Homeschool group ideas for 2-3 graders

[Mere]

I am looking for curriculum ideas for a homeschool group comprised of five to six 2-3rd graders.  We meet in the library once a week for about an hour. I'm looking for something that can serve as a guide or jumping off point for topics; I don't have a lot of time to lesson plan and search for appropriate materials each week, so something somewhat planned out would be ideal.  I am happy, however, to get supplemental books and put together materials if they are listed out in a lesson plan. 

We did a big unit this year on the human body, and it worked out really well.  I had a book of lesson plans, which we more or less followed.  I was able to supplement those activities with books and videos from the library, games, and a few other things. 

I would love to do another science unit, but we can't really do messy experiments or anything at the library! 

If anyone has any experience with specific curriculum or books I'd love to hear it!

[mattemma04]

I was going to recommend seed starting.You could do it outside the library if there is a grassy area. Or you could just send each student home with a different seed packet and supplies,and at the next meeting they exchange some plants.

I liked doing a lesson with my kids on clouds. We were able to name each type,and during what weather they occur in. I love weather learning!

[LauraN]

Our homeschool group has several clubs but having a place to meet weekly would be so great for us. I wouldn't want to do science in the library, because I think that has to be a messy subject.

But we have a book club where we read a book each month and meet at the end of the month to discuss it. The discussions are based on the book "Deconstructing Penguins" about discussing literature with kids. The kids all bring a "response" to the book, usually a piece of art or something; though some kids like to write book reports.

We also have history club for which we all read a bunch of books on a particular topic, then meet once every two weeks to discuss what we've learned--we keep a huge timeline and we enter the events and people we've discussed on it. We don't really follow a curriculum for this, but instead draw subjects from whatever else is going on, current events and museum exhibits have so far been our main places to draw topics from.

And we have math club for which we meet every two weeks and do games and activities around a certain topic. Loosely based on the book Family Math. These are math games, not actual math classes--we do topics like Binary Numbers, Graphing and Mapping, Puzzles, Estimating and Rounding, etc.

We've been meeting at different families' homes, but if we had a venue for regular meetings, you can bet we'd use that (no public libraries where I live, sadly).

[Mere]

Those are great ideas!!  Thanks so much.  We are actually going to do something on seeds this week, so I think I will use your seed swapping idea.  Fabulous!  I will have to get Family Math; it sounds like it has some good ideas in it for group activities.