I asked Jonathan if he needed any help with other science homework or lessons, and he said he was ready to return to reading the online blogs about my work in Madagascar. Since the photo blog (written by me and Island of Lemurs: Madagascar star Dr. Patricia Wright; https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2015/12/23/when-endangered-lemurs-need-a-home-this-is-what-you-build/) was so easy to read, we decided to read together a related blog today. This blog, https://www.aam-us.org/2020/10/30/the-promise-of-virtual-education-programs-cross-cultural-exchange-school-museum-collaborations-and-steam-learning-and-lemurs/ , was written at high school reading level by a Museum-based educator in Maryland near where I grew up (Howard County, MD). We encountered several new words (e.g., facilitated) and only a few other words required any help for pronunciation and/or definition. Jonathan will repeat any word not read perfectly his first time after I repeat it-- and without prompting-- a very fast, eager learner.... For any word he paused on for more than a moment, we made sure he knew what the word meant too.

We talked about different types of rodents and primates, and Jonathan had a great awareness of the Great Apes, some words were new like Loris (related to lemurs). He remembered from last week about 'opposable thumbs' mentioning this without me saying it, and we also compared how rodents tend to have litters of 4-10 babies and primates like us tend to have one, sometimes two or three at once.
IN conclusion, I think that Jonathan would enjoy joining a coloring party and hike virtually when I am in Madagascar this year (July- September), and I hope that the Berado family will join us in real life when travel restrictions are lifted. For next week, I will bring a book of Reptiles and Amphibians of Costa Rica since Jonathan mentioned you all might go there in coming years.