I teach kids at the BCNY in the east village, from 1st graders all the way through to high school, as well as many interns/volunteers of all ages, in an after school program. I am the Interim Media and Arts Director as well there. I cover B&W photography and printing in the darkroom, as well as digital media tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, etc. on the Macs we have there, as well as videography. Much of it is intro basics and hands on learning. Alternative photography is also covered such as photograms, and painting with chemicals.
An example progression would be: Learning about the path of light, examine cut aways of various camera types, build basic camera obscuras and use them, construct pinhole cameras and use them, view through TLRs and Rangefinders, and then SLRs, and learn to handle them, composition and lighting, still life photography, macro photography, and on. Every now and then we go around the building for photo hunts, where students focus on the idea of composition and search for various line, points, and curves, and viewing with a transparency print out of the rule of thirds for per-visualization, and get overall practice with the SLR's. In the darkroom we learn how to analyze negatives and evaluate them, loading, adjusting, and focusing on enlargers, test strips, printing, contrast filtration, dodge and burn, vignettes, masks, corrections with tilting easels, contact printing, chemical use and safety, safelights and fogging.
It is fun, but it can be very challenging especially when children in this generation are brought up expecting instant and automatic results, where many have a cellphone camera in their pockets.
On the digital arts side, we cover a lot too, but this probably isnt the place for it. This year two of my students are finalists in the annual Haym Salomon Arts competition for their digital pieces on the topic of a Greener World, we get the results in a week or so, fingers crossed.