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Group II — Grades 5 to 8

When the world opens up — and the books go deeper.

All subjects included. Three history streams (American + British + Ancient) plus Civics are new to Group II. Students work mostly independently. Mom leads math and grammar. Written narrations begin. Greek as an elective. Formal Art and Music lessons. The transition into independent discipline and excitement birthed from greater understanding.

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What changes from Group I

Independent readings. Written narrations begin. Civics added. Three streams of history. Greek and Latin electives.

Group II is the bridge between “Mom reads everything aloud” (Group I) and “the student reads adult-level books independently and writes from thought-provoking prompts” (Group III). Starting in fifth grade, a child is reading most of his own books — and instead of always telling back orally, he begins to write his narrations, first once a week and then building. Mom still helps with math and grammar. Books are deeper and longer than Group I but still age-appropriate books written for young people.

Subjects in Group II

About 3.5 hours of work per day.

  • Bible

    Reformed devotional reading, Bible study skills, church history. Through-the-Bible narratives plan with guided journaling questions. Continuing Together Time catechism, creeds, hymns, prayers, and Scripture memory with the family.

  • History — three streams

    American history (1600s through the fall of the Berlin Wall over 4 cycles) through narratives, primary source readings, biographies, and historical fiction. Concurrent British history (Our Island Story). Ancient history through living narrative and historical fiction. Streams are on different days of the week. An emphasis on church history. Personal Book of Centuries begins.

  • Civics

    Begins in Group II — An introduction to the framework of American self-government and free-market economics, the responsibilities of citizens and governments, and the virtues and pitfalls of good leadership through beginning Plutarch readings.

  • Literature

    Classic literature (e.g. Treasure Island, King Arthur, Pilgrim's Progress). Mythology is introduced through books for young people (e.g. The Children's Homer, The Children of Odin).

  • English

    Formal grammar and composition (Strong Sentences → Strong Paragraphs → Strong Essays), imitation, editing, parsing. Dictation for spelling continues in 5th and 6th grade. Written narration as the composition spine.

  • Math

    Daily arithmetic plus practical geometry one day a week in 5th and 6th grade. Pre-algebra and real-life problem solving in 7th–8th. Open-and-go math structured so that you can work at your child's pace. Plus living readings about the history of math and inspiring mathematicians.

  • Science

    Living books science with labs. Cycle 1: Chemistry + Inventors & Inventions. Cycle 2: Geology + Weather. Cycle 3: Biology + History of Science. Cycle 4: Physics + History of Astronomy. Plus scientist biographies and nature study in every cycle.

  • Geography

    Follow along with explorers through living geography readings (e.g. He Went with Magellan, Marco Polo) + world map drawing.

  • Art

    Formal nature drawing and watercolor lessons with video instruction. Art history and architecture, artist biographies, handicrafts. Picture Study continues in Together Time.

  • Music

    Music history, opera, music theory, sight singing and Kodály hand signs with our exclusive video instruction. Composer study and classical music listening continues through Together Time with the family.

  • Foreign Lanaguage

    Getting Started with Ancient Greek introduced in Group II building from the Greek alphabet to Greek translation. Koine Greek vocabulary building always within context of Scripture passages rather than rote memory. Latin, French, and Spanish options as well.

  • PE

    Training both the body and the mind through attention, observation, careful execution, and discipline. Open-and-go Swedish Drill scripted video exercises or the sports / exercise program of your choice.

Written narration

The single most important Group II practice.

In Group I, narration is oral — the child tells you what he read. In Group II, students still give oral narrations but slowly begin written narrations as well. Both oral and written narrations are composition, but written requires a little extra effort.

This is your main composition program. (Grammar and Composition lessons reinforce and strengthen narrations.) This is your reading-comprehension assessment. This is your evidence that he's actually understanding the work. This isn't a fact-check. This is relationship-building. This is the foundation for well-ordered writing that sounds natural and not stilted.

Narration is natural. Workbooks are forced. Narration encourages deep reading. Workbooks encourage skimming. Narration requires remembering, sequencing, composing. Workbooks require regurgitation, after the workbook writer did the thinking.

Written narration takes all these benefits and creates thoughtful, natural, practiced writers.

A middle-school student reading independently

Sample schedule

A sample week for Group II (Grades 5–8).

All times are approximate and every plan is fully editable. Group II students are learning to work independently, coming to a parent mainly for math, English, and oral narration.

Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
9:00 Together Time Together Time Together Time Together Time Together Time
9:10 Geography (map work)
9:30 Bible Civics Bible Greek book Art (drawing/watercolor)
9:50 Music (theory)
10:00 English Language English Language English Language English Language Geography (reading)
10:30 History History History History History (not all weeks/grades)
11:00 Math Math Math Math Math
11:30 Literature Literature Literature Science Greek vocab
11:50 Science Art (reading) Science Music (reading & listening) Science

A sample only. Group II lessons run about 30 minutes each.

A glimpse

Some of the books in a Living Heritage Group II (Grades 5–8) year.

Three streams of history readings, classic literature, civics, formal grammar and beginning composition, math, science, geography, art, music, and Greek. The complete linked book list comes with every plan.

  • British History Spine
  • Any Edition

Not every book is read in every grade. 7th and 8th grade students have extra independent reads (some pictured here) and are sometimes given a choice between two. A complete linked book list with titles, publishers, and exclusive discount codes comes with the plan you purchase. About 60% of our middle school books are free online (cycles differ); many may be at your library, and all are in print or available through our portal. Wondering what that adds up to? See our note on yearly book costs →

Group II is where students start to soar

Pick a cycle and begin the bridge to high school.

Every plan tier includes Group II in every cycle.

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