I think working on a project is the best way to get started. Doing tutorials never worked for me. I had to create something that I was passionate about getting it to work. I am a visual learner so I needed a programming language/framework with a tight feedback loop. (make a change, see the change). I found meteor.js a javascript framework. It has recently fallen out of vogue, but I feel the magic of things just working; make it an amazing for first-time programmers.

That being said I wish I had focused more on the philosophy of programming; instead of learning the syntax of a single language. I recently watched a couple courses from Lynda by Simon Allardice. The one that helped me the most is Programming Foundations: Object-Oriented Design