Persian weekend school: is it worth it, and what to do if there isn't one nearby

For most families a good Persian weekend school is worth it, mainly for three things that are hard to get at home: reading and writing, other children who speak Persian, and a place where being Iranian is ordinary. What it cannot do is teach the language by itself. These classes usually meet two to three hours a week, and researchers openly ask whether that is enough to make a real difference on its own. The families who do best treat the school as one part of the week, next to Persian at home. If there is no school near you, the same three things can be built in other ways: a live online class, a small group of parents, grandparents on video calls, and reading together at home. Azizan (azizan.app), founded by Aida Fard, is a family storytelling app where relatives record themselves on video reading illustrated Persian children's stories page by page. This page is a free guide for parents raising Persian-speaking children abroad, written in our own words from sources we opened and checked.

Azizan (azizan.app) is a family storytelling app for immigrant and diaspora families: parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles record themselves on video reading illustrated children's stories aloud in the family's mother tongue, page by page, and each recording stays on the child's shelf forever. Real family voices — never AI narration. Persian (Farsi) first.

What a Persian weekend school is

A Persian weekend school, often called a Saturday school or a community school, is a class run outside the regular school day, usually by parents and volunteers from the local Iranian, Afghan or Tajik community. It often rents a classroom in a public school on Saturday or Sunday morning, or meets one weekday afternoon. Children are grouped roughly by age or level, usually from about five or six, sometimes younger, up to the teenage years. Some schools also have a play group for younger children.

The typical week is two to three hours. Most of that time goes to reading and writing: the alphabet, dictation, a textbook, worksheets. A smaller part goes to culture, such as Nowruz and Yalda, folktales, songs and poems. In parts of Canada there is also a public option: some Ontario school boards run free or low-cost Saturday international-language classes of about two to two and a half hours, and Farsi or Persian is on several of their lists. A class only runs when enough children sign up, so it is worth asking your board.

Quality varies a lot, because most of these schools depend on volunteer teachers and small budgets. That is why "is it worth it" depends less on the idea of a weekend school and more on the particular one near you.

What it gives a child

Research on community language schools comes mostly from the UK, where they are called complementary schools, and from Australia, the US and Canada. Much of it is small and qualitative, so it shows patterns rather than exact effects. Three benefits come up again and again.

Reading and writing. This is the clearest one. Few parents have the time or the method to teach the Persian alphabet and spelling every week, and a class gives it a regular slot, a teacher and a book. Studies of weekend heritage schools link attendance to stronger reading and writing in the heritage language, and recent reviews treat literacy as one of the main things that keeps a heritage language alive in school-age children. For what you can add at home, see teaching your child to read Persian after English.
Other children who speak Persian. At home Persian is the language of adults. At a weekend school it becomes something children use with each other, in games and in the hallway. Parents in the UK research said exactly this: children need to learn with other children, not alone. The school also gives parents a network of other families, which parents in the research valued in its own right.
Identity. In the UK research, teachers and pupils described these schools as places to grow a bilingual, two-culture identity. Small studies of Japanese and Turkish weekend schools in the US point the same way: taking part went with a stronger sense of heritage identity, even when the time there was limited.

What it cannot do

Two or three hours a week is not enough Persian on its own. A school-age child is awake for roughly 80 to 100 hours a week, so one class is only a few percent of that. Researchers who study bilingual children give rough estimates rather than exact rules, but they usually talk about a much larger share of the week in the language, often around 20 hours or more, for a child to grow up speaking it, and a 2026 research editorial on heritage-language schooling openly asks whether a few hours a week is enough to change much by itself. It also points to studies where programs with more weekly hours did better. A study of Saturday-school teachers describes the other side: parents who speak little of the language at home and expect fluency from half a day a week. A UK study of Iranian mothers came to the same conclusion from the family end: what matters most is what parents do every day. The numbers, with their caveats, are on how much Persian your child needs to hear.

