In every Git workshop, the blocker is not conceptual. It is anxiety. Students stay on main and avoid branching because they believe a mistake is irreversible.
git reflog answers that directly: almost nothing is lost, and here is how to find it.
We taught it at the end, when everyone was tired and it registered as trivia. It belongs at the beginning, because it is what gives a beginner permission to experiment, and experimenting is how the rest of it gets learned.