Speaking as someone who has been taught to use VORs at various stages rather than someone who has had to teach it, but...
I did my PPL in an R22 that had a VOR but no GPS. I therefore spent a lot of my early formative hours using that VOR a lot (I trained in the Luton-Stanstead area, so plenty of beacons). Being forced to rely on VORs and a map rather than having a GPS-driven moving map constantly available meant I was forced to develop situational awareness, and it gave me an excellent start in managing cockpit resources and mental calculation while flying.
When I came to do an IR (in an unstabalised twin with no GPS, natch) roughly 150 hours later, that early experience paid off in spades. I already knew how to use a VOR, but more than that, I had the understanding that comes from actually doing rather than just exploring the theory. Picking up ADF usage was easy, and translating over to an HSI/RMI (instead of just an analogue VOR) wasn't a problem either. I passed my IR without a problem, and had fantastic fun doing it, too.
I don't know whether my experience is typical, but I suspect it's not. Regardless, I would be a far less proficient pilot today had I not been forced to learn how to use a VOR during my PPL. Having said that, I agree that some GPS training should be included in the PPL, as just about every small helicopter has one, but almost none have VOR/ADF.