I think what's most important is that kids get something rewarding out of their work. If they can use their coding skills to make something cool that they want

I think what's most important is that kids get something rewarding out of their work. If they can use their coding skills to make something cool that they want to show people, it will keep them motivated. I think the biggest problem with most curricula is that they have students writing to the console for the first year. The kids are doing "real coding", but the results aren't things that they consider "real programs" (like Microsoft Word, or Flappy Bird). In the long term, we need to change the way we do programming everywhere, not just how we teach it. In the short term, I think students who can grasp the basics, find programming fun and understand why we use the console won't be held back by it.