Re:This is a shame (Score 1)

Java is an object-oriented language. In any real object-oriented language, you need to learn about objects right away.

No you don't. I gave my kids a template class with a main function. When I started talking about functions a few months later, they all went, "Oh, wow, OK, I get it."

C++ is a hybrid language that is arguably one of the worst languages for beginners to learn, since it takes the ugly details of C, and adds on half-baked OO ideas that are simply optional.

The problem with C++ is that it is just too damn big. Oh, and it's no longer relevant. I forgot about that.

A language such as Scheme will teach better program design, and teach high school students good program design from the start.

The first language you learn frequently affects how you look at programming for the rest of your life. I've seen too many people write FORTRAN with C, Scheme with C++, or Perl with Java. Making the first programming language a functional language seems unwise.

This is the MIT approach, with their intro course (6.001).

Most kids taking 6.001 already know how to code. I'm just saying.