Israel
This Israeli family celebrates a birthday.
They live on a big farm called a kibbutz.
Part-time families
On a kibbutz in Israel, parents and children do not live together. The
parents stay in a house for grown-ups. The children stay in a house for
children. And babies stay in a house for babies!
A kibbutz is a kind of big farm. There are a number of these farms in
Israel, and many families live on each one. Each kibbutz is owned by
all the families that live on it.
During the day, the children of a kibbutz go to school and the
grown-ups work. The children and teachers eat lunch in school. The
grown-ups eat lunch in a big dining hall. In the evening, the children
eat with their parents in the dining hall. Then they spend most of the
evening together.
But when it is time to go to bed, the children go back to the children’s
house to sleep. Their parents usually go with them, to say good night.
Then the parents go back to the grown-ups’ house to sleep.
The children on a kibbutz are well-cared for. Women look after the
children in the children’s house.
Nurses take care of the babies in the babies’ house.
On Saturdays, parents usually go to the children’s house to get their
children. If they have a baby, they get it from the babies’ house. Then
the whole family spends the day together.
