Hey Kit,
The Mteers are a good idea. But you guys might want to consider professional guides and instrutors. Check the web. It's pricey but from personal experience it is worth it.
Try this web site...http://ncmountainguides.com/
Stay safe.
when my eight year old daughter (now twenty) was taking lessons from profession guides/instructors,(you would know the names) they would set her up on loose top rope and she would place gear on a 'fake lead' using another rope with belay It was extemely effect teaching tool.
I did the same thing a couple of years ago...went to the store in Vantage and they had stopped selling them...went on and got a ticket...can't remember the extact amount but it was over sixty bucks. If you don't get the fishng lic, the parking permit is pretty cheap.
third beach at la push on the coast, just outside of forks. the coast there is some of the best in the state with hay stack rocks accessable at low tide. the trail is crushed compact gravel. some campsites in the woods.