I propose to take a look at google sheets as an option for an absolute newbie.
Stage 1: Work with formulas in the cells - this is ‘functional programming’ I believe.
Stage 2: Progress to functional JS (which is Google Apps Script) to control the spreasheet (allows for side effect like writing to spreadsheet or to docs for that matter).
Whatever your pupil learns is probably immediately useful and transferable and keeps the whole chain right there in their hands. They will have complete independence and power immediately.
Stage 3: If their interest has piqued then they can move on to control spreadsheets (or docs or slideshows or forms etc), via the google suite APIs, from Elixir/Phoenix.
Stage 4: Supplement reading from/writing to the google suite via LiveView (and of course doing things wholly independent of google suite).
(To be fair, stages 3 and 4 are are what I would like to be taught! )
