>> part I'd forget about the 12F's and stick the with 18F parts. The 16F
>> architecture has "quirks" that don't exist in the 18F line and make
>> PICs a
>> little harder then they need to be for a complete beginner.
>
>1) i would sort of think that learning about "quirks" would be an
>important
>    part of a 'serious' "intro to embedded programming"

Of course you could always award extra points to those who get a project
going on both architectures. You will be surprised who will get it going on
the "awkward" one.

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different
ways.  See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.