I agree that young children will learn to sew if the lesson is engaging enough to catch their attention and simple enough to manage. All my grandchildren now sew because of spending time with me during summer holidays. Like many others, they all started with a threadless needle and paper following first straight, then curved lines. The love to sort through my fabrics, so I cut a bunch of squares and let the kids arrange them into a quilt to sew. They even use my good machine because I can turn the speed down to make the foot pedal more manageable.
I learned to sew on a treadle and sewed my own clothes by age 10. By 13, I had stopped buying clothes and loved to make things like tailored jackets. Today, I have trouble sewing a zipper in and have it look decent. ***sigh***