A Product of Passion
Little Engine Educational Consulting was founded midway through the year 2020 in response to the growing effects that the COVID-19 pandemic was having on local students. With the difficulty of distance learning and working parents, many students struggled with their schooling and new routine. Years of experience with behavior management and character development, combined with studies in education, offered the perfect tools to help local families.
Founded by Jake Marr, Little Engine Educational Consulting is the product of personal passion. Summer camps, after school programs, youth sports coaching, and tutoring are all steps that led him towards becoming an educator. Currently wrapping up his Master's of Arts in Teaching with an Elementary endorsement, Jake has found a home in helping youth discover and realize their potential, both in and out of the classroom. His Bachelor's in Community Development aid in his awareness of systemic and historical issues of equity, and acts as a strong moral compass.
When not working with students and their families, Jake enjoys a variety of activities including music, photography, sports, video games, and engaging in the great Pacific Northwest.
Our Philosophy
The core beliefs instilled in our services
Little Engine Educational Consulting maintains three philosophical goals with each student:
Aide and support academic growth
Provide the tools, knowledge, and confidence to be self-sufficient
Prove that anything is possible with hard work and perseverance
Every person struggles with some parts of life while exceeding in others. Children are no different. We seek to understand these weaknesses so we can supplement where needed and reinforce or build upon areas that are stronger.
We teach the whole child. A child is a student, a set of evolving emotions, and a character developing life skills. Each of these parts of a child interact with one another, making the observation portion of assessment crucial. We learn what a child is strong in skill with, what they are struggling with, and why they are. The why is almost more important than the what, because addition skills are easy to teach, but the underlying struggle to learn it is what must be addressed.
As a consultant, Little Engine Educational Consulting sees lasting results as the ultimate key to customer satisfaction. To achieve this, we ensure that the student's guardian is well equipped with the materials, strategies, and knowledge required to continue getting the best out of their students. Consistency is crucial, so the partnership between Little Engine Educational Consulting and the student's guardians is nothing short of paramount.
We enjoy seeing children succeed. We love helping them realize what they are capable of. We want to shape the next generation's leaders.
Foundation of the Little Engine Educational Consulting Pedagogy
These great minds and organizations are key contributors to our methodology. This list is ever expanding as we continue to further our own education.
Jean Piaget
Piaget's (1936) theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a mental model of the world. He disagreed with the idea that intelligence was a fixed trait, and regarded cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological maturation and interaction with the environment.
Piaget (1936) was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development. His contributions include a stage theory of child cognitive development, detailed observational studies of cognition in children, and a series of simple but ingenious tests to reveal different cognitive abilities.
What Piaget wanted to do was not to measure how well children could count, spell or solve problems as a way of grading their I.Q. What he was more interested in was the way in which fundamental concepts like the very idea of number, time, quantity, causality, justice and so on emerged.
Before Piaget’s work, the common assumption in psychology was that children are merely less competent thinkers than adults. Piaget showed that young children think in strikingly different ways compared to adults.
Read more at https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html
Erik Erikson
Erikson maintained that personality develops in a predetermined order through eight stages of psychosocial development, from infancy to adulthood. During each stage, the person experiences a psychosocial crisis which could have a positive or negative outcome for personality development.
According to the theory, successful completion of each stage results in a healthy personality and the acquisition of basic virtues. Basic virtues are characteristic strengths which the ego can use to resolve subsequent crises.
Failure to successfully complete a stage can result in a reduced ability to complete further stages and therefore a more unhealthy personality and sense of self. These stages, however, can be resolved successfully at a later time.
Read more at https://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html
Yardsticks: Child and Adolescent Development Ages 4 - 14 4th Edition, by Chip Wood
Drawing on decades of educational experience and a wealth of research, Yardsticks invites every adult who teaches or cares for children to celebrate the incredible developmental journey that occurs from ages four through fourteen. Combining easy-to-access information about the cognitive, social-emotional, and physical characteristics unique to each age with practical advice for how to apply this knowledge, Yardsticks offers parents and educators a foundation for helping children grow and thrive.
Joy Berry
Berry has written over 250 self-help books for kids that have sold over 85 million copies, and is known in the juvenile publishing and media industries as the "Inventor of Self-Help Books for Kids".
With several series to choose from, Belmont Education enjoys her "Help Me Be Good Books", as they are easy for beginning readers while teaching important lessons and providing laughs along the way.
The Teacher as Warm Demander
by Elizabeth Bondy and Dorene D. Ross
Warm demanders approach students, particularly those whose behavior causes trouble in the classroom, with unconditional positive regard, a genuine caring in spite of what that student might do or say (Rogers, 1957). At the heart of unconditional positive regard is a belief in the individual's capacity to succeed. Teachers convey such an attitude by taking the following three actions.
Read more at https://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/marachi/mle/Warm%20Demander%20Article.pdf
ACSD's Whole Child Initiative
Launched in 2007, ASCD's Whole Child Initiative is an effort to change the conversation about education from a focus on narrowly defined academic achievement to one that promotes the long term development and success of children. Through the initiative, ASCD helps educators, families, community members, and policymakers move from a vision about educating the whole child to sustainable, collaborative action.
Whole Child Tenets
Each student enters school healthy and learns about and practices a healthy lifestyle.
Each student learns in an environment that is physically and emotionally safe for students and adults.
Each student is actively engaged in learning and is connected to the school and broader community.
Each student has access to personalized learning and is supported by qualified, caring adults.
Each student is challenged academically and prepared for success in college or further study and for employment and participation in a global environment.
Read more at http://www.wholechildeducation.org/about/