As someone who has learned programming from scratch for both Labview and C++ solely within the context of FIRST, I would strongly recommend Labview. The examples in Labview are abundant and many include wiring diagrams on the Front panel of the sample program.
One of the best resources I learned Labview programming was from
http://www.frcmastery.com/ I just checked their site and it has not been updated since the 2011 season. The Labview framework has not changed greatly and is still a great place to learn the basics specifically applied to FIRST.