While I understand and appreciate the advises of seasonned cmdrs about gathering materials now that I've started some engineering, I also remember recently when I just started the game some months ago, that there is already a lot to learn and get used to with the basics, like for example: hud reading, ingame menus, remembering every keyboard mapping for on foot, SRV, ship, galaxy map that has a load of functions, ACS, then the ship handling itself, how to land on stations, on planets, various cruises, types of celestial bodies...
I mean, even if you are relatively used to simulations, gaming, sci-fi and so on like I am, it is already a little bit overwhelming at the beginning, and I don't know about OP and their family, if they are scifi/gaming nerds or maybe some of them are casual people willing to give a try and enjoy a moment with the family, but what would you do with grades and so on whereas you don't even know yet you actually have a cargo bay and a button to open/close it. (example not random but relatable to my own case)
Say, you are an 80s guitar hero, heavy metal high velocity soloist, this time giving a first guitar lesson to a complete beginner that doesn't handle the instrument properly yet, doesn't know how to tune the strings fora start, and you teach them chords, scales, sweeping/taping/shredding techniques already, this one is going to give up, disgusted by how complicated the matter is instead of helping build some confidence and will to persevere.
But here in the end, it's a game in which you can do whatever you want with no harm: RP, micromanaging material boards, incarnate the Evil and murder a dozen of poor inocent biologist NPCs for an epoxy adhesive tube, aimless wandering in space with a beer and the music after a crappy day for the sake of chill... all of this at once or something else, it's not a job accountable to some hierarchy watching for your efficiency I humbly believe, so if you only have a few hours a week to sink for the game and your main purpose is to share a moment of fun with the beloved family, you can still have fun for cheap and rock that vanilla Adder with the 380 free earned arx pink paintjob if you wish, Omnipol is not going to deny your permission to play because of that.