He is very interested in the line of programming and i thought A+ would be the ideal place to start him off.
The next certification I'm working on after A+ is CCNA, but that has nothing to do with programming. It's a good place to start off don't get me wrong, but if you're doing software, don't spend 2 or more years learning about hardware. I'd say that the next best cource you could enroll him in is one that he's interested in.. like programming.