There are many things that can help you learn programming. Problem solving is one of them. Language/syntax is one. I don't think it's wrong to teach kids one of them, but yes, we should not forget the other ones.

I think it's usually easier to learn one thing if you already know related things. It might be easier to understand a problem if you know a programming language. It might be easier to learn more about programming if you already know the syntax of a language.