[bigchillcar]

pick up some easy song books like tunes from simon & garfunkel, cat stevens, etc. tunes that you already know and can hum. it's fun to learn these tunes and most are basically three-chord arrangements, with a few tasty 7th chords thrown in to break the monotony..but these are songs you and your kids could learn together with simple, rudimentary strum patterns. in my opinion, time is wasted on scales until you're interested in playing lead guitar lines and have mastered basic chord foundations. if you must learn scales, learn the basic blues scale in the most popular keys for a start. keep it simple and fun for you and your kids..otherwise the rigor of learning theory, etc. may turn them off. if they're interested in more, you won't have to argue..they'll get into themselves.
ryan