The time has come! It is time to register your child for TDSB’s International Languages Elementary Program!

The Toronto District School Board offers language classes once a week for 2.5 hours. Classes run for 30 weeks during the school year, either after regular school hours or on Saturdays.

And the cost? Just a $20 materials fee.

Twenty dollars for 30 weeks of language education! That is basically nothing—especially when you compare it with the cost of almost any other children’s program in Toronto.

The program offers many languages, including Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, Italian, and many more.

Children can start as early as Kindergarten. So if your child is starting JK this September, they can join the program too. Both TDSB and non-TDSB students from Kindergarten to Grade 8 can register.

Online registration for the 2026–2027 program is now open and will remain available until September 17, 2026.

You can find the full list of languages, class locations, schedules, and registration information on the [TDSB International Languages Elementary Program website](https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Elementary-School/Beyond-the-Classroom/International-Languages-Elementary-and-African-Heritage/ILE-AH-2026-2027).

Our Saturday Morning Routine

My son, B, has attended the Korean language program for the past two years, and it worked surprisingly well with our family’s Saturday schedule.

His class was from 9:30 a.m. to noon. After dropping him off, we would take our daughter to a nearby library. The library had a one-hour program which is called “Family Time” with singing, dancing, stories read by the librarians—they are awesome—and a craft afterward.

Then we would find some books, check them out, and go pick up our son. On the way home, the kids would look through their new library books in the car. Then we would come home and have lunch.

It was a pretty good Saturday morning routine.

Unfortunately, we will probably need to rearrange everything this year because B is starting hockey, and Mimi is starting a dance program. They are both on Saturday mornings. Because apparently every children’s activity in Toronto must happen at exactly the same time.😂

What Did He Actually Learn?

B brought home workbook pages filled with Korean letters:ㅁ ㅁ ㅁ ㅁ ㅁㅎ ㅎ ㅎ ㅎ ㅎ

Sometimes, he also brought home crafts related to Korean culture. Whenever I asked him, “Hey, what did you learn today?”

He would say, “I don’t know.”

“Did you have fun?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you get candy?”

Suddenly, he remembered everything. He would tell me the full journey of how he earned the candy, what he had to go through, how difficult it was, how intense the competition was, how quickly he raised his hand, how loudly he answered the question—and, most importantly, what colour Hi-Chew he received.

Then I would say, “Ouukayyyy.”

I honestly don’t know exactly how much Korean he learned over the past two years.

But I loved that he was connected to my language and my culture.

Even if his Korean is not perfect, my language will not feel completely foreign to him. And hopefully, neither will his mom’s country.

For me, that alone made the Saturday mornings worth it.

(and 2.5 hours of one less monkey 🐒 around on a beautiful Saturday mornings for $20 for over the next 10 months.)