You can't learn karate out of a book. You need to join a karate club, and this is the first problem. There is no accreditation for karate instructors. Anybody can start a karate club and can claim to be a qualified instructor, so you need to be careful choosing your club. Some karate clubs welcome beginners at any time, and throw the new student into the deep end, others accept beginners at specific times of year only. Both approaches have their benefits. Most instructors offer a free lesson to potential club-members, so you can give karate a try.
Clubs that accept children, and most do, will usually allow parents and relatives to attend classes, provided that the parents do not interfere with the instruction. It is important to be reassured that your child will be cared for responsibly, and competent instructors will be able and willing to provide appropriate documentary evidence of their qualifications. Some clubs, such as the Shi-Gaku-Kan Karate Club in the north-east of Scotland, are run as family affairs with husband and wife and children all taking part, the parents as instructors, the children as class-members.
Well-run karate classes for children teach self-respect and respect for others; they provide the perfect outlet for high spirits and energy, and above all, combining teaching and play, they are fun.
The charges will be reasonable: As an adult you would currently expect to pay
about £5.00 for a training session of an hour or 90 minutes, less for a
child.
Your instructor will
have an up-to-date First Aid certificate and will have Government Certified
Enhanced Disclosure qualifying him to teach adults and children.
The students will be decently turned out in clean white uniforms, and will show
respect to the instructor and to one another.
The instructor will teach a recognized style of karate, one of the following
four: Shotokan, Wado Ryu, Goju Ryu, Shito Ryu, or a close variant.
The instructor will try to lock you into a contract with fees to be paid by direct
debit.
The fees per lesson might be relatively cheap, but they are paid whether or not
you can attend.
Rapid progress to the black belt is promised.
Flashy certificates in which much of the text is in Chinese characters, the
rest mentioning Okinawa, Tokyo, and other places in Japan will be on
display.
The uniforms will not be white.
The word 'freestyle' is likely to appear in the club's title.
It would be prudent to shop around to find a long-established club with a good reputation and reasonable fees. Wikipedia is a good source of information on karate and related martial arts. It also has links to useful information about what to look for and what to avoid in a karate club.