Ordinarily, stitches are knitted in the same order in every row, and the wales of the fabric run parallel and vertically along the fabric. The process of knitting has three basic tasks: (1) the active (unsecured) stitches must be held so they don't drop; (2) these stitches must be released sometime after they are secured; and (3) new bights of yarn must be passed through the fabric, usually through active stitches, thus securing them.
Some of the complicated patterns become, if not simple or easy, less intimidating once you have a few easy projects under your belt. Although the new stitch is itself unsecured ("active"), it secures the stitch(es) suspended from it. Your knitting yarn will be hanging in front.
When children learn to knit, they also learn to set goals, stick with something until the end, and accomplish something special. There are actually hundreds of combinations of stitch patterns. You could even teach a "keep up" class where people who have completed all three classes meet once a month or bimonthly to keep in touch with knitting.
It will just some time at the beginning, but you will learn and get experience. There are many knitting guilds and other knitting groups or knitting clubs.