I don't teach per se but when my niece showed an interest in sewing we got her an inexpensive machine. The one thing she had to do was to learn to thread her machine. We went over with her Gma (my sister) also. 3 pairs of eyes we figured were better than one. Told her to always keep her manual very nearby. The learned to wind the bobbin and thread the machine. She also had to insert the bobbin correctly. This was during Christmas break. She accomplished quite a bit during that time. A drawstring purse, pillow and pillow case. A case for her scissors with elastic. She made a case out of felt for her embroidery also. She also made a small quilt for her cat Whiskers and her puppy Fiona. She has learned to clean her machine and very well I might add. Her stash is old clothes from anyone she can get them from. She is in 4th grade now. She asked the teacher if she could bring some of her projects to work on at recess but got a big no. Because of the scissors being a weapon and zero tolerance. At least she asked first. But they do need to know the machine threading and bobbin winding!