I haven't had a chance to run the demo programs, but I think providing a basic UI toolkit is sound. I do have concerns about the functions like openFileForReading. I don't think there's enough value in those encapsulations to outweigh the cost of teaching a new user to Python abstractions around basic concepts like filehanding and hindering the growth of their understanding of the Real APIs, and you lose out on a perfect segue into things like garbage collection and with-clauses.
I also think that a library for students should help them learn to use PEP8-compliant snake_case, but that's a lesser issue.