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Ceebot: http://www.ceebot.com/ A well thought-out, gradual curriculum, broken into a series of lessons structured as rewarding game levels. Best thing - they can get through it without constant hand holding.

Progamming games
(warning: annoying background image)

I've personally messed around with Colobot which uses a java/c syntax scripting.

If you are looking for teaching general programming whilst not being entirely language specific, check out CeeBot

From the page: CeeBot is a brand new concept with which you will learn programming while having fun. The programming language you'll use is very similar to those used by professional programmers to develop their products. CeeBot introduces many modern concepts found in today's most popular environments like C++, C# or Java. After teaching you the syntax of CeeBot, progressive exercises will lead you to use important concepts such as variables, loops, conditional branching, functions, classes, objects, etc.

Basically, it's a programming learning environment masquerading as a game. They also seem to have different versions based on age and/or skill level.

<rant>Why is it that whenever these "What should I learn" questions come up, the crazies come out of the woodwork with their weird languages?

Python, smalltalk, Lua, Ruby, LOGO, QBasic? WTF?!

I just don't know why you'd what to handicap someone by starting them on such a niche language.
</rant>

JAVA should be an excellent starter language. It gives them an intro to OO programming, has the same structure as most of the other popular languages, is mature and well documented, works on pretty much any platform, has plenty of great and free IDEs, and is a good thing to know if they decide to become professional programmer.

You could even have them learn the syntax by playing a game like CeeBot

Colobot from Epsitec Games

http://www.ceebot.com/colobot/index-e.php

I know its a little pricey but the demos that are available run through large range of code elements.

I think the "robot programming" theme is a good one. I remember one of the first things that got me interested in programming was a toy rover that could be programmed to travel a certain distance, make turns, etc, in sequence. Then there is Logo, which is essentially a virtual version of the same thing plus the inclusion of a drawing function.

Here is something else I came across a few years ago which I always thought would be great and fun for teaching OOP programming fundamentals, Colobot, a game where you are an astronaut who must complete a variety of tasks using programmable robots. It covers a very wide range of difficulty from as simple as moving around and picking up objects, to as complex as automatic flight and targeting control for aerial combat. It uses a very C/Java-like syntax.

To use a cliche, it makes learning to program fun. You get immediate feedback on your program and see for yourself its results. Much more fun to code some robot to hunt down a bug and zap him, than some textbook-style exercises. I actually found it quite addicting when I first discovered it :)

It is quite a few years old now and should run on virtually anything (requires a 300Mhz Pentium and 16MB 3d chip).

http://www.ceebot.com/ceebot/index-e.php I downloaded the demo a while back, and found it amusing and actually pretty usable. If I remember correctly, even the demo supported simple classes and structs and I think the classes even allowed overloading operators. The basic concept is to allow students to write simple programs that make a little robot do stuff. Take a look at it, it may be too pricey for the school but their links section has some other resources that might also be useful, like CodeRally http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/coderally.

I found a cool little teach-programming game called CeeBot (has been featured on slashdot before I believe), and it would be excellent for teaching you the basics. I've played it myself as a programmer as a puzzle-game since some of the later parts are challenging logic wise. In the end though as many posters have indicated, 'just do it' is the main course of action and learning based off your needs to start with. Think of a very simple application and then code it, whether its an address book or a small card game. To those ends, I recommend something like Python or Perl (though perl is a bit less structured than Python) since they're evolved languages and have greater out-of-the-box functionality. I tend to think of C++ as being given a hammer & screw driver to make a car, you need to use those 2 tools to manufacture the rest of the tools and then after that, make the actual car. Python & Perl give you pretty much all the tools you need, you just need to worry about the car itself.

That being said, the one of the best resources for programming (besides the actual language documentation itself) is Usenet (specifically, using Google groups to search), since it goes back to the creation of the internet & is fully archived, you have at your disposal stuff that goes back to 1981. Barring that, there's always google & forums.

I recently bought a copy of CeeBot http://www.ceebot.com/ceebot/index-e.php for my nephew and it was very very cool. You write code that is very java-like that control an on-screen robot. The product has a great interface and is a great way to introduce kids to programming while keeping their interest with the nice 3D graphics.

You can also download the demo which is probably fine for the purposes you want it for.

Great product, great for kids. I myself started out programming on the C64 and loved that I knew intimately how the machine worked. Unfortunately, its hard to provide a similar experience now-a-days and I looked around for a long time for something like CeeBot that would provide similar magic to my first experience with computers.

Another cool product is MindRover (another robot programming game) but it gets pretty complicated pretty quickly.

Good luck!

-Michael

I HIGHLY recommend the Ceebot tool(s) at www.ceebot.com

The Ceebot3 is like logo, only 3d and better and Ceebot4 is even better. Really, check these tools out, there is a free demo that gives you a LOT to work with.