First things first: For any board sport, you first need to figure out your stance, regular (left foot forward or goofy (right foot forward). Stand with both feet together and start leaning forward to see what foot you catch yourself with and that is typically your dominant foot. It is also the foot you want in back.
 
Safety Next: Wear a helmet and pads! You will be more confident and progress more quickly because you won't be so afraid to fall.

All about shoes: Your shoes have to withstand the abuses of grip tape and pavement, so be sure to look for a shoe that has a flat sole, padded tongue and cushioned footbed. (Check out the CAS store for some awesome choices in this arena)

Practice Makes Perfect:
Practice balancing on your board: Skateboarding starts with being comfortable standing on your board. Practice balancing on the grass or carpet.

Practice pushing: Once you can balance on your board, practice riding on a flat surface, preferably somewhere safe and away from traffic, like a driveway.

Learn the Riding Basics:
Learn to Turn: Carving is the same for any board sport: if you lean right, you'll turn right, lean left, you'll turn left. So if you're regular footed and lean forward onto your toes (toeside), you'll turn right and if you lean backwards onto your heels (heelside), you'll turn left. The opposite is true if you're goofy footed. 

Learn how to ride Fakie: You need to practice riding fakie, or the opposite direction you normally ride. This doesn't mean you flip your stance, it simply means you're riding backwards.
 
Learn to Stop: The easiest way to learn to stop is by footbreaking. Best way to do this is to take off your back foot and drag it on the ground. It takes some practice, so spend some time on it now so you can stop when necessary. Remember, that if all else fails, just bail!

Now that you've learned the basics, check out updates to Get Skooled for more tricks and fun lessons to be updated in the future. (Source: Etnies Girl, Skateboarding About.com)