In the program-driven information age, programming education is concerned by the global education system, which makes the cultivation of children's programming ability become the focus of attention. However, there is no clear definition of programming ability and teaching model. Through the snowball method, 86 studies from 1980 to 2020 were reviewed. The results showed that K-12 programming ability is defined as a stable personality and psychological characteristic that consisted of metacognition, cognition, operation and communication, including 17 sub-abilities. On this basis, the K-12 programming ability teaching model was constructed by integrating the educational levels, teaching methods, teaching tools, assessment approach in each research. Among them, the programming education of K-12 was committed to cultivate students' cognitive and operational ability. Additionally, There are most researches on teaching intervention for primary school students. Block-based tools are most widely used in research, and project-based learning and problem-based learning are common teaching methods in current programming teaching, while game-based learning, blended learning and cooperative learning have also become the trend in programming teaching. In the meanwhile, programming testing, observation and interview are widely used in programming teaching. This model provides more scientific and standardized reference and guidance for researchers and teachers, and contribute to significant implication for policy, theory and practice of K-12 programming education.