You live in the middle of nowhere so there is nothing but room for him to learn.

I am a son of a motor head so I learned to steer in their laps at 5-7 yrs old then got to control the gas and break from about 7 to 10. They let me take the car down to the mailbox and back by myself once I was a teen. There is something to be said for the gradual process but I really like you deep end technique.