories.
Address priority areas of personal development with targeted tools and strategies
Assess children’s strengths and weaknesses in each of the seven Framework categories.
Address children’s needs with targeted Framework tools and strategies
Integrate Framework tools to support desired outcomes for your children
“In 25 years of continuing education, I have never been so moved. Great things will happen with this model of education!”
— Pieter Bohen, Farm & Wilderness Camp
Fall Term Begins Sunday,
September 8 2024
Space is Limited. Register Today.
Cost: $490
(Early-Bird Rate of $425 until August 1, 2024)
Payment plans and tuition assistance are available upon request.
“This course taught me about being more relaxed, focused, and present so I can be the best version of myself for my son.” —Tara. L., parent and early educator