Comment Programming How-To Rollup (Score 1) 799
get him to learn the basics - we all have been there and then start getting into the more fun projects like simple games and build on the skills he learns as you go. Programming is hard but it can be very rewarding to see something you built working efficiently... and then making it work better!
To piggyback on this...and roll up a few aforementioned key steps:
1) See if he's got an interest first
1a) See if there's a program he wants that's not available for x platform.
2) Start with what he's interested in
3) Start with something easy in what he's interested in.
I started out with BASIC on an ATARI when I was about six(?)...then dropped programming until about two or three months ago when I got frustrated with the lack of Blackberry apps and decided to write my own instead of waiting for someone to do it for me. I didn't know object-oriented programming, much less Java or JavaME, to save my life (and most would say I probably still don't) but I hit up the Java tutorials and RIM API documentation. It was hard work, and I froze my own Blackberry a number of times, but three/four months later I have a working Blackberry app that wasn't out there before. I can confirm what the quoted poster said...it is very rewarding to see something you wrote work...and use it.