Hello bgloudon;
Welcome to the forum, to your son and you. I hope we can help you as we have helped many others in the past.
If you are starting out with PLCs, look at the Online Tutorial and Online PLC Simulator links at the top of the page, they are great introductions to the industrial control worlds.
If you have any questions or suggestions, come back at us, we'll see what we can do.
Again, welcome.
Daniel Chartier