Foolestroupe again: Hmmm... reading your last post, maybe we're not on the same page after all. I'm not proposing that we tell "lies" to children. I don't think that anything I said here is a "lie". I just wanted to give the most rudimentary explanation of I,IV,V that I could think of, without throwing around a lot of terminology that might only add to a beginner's confusion.

I wholeheartedly agree with you that, ideally, a beginner should come to an understanding of "the real basic theory" ASAP. But what did I say that was not "real"? You and I simply explained the same concept in different ways. I don't think it's necessary for a beginning guitarist to learn all the proper terminology of basic music theory before learning to play chord patterns. I think it's perfectly all right to learn both as one goes along. Besides, most if not all beginners already have some knowledge of music, as well as preconceptions and misconceptions about it, simply from having listened to it. There's always something that has to be unlearned!

Then there are those innovative players who, having formed their own ideas about music before picking up an instrument, develop their own styles of playing and writing that defy the rules. "Learning things correctly" may be proper but it may not be "right" for everyone...