Learning functions early saved me so much time when I was starting out. I spent weeks copy pasting the same block of code over and over in a little dice game project, and once someone showed me how to wrap it in a def and just call it, my file shrank by half. Loops still matter, but you can teach those inside a function pretty easy, like a loop that rolls dice inside one. So my vote is functions first, even just the basics.

The "$4 tripod tip from a guy in Denver" part is what gets me. Most of those cheap fixes don't actually stick once you get home and try them on your own setup. For kid's games the real problem is usually the light, not the tripod. Overcast Saturday morning at a youth soccer field is about as bad as it gets, and no $4 trick fixes that.