Counting

I was sitting down trying to get Ben to do his homework tonight. His assignment was to count by fives to one hundred. I assumed that they had learned this at school and we would just be reviewing, but it soon became obvious that this was something either not covered or that Ben had not grasped. We sat at the table, and I tried explaining what I was asking, then I removed the penci and eraser he was fiddling with, then the sheet of paper. He let out a frustrated "Ahhh!" as I asked him to pay attention in a strict voice. Sometimes, knowledge must be forced into the brain. It took a while, and some tearful, "I don't knows", but eventually he started to understand what I was asking. I could see him visualizing the numbers (I told him to think about pennies), the light went on. With each right answer, his face became more animated and his smile brighter. We got through the exercise three times successfully. Then I let him watch this:

I could not be prouder, what a kid.