[GlennS]

I actually think step (1) isn't a good way to start unless the pupil has some prior knowledge.

Many (most?) people don't have know how to take a big problem and turn it into something they can make progress on.

You give them the lego bricks and say 'make me a windmill' and they don't have the first clue where to start. They may not even understand that programming is lego.

So, you either have to teach that first. Or, if you want to teach it later, start with a sequence of problems that have one obvious step each.

Some good approaches to attacking a problem too big to be obvious:

1. Break it into smaller and smaller pieces, then implement those pieces.

2. Bite off a small piece that you think you can do, then grow that.

3. Write down everything about it then think very hard about what are the essential characteristics of a solution.