Well when I was younger, we started out with theory. It would be better to get him a violin teacher to teach him finger placement. It generally starts with tape underneath the strings so he knows where to place his fingers. As he progresses, the tapes will be removed. Also, he will stay in first position for a while until he is comfortable with that and then learn various positions. The Suzuki method is a series of books that start at a really simple level and increase in difficulty, like from twinkle twinkle little star to the Bach double(amazing song). He will probably use other books along with Suzuki books to learn technique(like scales).
