136 Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences 



On Saturday morning the session opened with a paper by Mrs. Ellor C. 

 Ripley, of Boston, on Pedagogical Methods in Museum Teaching, in 

 which the subject was presented from the teacher's standpoint, and dealt in 

 detail with so called " devices " to be used in attracting the attention of the 

 child to the object under discussion. Dr. James G. Haney, Director of 

 Art in the New York public schools, urged a direct, dramatic method of 

 discussing subjects, stripping them of all extraneous matter, and leaving 

 the details to the child's imagination. 



At the afternoon session an informal discussion was held on the prac- 

 tical question of the meeting — how to approach the schools in order to 

 obtain better cooperation — whether through the higher officials, or through 

 individual teachers, who, if sufficiently interested, might demand that mu- 

 seum work along certain lines be counted as a regular part of the school 

 curriculum. 



It was finally voted that a committee be appointed by Mr. Kent to con- 

 sider all practicable suggestions advanced during the conference, to have 

 printed for distribution abstracts of some of the papers, and to consider 

 whether a permanent organization of museum instructors would be feasible 

 and desirable. 



In conclusion, may I say that I personally gained many suggestions for 

 the improvement of our own museum work with children, and hope that 

 we may be able to undertake, during the next season, an experiment along 

 some of the lines discussed during the meetings. 



Respectfully submitted, 



Agnes L. Pollard, 

 Curator. 



Report of the Treasurer 



Income 



Balance in hand at date of last annual report $ 457-02 



Since received from dues : 



Active members 634.50 



Life members 300.00 



Loan 100.00 



Interest on savings bank deposits 22.66 



Sale of Proceedings 12.50 



Miscellaneous sources 20.50 



$i,547-i8 



