I got interested in coding when I started high school in 2001. When I discovered that several students were already somewhat proficient programmers, ostensibly because of parents who introduced it while they were young, it was a rude shock. It left me feeling behind some kind of curve.

I did become a software engineer later in life after a career change, but I wonder how a home environment where I could learn the basics would have changed my trajectory.

I take the author's point that the problem solving and creativity are more important than syntax. But you need comfort with syntax to get deeper into the ecosystem to stretch those muscles.