If it helps this was in broad terms my offspring's journey into programming. But remember that everyone learns differently. When he was 8 or 9 we started tinker

If it helps this was in broad terms my offspring's journey into programming. But remember that everyone learns differently. When he was 8 or 9 we started tinkering with an arduino set. Not so much programming but mostly connecting electronic bits and see what happens. From then, our heir sped through a game programming with python book and asked for more... but the interest was not so much to build a game engine rather build a game on an established engine. After much YouTubing, our first born made a short list between Unity, GameMaker and Unreal -- Unity won. From there it was very much a self taught journey. 6-7 playable games have been released, from a tiny 2D sidescroller, a 2D dungeon crawler, a 3D FPS, a 3D survival game, a multiplayer game like Towerfall Ascension,... the Works. Importantly sounds and graphics are original. I'm quite proud of the accomplishments. Adjust your expectations because it takes time, measured in years, not weeks! For our case in particular, dedication, concentration, and a healthy dose of tolerance for frustration, really helps to chug along.