A Christmas Carol: Classic Learner’s Edition

Marley’s face. It was not in impenetrable shadow as the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar.

Charles Dickens

When I started learning English as a teenager, I dreamed of one day being able to read one of Charles Dickens’s classic novels and actually understand it. My fascination with the English language continued to grow and my love of classical vocabulary has now finally culminated in a ‘Classic Learner’s Edition’ of A Christmas Carol. I pored over every page of the tale, carefully taking note of vocabulary that might trip up young readers and make them stumble: words like ubiquitous, covetous, apoplectic, facetious, inexorable, or prodigious. I then created a complete, varied, and entertaining vocabulary study section, which enriches readers’ experiences following the unabridged original text.

The activities in the Classic Learner’s Edition were created together with students of the Classical Homeschool Program. We spent the weeks leading up to Christmas reading the tale, created vocabulary trivia, rewrote instructions for Victorian era parlour games (and play-tested them!), and much more. The best of these have been collected in this edition and will make a great classroom or homeschool study unit.

Focusing on Dickens’s rich, profoundly true, and often uproariously humorous use of language, this Classic Learner’s Edition is bound to open doors to a great variety of classic literary treasures.

The Classic Learner’s Edition includes:

• Unabridged original text
• A Christmas Carol – For children to read out loud
• Classical vocabulary copy work with over 120 words
• Truth or malarkey
• Vocabulary definition match
• Humorous selections
• Victorian parlour games
• Glossary

A Christmas Carol: Classic Learner’s Edition is available here

This special Classic Learner’s Edition includes a read-aloud version of the tale that is ideal for classrooms, homeschool, and families alike. Our family has made it an annual tradition over the past ten years, at times read just within our own family circle, other times shared with friends to great laughter and acted voices, and most memorably, read out loud by parents with professional sound effects as part of a homeschool Christmas event. Importantly, although this read-aloud version is abridged and can be read in about 40 minutes, it includes Dickens’ words only and thus preserves the humour and brilliance of this Christmas classic.

Feel free to download the read-aloud version below.

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