How would you begin to understand programming (or anything for that matter) without first starting with a massive undertaking and breaking it down into smaller

How would you begin to understand programming (or anything for that matter) without first starting with a massive undertaking and breaking it down into smaller chunks that can be discovered? Give someone a for-loop in isolation and it means nothing. They will never really understand it because it doesn't relate to anything. Given something massive they will have to break it down, and in that it will dawn on them "Huh, I need to do this same thing over and over again. I wonder how I might do that?" at which point they will discover loops, and then it will make perfect sense.