A Perfect Place To Transform Preschool Learning

The minute she walked into the Henry Frost Farmhouse, Dr. Iris Chin Ponte knew it was exactly right for the educational center she has dreamed of establishing.

The Belmont native looked for a long time in surrounding towns for a space suitable to house her developmental consulting business, children's center and home.

So she was thrilled last July when she saw the property on Pleasant Street.

"This is where I grew up, practically across the street; attended the public schools; and wanted to settle," said Ponte, who is a graduate of Belmont High School.

"And we finally found this perfect space for housing all aspects of my life, in one spot in the community where I want to live."

Ponte is currently getting the house ready for the Henry Frost Children's Program, scheduled to open in September 2011. The program, for children 3 to 5, will reflect a developmental approach to early education with spaces designed so that each child can be physically, emotionally, and intellectually challenged and engaged in meaningful activity.

 "Through spontaneous, structured and integrated play opportunities, children will participate in activities that will help lead them toward solving problems, creative thought and learning," said Ponte, who studied as a Fulbright Scholar.

"Hands-on, constructive explorations nurture and promote children's self-esteem, confidence and sense of wonder," she noted.

Adults have often had their creative impulses "trained out of them" in certain educational settings, Ponte feels. That's one of the reasons she so firmly believes in bringing out each child's individual potential through a variety of early educational philosophies.

"How do you know what learning style is right for a child at such a young age?" Ponte asked. "You don't. That's why I've looked into components of all the philosophies."

Therefore, the Henry Frost Children's Program will incorporate the teachings of Emilia Reggio, an approach that comes from a small village in Italy where children's creative impulses are primary and they are taken to the actual adult settings of what they are interested in whether it be a bakery, police station or newspaper office; Maria Montessori, who established a child-centered emergent curriculum developed from their interests; and the Eliot Pearson developmental method where dramatic play is crucial to learning and the space transforms to fit whatever the children want to learn.

Since purchasing the old farmhouse in July 2009, Ponte and her husband, John Hugg, have completed extensive renovation of the Greek revival home built in 1845 in preparation for the children's center.

They extended the front porch so it wraps all around the house and installed a door where a window once stood and where the children will enter.

"It's designed so that the children will have a transition from the outside garden into the learning area," Ponte said. "Then they'll walk into a room where they can hang up their coats or wash their hands."

From there, Ponte refurbished the downstairs so that the space flows into three separate rooms: the Reggio, Montessori and Pearson classrooms .

There's also a room where parents to sit, have coffee or tea and chat with Ponte and the other teachers.

But the parents' room is painted a different color. All the children's spaces are painted a cream color.

"Children are very sensitive to color which is why all their spaces are uniform," Ponte said.  

Ponte, who will be the Program's director and head teacher, holds a Ph.D. in Early Education from Tufts and has published several books.

She is also the president of Ponte and Chau Consulting, Inc., an education and child development consulting company that brings research and theory-driven knowledge into the practical sphere of education and child development services.

The company works with organizations that primarily serve children and youth in educational and out-of-school contexts, bringing current research pertaining to teacher training, educational and developmental technologies, culturally-sensitive practices and child-focused learning strategies so the organizations can strengthen their services for children and their families.

The consulting company and children's center will feed each other, Ponte said.

"I can't wait to see the children walk through the door," she said.

Ponte and her husband recently traveled to China where they adopted 17-month old William.

Ponte has one concern, albeit a minor one: Teaching her son that the toys downstairs are for the children's center and his are upstairs.