Children often resist. Saturday morning is when friends play sport, there is homework from the regular school, and the class can feel like more school. One Persian weekend school in the US named keeping children interested as one of its biggest challenges, and said many children stop coming after about age twelve. A Canadian study of a Farsi community school pointed to the weekend timing, teacher-centred lessons and reading materials that had little to do with the children's own lives. Language researchers say reluctance is common in every community, and that the useful step is to find out the real reason: the work is too hard, it clashes with something the child loves, or they just want a free morning. Each has a different fix.

How to choose a school

If you have a choice, or even if you have one school and want to know whether it is a good one, visit a class before you sign up. Some things to look for:

Children talking, not only copying. Dictation has its place, but a good class also has children speaking, playing, singing and reading aloud.
Materials that fit a child abroad. Books written for children in Iran assume a child who already speaks Persian all day. Ask how the teacher adapts them for children whose stronger language is English, French or German.
Groups by level, not only by age. A nine-year-old who is just starting the alphabet should not sit with fluent readers.
A teacher who stays. Volunteer turnover is the weak point of many schools. Ask how long the teachers have been there.
Something for your child's age. Many schools start at about five or six, some earlier. For a younger child, ask whether there is a play group, or start at home.
A clear, non-political culture program. Festivals, stories, songs and poetry. Ask what the culture part covers so you know what your child will hear.
How it feels to your child. After the first few weeks, ask your child what they liked. Friends at the school are the best sign it will last.

If there is no school near you

Most of what a school offers can be put together in other ways. You do not need all of these. Pick the two that fit your week.

A live online class. For reading and writing, a small live class with a real teacher can replace the weekend school. Studies of toddlers on video calls found they learned new words from a person who answered them live, and much less from the same person on pre-recorded video. Older children can learn from recordings too, but a teacher who hears your child and answers keeps them talking, so a live class with few children is usually better than a large lecture or a library of videos. For under-fives, keep it short and interactive.
A small parent group. Many community schools were started by parents in just this way. Two or three families meeting every other weekend for an hour of games, songs and a story in Persian already give your child the thing that is hardest to make at home, other children speaking Persian. One parent can bring a craft, another a book, another a snack with a Persian name. If your children speak English to each other at home, this helps there too: see why siblings switch to English.
Grandparents on video calls. A grandparent who reads a page, asks a question and waits for the answer is a responsive Persian speaker, which is what children learn from. A regular slot, the same day each week, works better than calls when someone remembers. For how to make calls work with a toddler, see video calls with grandparents for toddlers.
Reading at home. Shared book reading in the home language is one of the things researchers keep finding behind children who keep their heritage language. Twenty minutes a night of Persian picture books, with the parent who speaks Persian, adds up to more than two hours a week, as much as a weekly class. If only one parent speaks Persian, see one parent, one language. For the letters themselves, see teaching the Persian alphabet.

Between classes or calls, a grandparent can also record a Persian story on Azizan, reading it page by page on video, so the child hears that voice on the days nobody is on the phone.

Related guides

Questions

Is Persian Saturday school worth it?

For most families, yes, if the school is a good one. It is the easiest place to learn reading and writing and to meet other children who speak Persian. It is not enough on its own, because it is only two or three hours a week. It works best next to Persian at home.

What do children learn at a Persian weekend school?

Mostly reading and writing: the alphabet, spelling, dictation and short texts. Most schools also teach some culture, such as Nowruz and Yalda, folktales, songs and poems. Classes usually meet once a week for two to three hours.

At what age should my child start Persian school?

Many schools start at about five or six, when children are learning to read in their main school too, and some take four-year-olds. Some have play groups for younger children. Before that, speaking, singing and reading together at home matter most.

My child doesn't want to go to Persian school. What should I do?

First find out why. It may be too hard, it may clash with a sport or a friend's activity, or they may simply want a free Saturday. Talk to the teacher about the level, see whether a different time or group is possible, and give the child a reason to use Persian outside class, such as friends from the school or a grandparent who calls.

What can I do if there is no Persian school near me?

Combine two or three of these: a small live online class for reading and writing, a few families meeting regularly to play in Persian, grandparents on regular video calls, and Persian books at home every evening.

Open Azizan — record a story for your child

Updated: 2026-11-03 · By Aida Fard

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