Applesoft Basic (think that's what it was called), in 1979 on an Apple ][+ Not long after it was 6502 assembly on a VIC20 and the Apple ][+

From a hiring perspective, I'm looking for someone isn't going to jump ship on me after 2yrs. By that time, they've gained some good knowledge, are productive, and hopefully have moved up the food chain somewhat. I found that a lot of the time when using the "ship development overseas" model , there was a lot of 2yr churn, and I would be constantly having to teach/train/explain to new developers basic concepts of the project all over again. Personally I'm hoping someone is going to stick around 3-5 years at least. A resume with a lot of 2yr jobs says either they're going to jump ship on me, or that they weren't working out for multiple employers and got let go a whole lot.

At 9 and 10 I was teaching myself BASIC on an Apple ][, sorting out Assembler on my Vic20 and soaking up anything I could find about programming. By 12 I was playing with C and pointers. If he's interested, teach him about OOP and C#. It won't hurt. If anything OOP will teach him how to analyze a problem and break it down into smaller parts. Even if he doesn't go on to be a programmer, that's certainly a useful skill.